4th Attempt

#9.

So today I attempted #9 again. This is only my 4^th race this year that’s shorter than a ½ marathon. And I figured 12 days off after running a marathon was fine, so I signed up for the HoBOOken 5k with my sister Alysia. I haven’t run since the marathon, so I figured my legs would be nice and rested. I also figured it’d be a nice, flat course along the waterfront in Hoboken. And it would be October, so not terribly hot weather. All good factors.

But yet again, no luck. I guess running a 5k less than 2 weeks after running a marathon wasn’t the best idea. Oh and I drank about ¾ of a bottle of wine last night at dinner with a college friend. Oh and a Nor’easter came through this morning. Awesome.

A couple of days ago the weather forecast wasn’t looking good. And it didn't change... actually got worse—rainy, windy, and 40s with the temperature dropping. We got to Hoboken this morning and got our race stuff, with 45 minutes to spare. Now where to go to stay dry and warm? Why, the 24-hour CVS of course.

We headed back to the course a few minutes before, where we started with Slim Goodbody, Pocahontas, and Where's Waldo. The first mile was a good pace at 7:04. I went out a bit fast, but I was cold and my legs just wanted to run. In the 2^nd mile, it was getting colder, rainier and windier. I think the Hudson River just wanted to dump on us.

I slowed down a bit on the 3^rd mile and knew I wasn’t going to hit my goal of a 7 minute pace. My legs were just not happy with me. Oh well. Just finishing strong was now the plan. At the finish, my watch came in at exactly 23 minutes, a pace of 7:24. Not too terrible, but I can do better. The official results aren’t up yet, but I obviously didn’t make it. I’ve got a couple of more attempts over the next few weeks. Hopefully they go a bit better than today.

Now time to relax a bit before I go out and celebrate a white Halloween.

30 Days Before 30

30 days before I turn 30. Yikes. I can’t believe it’s almost here. This year has flown by. And before I know it, I’m going to be that much closer to 40. Double yikes. Ok, enough of that. No more talking about 40.

So 30 is not what it used to be. My parents were married, had 4 kids, and had started to create a home for their growing family by the time they were both 30. I am not married. Not even close. Especially since #8 isn’t going so great. And there are no kids in the near future. Again, I refer to #8. But I’m totally ok with that. My kid sisters can entertain me for now. And I’m pretty sure I’ll be renting for years to come. But that’s the life of a current 30 year old.

The last year of my 20s hasn’t gone exactly to plan, but I have been able to check off a lot of fun things with some really great people. Over the next 30 days, I will have hopefully checked off all 30 things with continued support from everyone.  

I still need to read 2 more classics (done and done), pay off my credit card bills (no problem), improve my race pace (hopefully, but I am running out of race options), go to a new continent (need to book flights), sky dive (in the works), create my family tree (gotta get on that), and write a haiku (already started a draft). Oh and #8—11 dates. Ugh. Maybe I’ll find a speed dating thing. Or something…

So let’s do this. 30 days to go.

P.S. Today I will start my campaign to check off #31. If I’m successful, #8 is a wash.

The Count of Monte Cristo

#11.

I finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. 100% done! It only took me 2 months to read it. Which is eternity for me when it comes to reading a book.

Originally my friend Jess recommended to add this to my 30 Before 30 list. It's a pretty long book, so I figured why not. It would be a good line item. However, I then realized that this line item needed to be some sort of challenge. I mean only one book?! Even if it's 1000 pages (or so, since I read it on my Kindle). So I added 9 more to make it 10 classics in total for #11.

I really liked this book. It’s an adventure book about revenge. Edmond Dantes seeks revenge on those who are to blame for him being jailed for 14 years. The 3 men had different reasons for doing this. None of them noble. Years later, those men pay for what they did and Edmond is finally able to forgive and move on.

I encourage everyone to read if they haven’t. Next year, I think I'll read The Three Musketeers.

Only two more classics to go! To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is up next. Finally reading a classic by a female.

1.        Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

2.        Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

3.        A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

4.        Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

5.        Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

6.        Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

7.        Animal Farm by George Orwell

8.        The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexendre Dumas

9.        To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

10.    The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Boston and Balloons

Yesterday I checked off two things! Well almost. I attempted #3 and technically would have checked it off if Boston decided to not change their qualifying standards earlier this year. #18 got checked off as a celebration!

The reason I'm in the Netherlands is for the Amsterdam Marathon. I chose this race because it's a nice, flat and fast course. I figured I had to pick one less hilly than NYC, since my attempts to qualify the last couple of years didn't pan out. And going international would be pretty cool. And I've never been to The Netherlands.

Now the months leading up to race day were not optimal. Boston first change their standards. This happened a few months after I came up with my list. Instead of 3:40, I now had to get 3:35! Seriously? Ugh. So instead of the 8 minute PR I was aiming for, I had to PR by over 12 minutes. Not cool.

