happy 4th

Happy 4th of July! Today not only marks America's 238th anniversary of independence from Great Britain, but the completion of my 40-day run streak. From Memorial Day on May 26th to the 4th of July, I ran every single day by participating in the Runner's World run streak. I only had run at least one mile every day for 40 days. Only. 

Now I didn't set out to the streak. I heard about it and tentatively thought I would participate. But it wasn't until over a week straight of running that I decided 'why not?'. It would way easier than the Thanksgiving to New Year's streak. No polar vortex, freezing wind and snow, and layers upon layers of clothing. And it was really only for 40 days. Some runners have been streaking for decades. I don't have a desire to do that and it would be incredibly hard to keep up. But figured a 40-day streak was doable. Although technically it's more than 40, since I ran the day before Memorial Day. And I'll probably run for the next couple of days. But you get the idea. 

Here are a few statistics from my streak:

Total days: 41
Total miles: 237.3 miles
Longest run: 16 miles
Shortest run: 1.8 miles
Locations: NYC, Boston, Nantucket, Ithaca, Locke, and Peekskill
Races: 2

I ran through mostly heat and humidity, but throw in some pouring rain, and thunder and lightning storms for good measure. I started and ended the streak in my very own backyard—Central Park. I ran with friends, teammates and by myself. And I officially kicked off marathon training. 

I know I'm going to end my run streak in a couple of days. I could potentially keep going, but I do believe in rest days. And definitely after big races like a 1/2 and full marathon, I like to take some extended time off. But maybe I'll do the holiday streak later this year. 

Happy running! 

boston marathon weekend

Last Monday was the 1-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing. And I made good on my promise that I would be in Boston this year. I wanted to run desperately. I even went back on my plan to not run a marathon in 2013 and signed up for the Wineglass Marathon, where I finally—on my 7th attempt—qualified. But it was too late. Weeks before I even got on the starting line, the registration to run the 2014 Boston Marathon filled up. Even friends who had qualified were cut out because of the high interest in running. Everyone wanted to demonstrate that we will run again.  

I wasn't going to be running. No big deal. I'll be there in 2015. Instead, I went up to cheer on my sisters, my teammates, and my friends. I turned a terrorist and fearful act into a fun, but reflective weekend. 

After going to the Red Sox game the night before, I got up early to join 8,600 other runners to race 3.1 miles around the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. And it was a great morning. Under cool, blue skies, and to a cheerful crowd, I ran along a part of the marathon course, including the finish line on Boylston. A fellow runner told me as we approached the finish line, "You ran very consistently", which was nice to hear as I race towards a personal record. My final time of 21:10 was a 56 second PR from last fall and I finally achieved my goal of breaking 7-minute pace from 2011. It meant something that I had such a big PR in Boston, and that it was done marathon weekend. 

boston 5k finish line.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday was spent with friends and family, where we enjoyed the spring weather, supported a friend's fundraiser, and had Easter brunch. Sunday afternoon, we went down to the marathon finish line area. After racing through it on Saturday, I wanted to see it up close. It was great seeing so many people taking pictures and getting excited for when they would finish there on Monday. Very festive spirits all around. A part of me was definitely wishing I was racing on Monday. 

memorial on boylston.

I also went to see the Dear Boston marathon memorial at the Boston Public Library. As expected, I had to hold back tears as I walked through the items that were all left at the finish line last year. I would normally want to read everything, but I couldn't. I felt like I would have broken down. I can't even imagine what it would have been like if I was present during the bombing. It was really reassuring to see the outpouring of love and support that people from all over the world gave the victims, the cheerers, the runners, and the city of Boston. 

sneakers left at the bombing site last year.

