chicago marathon

It's been almost 3 weeks, but I'm still running on my marathon high and with the NYC marathon tomorrow, I wanted to write about my own race experience at lat month's Chicago Marathon. 

Last year I finally qualified for Boston–after several attempts. Registration for the 2015 race wasn't until September and to be honest, I didn't need to run a marathon this fall. And I said I wouldn't. However, given some of the hiccups from last year's race, I thought I was capable of more and set out to find a race in October. 

I deliberated between Chicago and Steamtown. One is a big-city, excitement-filled race that I've already run. The other was new, closer, small-town(ish) and easier to travel to. Both are flat. Since I had friends running, and I had a time qualifier and given the changing qualifications standards for big races, I figured this was a good opportunity to run Chicago again. Steamtown wasn't going anywhere and I'll probably run it someday. 

chicago.

Decision made. And it was now time to train. 

Earlier this year, after getting a PR at the RnR DC half (1:38:42) and then another one for the Brooklyn half (1:36:08), I was off to a good start. I spent the summer building up my mileage, and doing speed workouts and tempo runs. Fortunately, this summer was better than most others from a humidity standpoint. Although I still had a few tough runs thrown in there for fun. 

In September, I ran the Queens half, which was 4 weeks before Chicago. This was meant to be a test of my fitness and see what I could realistically aim for. I woke up to a cool morning and made my way to Flushing Meadows park to run with 950 other runners. And my training was paying off. I got another PR (1:35:51), placed 7th female overall, and 2nd in my age group. I was on track for Chicago. 

Fast forward 4 weeks and I had arrived in Chicago. Two years ago–the last time I ran Chicago–my race didn't quite go to plan. I'm still not entirely sure what went wrong, but one of the factors could have been traveling the day before the race and running around the city (airport, hotel, expo, etc). I may have just tired myself out and I felt it in the last 8 miles of the race. This year, I arrived on Friday instead and made my way to the expo to get it out of the way (and also where I spent too much money on race gear). I had a quiet pasta dinner at the hotel and tried to get some sleep (not quite successful). 

it is.

The next morning, I headed down to the finish line area in Grant Park for my standard shakeout run (approximately 3 miles). I met up with my friend and we took a few selfies at the Bean (The Cloud). After a shower, I spent the rest of the day eating, taking touristy photos, and walking around. I sorted out all my race day essentials and mentally prepared. 

But there was one thing I was still debating–what pace do I aim for? Literally up to the pasta dinner the night before, I was trying to decide whether I should aim for 3:25 or 3:20 or somewhere in between. 

the bean.

In the weeks leading up to the race, I spent some time inputting my half marathon PR into various calculators to help me determine what I should do. One told me I could do 3:19, another 3:22. My PR was 3:31. Any of these seemed a bit ambitious. I finally decided to start out at the 3:25 pace and see what happened. This is what I trained for and figured I could speed up if I was feeling good. 

Race morning arrived. 

lake michigan sunrise.

I ate my peanut butter sandwich, banana, and clif bar (I learned my lesson on ensuring I ate enough food after running the 2009 NYCM). I got dressed in my CPTC best. And walked to the race start in clear, mid-40 degree weather. Getting inside the race area took longer than expected due to the security measures. I was meeting some friends at baggage and was on time. Unfortunately I didn't see them and 5 minutes after our meeting time, I made my way to the porta potty for one last bathroom stop. I was cutting that a bit close, but I just made it into my corral (way busier and crowded from 2 years ago for sure). There was no way I was going to spot my friends, but I exchanged good luck with a fellow NYC runner that I ran into! I planted myself between the 3:20 and 3:30 pace groups and got rid of my throwaway clothes. 

The horn went off. 

A couple of minutes later, I crossed the starting line. At the recommendation of my friend, I turned on the manual lap lap on my garmin so my GPS wasn't screwing with me. Given the race is in a city (and we went through a tunnel), it was expected to be a bit off. I wanted to know the time for each mile and not have my watch beep too early. It took a couple of miles to determine what pace I was going and get into a groove. As my results later showed, I did go out a bit faster than I intended. I kept at it for the first 10 miles. The halfway point arrived and I hit 1:40:39. This was great. Assuming I could keep it up of course. I was on track for a 3:20 marathon.

The cheerers along the course were amazing (2nd to NYC). With an earlier race start, it's nice to see people come out and support the marathoners and the city of Chicago. I didn't know too many people out there, but got to see my friend's husband (and teammate) several times and a friend that lives in Chicago. There were some other NYC supporters and got a bunch of CPTC cheers. I also got a few "go Canada" cheers. This happens a lot since our uniform has a maple leaf on it. I was ok with it and just smiled. 

I approached mile 21 and felt pretty good. I was going to hold off on speeding up for another mile or so, but decided, what the hell, go for it. I picked up my pace and picked people off for the next 5.2 miles. A couple of miles from the finish, I was confident that I would get 3:20 if I didn't slow down. But of course mile 26 was in the middle of a hill. Now, on any other day, this incline is nothing. But after running 26 miles, it's killer. I feel like Harlem Hill would be better at this point. At least that's a real hill. But I had my sights on the finish line and after turning that last corner, I made a beeline to the finish. I knew I hit 3:20, but it wasn't until after checking my watch that I saw that my time was 3:19:55! I was so happy with a 3:20 finish. So I was beyond thrilled when I saw that I broke that. I got my medal and Goose Island beer, and reunited with my friends. 

I spent the rest of the day basking in my finish, celebrating with a few drinks and friends, and eventually made my way to the airport to head back to NYC. 

Later this year, I'll kick off training for Boston, which I'm really excited about. Not excited about the winter training, but I'm sure I can motivate. 

I'm sending fast thoughts to my sister, friends, teammates, co-workers, and everyone else running tomorrow! 

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!