I didn't kick off my training as soon as I had wanted to either. However I had a base so no reason to be too concerned. However, I was traveling a lot for work over the summer and my runs weren't that great. I got them all in. But I was just exhausted from traveling and working. My body just wasn't cooperating.

I eventually settled down for a bit and lowered my expectations. At this point, I figured I'd at least try to PR. Whether it was by 5 seconds or 5 minutes I'd be happy. Well that isn't true. I'd still be disappointed, but at least I'd get over it faster.

I do feel like I was putting a lot on this race, but luckily didn't have the anxiety dreams that I normally have. Apparently NYC is the only race that bring these on. Well race day arrives and I'm as ready as I'm going to be. Its about 45 degrees (getting to a high of 57). Clear blue skies. Not a lot of wind. I ate some food, walked to the race, took some pics, stripped down to my race outfit and made my way to the start. And ran. I just ran.

And it was good! I didn't BQ, but I did PR and got an official time of 3:39:04. Pretty damn good if I say so myself. I felt pretty good the whole time. It was a bit chaotic at points and elbows were thrown, but no cause for concern.

I hit my target of 1:50 at the halfway point. And thought I could do this. I hoped to keep this pace up and actually go faster if I could. At one point I shaved off a lot of time and momentarily thought I could hit 3:35. Well closer to 3:36. However, I knew I wouldn't be able to go much faster and probably wasn't going to qualify. But I was ok with that.

So I kept running. Slowed down a bit at the end, but finally made it to the finish line. At first I thought possibly my watch wasn't working and I really didn't get 3:39. But it was fine. Now if Boston didn't change their times I'd be headed there in 2013. But yet again Boston eludes me. But no worries. I'll try again. And I'll do it. Eventually.

After I made myself presentable, I made my way out of Amsterdam. It was time to ride a hot air balloon! I took a train to Krommenie-Assendelft, where I got picked up by Marianne who drove me to the launch site in Alkmaar. We met Niels, our pilot, and another couple going with us.

They were filling up the balloon with cold air when I arrived. I got a quick rundown on what to do while we waited for the balloon to fill up. Nothing too crazy, considering we were going about 1500 feet up.

We were soon in the air! Our launch site was a last minute thing due to the wind, so really wasn't sure what to expect. A part of the town was a bit industrial, but it was cool to be high up. We went over a solar panel town. Or square patch of land more accurately. We were close enough to yell 'hi' to people on the ground. We obviously asked if they had a beer. Even saw what some people keep in their closed off backyards. I don't think some would like to know that everything could be seen. We traveled about 15k and saw the sun set. All in all pretty cool. I'd do it again if it wasn't so expensive.

Afterwards, we helped take down the balloon and celebrated with some champagne-a French tradition, where hot air balloon rides actually originated.

I got back to Amsterdam where I celebrated further my accomplishments of the day.

Down and Dirty

#29.

#29 on my list is another running thing. Of course. Do you expect any less? This one was meant to be more fun—and that's why I added a mud run or obstacle course. I had never done one and thought it would be fun to do. I kept seeing all these groups at various race expos.

There are plenty of races all over the country  but it was difficult to make a commitment. Finally, Merrell Down and Dirty was coming to NYC and I was free. And I didn’t even need to rent a car to get to the race. This one only needed my  metrocard. So I signed up for the 5k.

My alarm went off this morning and I wasn't thrilled. I literally felt like I just went to bed. I was at the postponed Yanks/Tigers Game 1 of the ALDS last night and got to bed pretty late. They won by the way. Grand slam baby!

But I made a commitment, got out of bed and made my way onto the 6 train. I got to the race right before the start time.

Now I ran 12 miles yesterday. My marathon is 2 weeks away and the plan was to take this race easy. Well these plans never really happen. So I went out and just ran. But of course there were the obstacles. So not your typical ‘easy’ 5k.

First up was a ladder wall, then a low crawl followed by a tunnel and a cargo climb. Then the first mud pit! Yup I definitely got muddy. After that there was a bit of trail running. As it rained a lot the last few days, it was muddier than they had planned, so I just added to the mud. Luckily I didn’t fall on my butt anywhere along the course (this happened to others). There was a wall I had to jump over—a short one luckily. Eventually I made it to the beach and ran in the water for a bit. The hardest obstacle for me was after the water towards the end—the slippery mountain. Apparently I’m lacking upper body strength. I eventually got over it—with no help let me tell you. Last up was the final mud pit and boy was that a doozy. I was pretty much swimming in mud. Kind of fun. I haven't been this dirty since I was a kid.

So I raced faster than I had planned and got 2nd in my age group for the 8:30 race. They added the 9:30 5k race and overall I placed 4th in my age group with a time of 32:13. Not bad at all. And I totally want to sign up for another race even if my knees don't agree.