Marathon Monday finally arrived. As I do every marathon morning that I cheer, I get up early, stake out my spot, and wait for the runners. My sister, brother, friends and I parked ourselves right before mile 25 to see the wheelchair racers, the elites, and then our sisters and friends make their way along the marathon course from Hopkinton. We were rooting for Shalane and Desi, the top American women. Both of who had great races, but Rita Jeptoo was able to secure her 3rd Boston win. On the men side, we had hopes for Meb and Ryan, but others were predicted to win. So were were all surprised and very happy to see Meb leading the pack at mile 25. And he came through. An American finally won the Boston Marathon, the last one in 1985. A little behind Meb (ok, more than a little), my sisters came on through and both had great races. It warmed up quite a bit that morning and afternoon, and was quite different from the multiple polar vortexes they trained through, but they were pretty pleased on how they did. One got a PR and the other came pretty close. 

All in all very inspiring. We celebrated all the finishers on a beautiful day in Boston. Next year I'll be back and will race from Hopkinton to Boylston. And I can't wait. 

louisiana

bourbon street.

Over a week ago I checked off my 28th state—Louisiana. Since the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon and Marathon series launched in NOLA, I've been looking to go. However, I didn't go for running reasons on this trip. Although I did have good intentions of getting a longer run in and take advantage of warmer temps. But my sneakers remained in my bag since there were non-running on the agenda. 

My friend Sue is getting married in March and she chose NOLA to celebrate her last weeks of bachelorette-hood. Her friends from high school, college, and NYC converged onto the Big Easy. Unfortunately there were some travel issues. Apparently the south can't handle the mild winter conditions us Northeasterners are used to. Fortunately everyone arrived—eventually. 

oak alley plantation.

We stayed on Bourbon Street and got a snapshot of what Mardi Gras would look like (or even the summer) and I'm glad we went when we did. I won't get into too many details of the weekend (I do want the bride-to-be to maintain some level of mystery from her fiance). There was drinking, eating, live music, and dancing. There may or may not have been a fake (or real) penis that made an appearance. That's all I gotta say. 



One fun excursion we did go on, was a plantation tour. We headed out of the city to Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, about an hour from New Orleans. It was pretty cool. We got a tour of the mansion, while drinking a Mint Julep of course. We learned a little bit of the history of the family that has owned it during the late 1800s and how it became what it is today. Even with the beauty of the place, you can't help but think of the existence of slavery all over the south. We saw a list of how much slaves were bought for and where they lived. We didn't get much history about the slaves that were at Oak Valley, but they are expanding the tour and will be including a more detailed history in the future. 

live music.

I had a great time and very glad I went. But two nights were definitely enough for me. When I go back, it'll be less drinking and more wandering around and exploring. Eating and music would still be on the agenda though. 

books (2013 part 3)

This is the final installment of the books I read in 2013. I didn't read the 45 books I set out to, but I'm ok with that since it was a very busy and fun year. Also, in September I succumbed to pressure and downloaded Candy Crush. It took way longer to read my books after that. And it didn't help that the last book I read was over 900 pages (but was worth it). Lastly, I re-read Catching Fire and Mockingjay since the 2nd movie had come out. I set my challenge for 2014 to the 45 books like last year. We'll see how that goes. 

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl, Sandberg

I enjoyed reading this. However, I didn't get through it as quickly as I would have liked. While I was reading this book, I wasn't in a good place at work. I was actually very frustrated with my job and it was hard to read about work when all I wanted to do was not think about work. But then it got better and I was able to finish the book. Some people didn't like this book and don't like Sheryl's take on how to approach your career from a female perspective. Everyone is entitled to their opinion though. I did take some interesting things from it and I'm going to apply them to my career. Or at least try to. 

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

This was an interesting take on how America is collapsing in the near future, intermingled with a love story, albeit not a traditional love story. It was well written, but not one of my favorite books from last year. 

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

This was an easy and true-to-life book about an actress struggling in NYC. I thought it was cute and funny. Nothing super amazing, but a good fast read which was perfect on the beach. 

Chasing Mona Lisa by Tricia Goyer

I had to add one more WWII book in for the year. This was one a different take on the war as opposed to the others. Agents are set out to protect the Mona Lisa from the Nazis. It was a quick read and suspenseful. Another good beach read. 

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

This was a great book, in a guilty pleasure way. And I kind of want them to make a movie out of it. Nicholas invites his girlfriend, Rachel, to attend the wedding of the year in Singapore and embark on a roller coaster of the wealthy and insane. 

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Another engrossing Ken Follett book. This one takes place in the lead-up to WWI and gives points of view of all the players involved--the US, the UK, Germany, Austria, Russia, ect. It's a fictional account, but has the historic parallel. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel which takes place around WWII. 

34/45 books in 2013.

2013 recap and 2014 goals

1451 miles. 45 BoMF runs. 8 PRs. 1 BQ. 1 200-mile relay. 2 new states. 1 stamp in the new passport. 365 photos-a-day. 3 weddings. 1 psychic reading. 1 polar bear plunge. 1 opera. 1 jazz festival. 2 JT concerts. 34 books. 1 great year. looking forward to 2014.

That was my year in recap. A lot of running, traveling, socializing, and reading. The usual. I didn't set out 2013 with a concrete list of goals, but definitely had a couple things I wanted to do. For one, take one photo a day for the entire year. I had a few rules. 1-I had to take the photo. 2-Try not to be too repetitive. 3-Try to be creative or interesting. I'm happy to say that I did it. Today I finished compiling all the photos I took. I took a nice range, from art and foliage to funny and cool things I saw. Some days were harder than others, like when I worked 12 hours in a day. Other days were easier, like when I was in a new city. I have to say living in NYC definitely helped though. There are a lot of interesting things to see everyday if you are looking. Of course, there are a lot of pictures from the Chelsea and Midtown neighborhoods since this is where I work and live. I had fun doing this project. I enjoy taking photos and I was happy to be a little more creative last year. Now I have to come up with a fun way to show off all my work. 

Secondly, I wanted to finish my 12 in 2012 list. That didn't happen. Still working on it. I feel a little guilty about not completing my list. Seriously it's taken 2 years and I still have 4 1/3 things left. But then I don't feel so bad when I realize all that I did last year. I checked off a bunch of items, including something I didn't plan on. I started out 2013 with the intention of taking a year off from the marathon distance and try to qualify for Boston in 2014. However, events from April changed that and I finally checked off a goal that I've had since 2009. A few factors contributed to accomplishing this goal, but joining CPTC was probably the biggest one. Not only did I qualify for Boston, but I ran more miles than ever before and I got a personal record in 8 different race distances. Not too shabby. 

I decided to volunteer more a couple of years ago and I'm happy to say I volunteered on average once a week with Back on My Feet. Earlier this year I started questioning my commitment to the program though. Attendance was low in the winter months and I wasn't seeing a lot of motivation on the part of the res members. The volunteers, including myself, continued to dedicate our time and energy, but I feel like it wasn't doing much. The chapter I work with changed facilities and we saw an influx of members that were motivated to do something about their life. I had thought about putting my effort elsewhere, but am happy this change made a difference and I was able to continue my commitment. 

Obviously traveling was a great highlight this year. I checked off 2 new states--Oregon and South Carolina--and 1 new country--Turks & Caicos. These 3 travel highlights included a trip with family, a friend, and one on my own. A nice mix. I traveled for running (obviously) and for weddings, and many other reasons. 

I did a few new things too, like going to the opera and a jazz age festival. I completed the Super Bowl Polar Bear Plunge for the 3rd year in a row and will continue to make this an annual tradition. I went to museums, sporting events, concerts and snowboarded once. And I read a lot--not quite as much as I wanted, but still an average of almost 3 books a month. 

I spent a lot of time with family and friends this year. One big event was a Dusseau sibling (sorry not the half sisters) reunion on Nantucket. Unfortunately it was on the heels of losing my aunt, but it motivated me to make a last minute decision to spend time with those that matter. The last time my siblings were on Nantucket together was back in 1996. We have all lived there at some point, some of us temporary, others a bit more permanent (my brother still does). We decided to do a reunion and recreate a photo my aunt (other side of the family) had taken back in the early 90s. We all borrowed some Little Feat shirts and hit the beach. 

I don't usually talk about work, but the year ended better than it started and I hope for some good things in 2014. I switched accounts and am looking forward to a lot of hard work, but an accomplished year. 

There was a lot more that happened, but I'm writing a blog post, not a book. Now time to look forward to 2014. I've been thinking of a few things that I want to do this year. So here's goes. 

1. Finish my 12 in 2012 list

I still need to go on a blind date (or any date at this point), go to AC, go zip lining, go on a NYC bus (or boat) tour, and finish writing notes to people. I think I can accomplish this. I just need to focus.

2. Run faster

This year was meant to be a year off from the marathon, and I told myself that once I qualified for Boston, I'd take a year off before doing that race. Well I was so pleased with my race (under not so ideal conditions) that I want to do even better. I'd like to break 3:30 (and kind of secretly break 3:25). I had a lot of PRs this year, but one PR that I didn't break (I got close) was in the 10k. I'm actually not a huge fan of this distance. It's too short to get into a long-distance groove, but too long for when I want to just run fast. Based on some recent races, I should be able to set a PR in the 10k. I'm working on my 2014 race plan, but always welcome an improvement across the board. 

3. Read more

Last year I read less books than the previous year. I set a challenge to read 45 books this year. This is a lot and I have yet to do it (came close in 2012 and if I didn't download Candy Crush on my phone, I may have been closer in 2013). I've want to read a nice range across various genres. Right now I'm reading a thriller and a memoir. Looks like I'm off to a good start. 

4. Do something new

So I'm not sure what this is yet. But it will be something I haven't done before. Maybe zip line since that's on my list already. 

5. Visit 3 new states, 1 new country, and 1 new ballpark

I already have Louisiana planned. But I want 2 additional states in the books by the end of the year. I also want to put my shiny new passport to good use. If I'm lucky, I can kill two birds with one stone and catch a ball game somewhere new. The sky's the limit. 

6. Be more creative 

I worked towards this last year and want to continue. I finally bought a new sketchbook a few months ago. All my old sketchbooks are probably up in my dad's attic. So here's to sketching more and improving on my photography skills. 

I think this is a good start. Here's to 2014! 

psychic reading by donna

It took a while, but I finally went to a psychic a few months ago. I had thought about getting a tarot card reading done, but due to the cost, and since it was getting pretty late, I decided to just go with the 5 minute consult. I didn't want to pay a load of money to hear something that may or may not be true. 

14th street

I got to ask 2 questions with my $10. As a single woman living in NYC, I didn't want to ask the obvious. So I first asked if I'd always live in NYC. I got a long-winded response that didn't quite answer the question. The sum of it was, she could see me living here, but also somewhere else. So I'm guessing I'll come into some money and own that NYC apartment someday. And also a beach house somewhere near the ocean. Or maybe not. 

For my 2nd question, I decided to get a bit more personal and ask whether I'm going to have kids someday. I know I want them (and I know my parents want grandchildren--this has been broadcasted at several holiday gatherings), so figured this would be harmless. I got another vague response. Essentially she sees many children in my future, but only one would be my own. Looks like my only child will have several cousins (which seems obvious since I have 7 siblings). 

So essentially I think it's a load of crap. But it was somewhat entertaining. And who knows, it could come true. 

BQ baby

I can officially check off qualifying for Boston off my 30 Before 30 list! I had checked it off with a disclaimer back in 2011. Since Boston changed their qualifying standards after I came up my list (and after mentally preparing to get 3:40, not break 3:35), I counted it, but it didn't really count if you know what I mean. I ran a 3:39:04 in Amsterdam, which would have counted in 2010, but not in 2011.

Last year, I tried again, but failed. I know fail is a strong word, but I was disappointed. I didn't even PR, which was unfortunate given the much better training program I stuck to and almost ideal running conditions in Chicago. But again, Boston eluded me. 

I guess 5th time's a charm. After 2 New Yorks, 1 Amsterdam, and 1 Chicago, I had to essentially 'go home' to make it to Boston. After the terrible events in Boston back in April, I was going to give qualifying another chance, even though I had planned to take a year off to give myself a break and try again next year. One marathon that I kept hearing that had a good flat, fast course was the Wineglass Marathon in upstate New York, not far from where I grew up. Not only did it have a lot of Boston qualifiers, it had some good schwag. And what runner doesn't love their schwag? 

First step—sign up for Wineglass. Second step—train. And train I did. I had a good solid base this past spring, but summer came and it was time to ramp it up. Earlier in the year, I joined a local running team, Central Park Track Club. These runners are amazing. Some are faster than I'll ever dream of and I'm fortunate to be on the same team as them. And it was a shoo-in since my sisters were already on the team. 

My plan was to do my typical marathon training plan, but try to incorporate as many of the team track and tempo workouts that I could. If I could make it to one workout a week, I thought that would be a great start. I felt the track workout was the more important workout to get to, since it was more complicated to do logistically. I could do the tempos on my own, but running with the team would be ideal. I think those track workouts made me faster and I'm happy for my teammates who pushed me without even realizing it. I just tried to keep up with all those speedy people. 

I built up my mileage, ran the track, did tempos around the bridle path, and got some key races in this summer/fall, including a 5k and 1/2 marathon PR. All good setup for a marathon PR. 

Until this past Thursday night. I was in full taper mode and trying to relax the days leading up the marathon (in the midst of client needs). But no, my body had other things on its mind. Instead of sleeping through the night, I woke up repeatedly and actually got sick. Not cool. Friday I felt like total crap. I wore my company's oversized fleece all day since I had the chills (and it was in the 80s outside), and dealt with a lingering headache. Exactly what you want to deal with 2 days before running a marathon. Oh and add a weather forecast of showers/thunderstorms and 93% humidity. Not in the plan. Not even a little bit. 

After hydrating and carbo-loading on Saturday (and one last easy run in the Statelands), there was nothing more to do. Fortunately, I woke up Sunday morning feeling much better. I was glad to feel like my normal self and tried to not let the overcast and warmer than normal October, 63 degree weather discourage me. Although, I did hope that the storms would stay away. 

Everyone knows that I ran to BQ, but what was my real goal. Up to 3 weeks ago, it was to break 3:35. But then I PR'd at the RNR Philly 1/2 marathon by almost 3 minutes, which gave me a time of 1:40:22. Putting that into a race predictor, it put my marathon time at 3:30. Now what to do? Be conservative and aim for my original goal of breaking 3:35 or screw it and see if I can do 3:30? I spent last week analyzing my previous marathon times and assessing if 3:30 was realistic. I decided it was and wanted to go for it. By the way, 3:30 would have been a PR of 9 minutes, which did seem ambitious. 

Of course, given the weather, I mentally adjusted my goal slightly. Which meant I was still shooting for 3:30, but I would be ok if I was a minute or 2 off. Although, I did not want to be off by 5 minutes. At the start I inserted myself between the 3:25 and 3:35 pace groups. I wanted to stay behind one and in front of the other. 

Before getting into my actual race, I wanted to give a topline review of the course. The race started in Bath and finished in Corning. I ran on country roads and through small towns. A hill here and there were thrown in, but there were some decent downhills. It was overcast and a bit foggy, which looked cool with the fall foliage peeping through. Even though blue skies would have been prettier. But I didn't want the sun to come out. At least not until the afternoon. 

Since it's a small race (2500 registrants and 1682 finishers), and went small towns, there wasn't an overwhelming number of spectators. You got to see the same cheerers over and over, and I'm happy to say my dad and brother were among them. My sisters were waiting for me further along on the course. Some of my favorite scenes (besides the cows), were the couples who pulled up their chairs at the end of their driveway to watch and a practically naked toddler who tried to run onto the course somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I liked it since it reminded me of home, but without the Finger Lake hills and valleys. 

Back to the running part of the race. Sporting my CPTC orange, I started out on the downhill and began my 26.2 mile journey. My first mile clocked in around 8:04. Slightly faster than I wanted, but not terrible. Now I don't have a Garmin, so my times are totally what I remember with my foggy marathon brain and what my results tell me. After this, I was ranging around the 8:10-8:15 range. Which I was good with and wanted to maintain at least until the halfway point. I focused and completed the first 10 miles with no issue. Except for the 3:35 pacer who kept talking about his Lasik surgery that was happening the next day. After I got caught in the pace group for a bit and them sneaking up on me a couple of times, I finally got rid of them for good. I just can't remember at what mile, but it was relatively early on so they didn't bother me too much longer. I caught up to a few other women running, who soon realized they were going way faster than their goal. I lost them at a certain point and kept focusing on ahead. I saw my dad and Levi at two points in the first half, where my brother got a few good action shots and gave me a constant energy. 

After I saw them at mile 10, I focused on the next 10 miles, where I knew I'd see my sisters after the halfway point. However, after I didn't see them at miles 13, 14, and 15, I assumed they must have been delayed (didn't think this happened) or got lost somewhere between Corning and where I was running. Turns out the latter was the case. Not surprised since it's pretty rural. When Alysia joined me between miles 15 and 16, she gave me a quick update and mentioned that everyone told them they were running the wrong way. Ambreleah then joined us at around mile 17 (I think it was here but can't remember). At this point, my pace went down and I was running in the 7:50 range. I couldn't do math at this point, but I was informed by the twin's Garmins. 

I got to mile 20 (which isn't too memorable, but I know I made it) and focused on the last 10k of the race. I was still feeling good and wanted to get to mile 21, where I heard there was a steady decline to the finish. They didn't tell me there would be one last hill included for good measure. But I felt strong and passed by the folks walking up the hill. I kept moving along and picking people off. I focused on one runner (or 2) ahead of me and closed the gap. I kept at it. I focused on each mile and continued to do math in my head to assess finish times. That .2 always throws me off though and my estimation is always faster than it should be. I had a few miles to go and powered through with thoughts on Boston, running it in 2015 and all those affected by the bombing. I counted to 100 (my MO) many times. Too many to count. I did get a pleasant surprise when a group of strangers called out my name around mile 25. The twins had run ahead to take pics and inform these nice spectators of my impending arrival. 

Closing in on a BQ.

I finally turned onto Market Street and passed mile 26. I saw my family cheering me on and with one last burst of energy, ran through the finish line. I was tired. But a good tired. I was so happy I accomplished my goal. I felt strong for the entire race, even though that last mile was a little tougher than the rest (mile 25 always sucks). I was given my hand-pressed glass medal. I downed some chocolate milk, and collected beverages to last me a week. Once the fam found me, we took some photos, and made our way to Market Street Brewing Co. to celebrate and replenish with more fluids (aka beer sampler). I celebrated further last night after I got back to NYC and drank my New York champagne out of my new wine glass as I relaxed on the couch. Yummy. Like I said, good schwag. 

Today, I'm feeling a bit sore. Throughout the day, I've been rolling my quads and slowly walking around the office. But it hasn't been terrible. Each marathon I run, it gets a little easier to recover. Or maybe I won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow morning. We'll see. 

I have decided to take next year off from the marathon and focus on smaller races. I'll register for Boston next September and finally run in 2015! 

My support crew.