This is it!

This is it - the marathon is finally here! I can't believe its here already. These past 5 months of training have flown by. Only 4 days left!

Ran the Alumni fun run on Sunday - was a blast. Great to see a lot of participants from last fall.

The run on Sunday served another purpose for me: it was race #9 of 9 to qualify for the New York City Marathon next year. That's right - NYC 2008! It's going to be awesome!

Alumni Fun Run!

Ready for Fall season? Missing our wonderful coaches? Come to the Alumni Reunion Fun Run on Sunday! Details below:

Sunday, April 22nd - Adidas Central Park 4-miler (click here to register: http://www.nyrr.org/races/2007/r0422x00.asp)
9:30am - Meet at Bethesda Terrace (south side)
10:00am - Run/Walk begins
11:00am - 1:00pm : Gin Mill (81st & Amsterdam Avenue )
and……
FREE breakfast & $3 mimosas

You know I'm there for the $3 mimosas :)

Make sure to wear your purple singlet and show some TNT pride!

As Coach Ramon says: Behave!

Send off

Tonight we are not having a group training session, instead it is send-off. Send-off is were we get all the details of the weekend (hotels, flights, pasta and victory party tickets, singlets, etc). It's also we were get last minute details about training, what we should be doing in the next 2 weeks and etc. Also gets everyone super excited for the weekend.

Only 12 days until the marathon!

Boston Marathon

Today is the Boston Marathon. A bunch of people from TNT are running it, including 3 of the coaches, 1 training captains and numerous mentors. Even though the weather is not great (rainy and possibility of snow), I am sure they will all have a great race! Good luck!

Brooklyn Half Marathon

Ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon on Saturday. It was gorgeous day for a run. Started in Coney Island and finished in Prospect Park. Had a really great run - kept a 9:11 pace, one of my best training runs of the season. Looking forward to NJ! Pictures coming later this week.

Socials!

We at TNT looove to get our drink on (Carbs, anyone?) Below are some pictures from our last 2 socials

Blondies (3/20)


Me, Meg and Kate - the rebels who sat at the bar


I don't know...

Fiddlesticks (3/29)


Me, Melanie and Erin - Fall Mentor's unite

Tuesday Workout

Last night's workout was pretty basic. Three lower loops of the park for a total of 5.1 miles. Except I only did 2 loops. Wasn't really feeling good so decided to cut it short. Definitely a good idea.

Long Run

Ended up doing a 12 mile long run instead of 14. My left calf was starting to bother me at Mile 11, so I decided to cut it short rather then risk injuring myself. Definitely a good idea. Even Coach Ramon agreed. Now only 1 long run left before the marathon - the Brooklyn 1/2 Marathon this weekend.

Interested in joining TNT?

Interested in joining TNT? Teams are forming now for the Fall season. Attend an info meeting to learn more:

Tuesday, April 10
7:00pm
Schulte, Roth, and Zabel
919 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10022
(Entrance on 55th Street)
Please bring I.D.

Wednesday, April 18
7:00pm
Girl Scouts of America, 6th Floor
43 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010
(Between 5th and 6th Avenues)

Thursday, April 19
6:30pm
Trinity School
139 West 91st Street
New York, NY 10024
(Between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues)

Saturday, April 21
11:00am
Westside YMCA
5 West 63rd Street
New York, NY 10023
(Between Broadway and Central Park West)
Please bring I.D.

Saturday, April 21
11:00am
Prospect Park YMCA
357 Ninth Street
New York, NY 10023
(Between 5th and 6th Avenues)
Please bring I.D.

Monday, April 23
6:30pm
**Exclusively for Walkers**
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 8th Floor
475 Park Avenue South (at 32nd Street)
New York, NY 10016
Please bring I.D.

Tuesday, April 24
7:00pm
Citibank Building
1 Court Square, 50th Floor
Queens, NY 11101
(Intersection of 44th Drive and Jackson Avenue)

Wednesday, May 2
6:30pm
**Exclusive Nike Marathon Meeting**
Wild Salmon (formerly English is Italian)
622 3rd Avenue (40th Street)
New York, NY

Wednesday, May 2
7:00pm
Central Brooklyn Library (Grand Army Plaza Branch)
Eastern Parkway and Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Thursday, May 3
7:00pm
Schulte, Roth, and Zabel
919 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10022
(Entrance on 55th Street)
Please bring I.D.

Wednesday, May 9
6:30pm
630 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(Between 34th and 35th Streets)

Races for the Month of April

In the home stretch of training before the marathon, but that doesn't mean I'm done racing. Here's whats on the ticket for April:

April 14 - NYRR Half Marathon Grand Prix: Brooklyn - working on my guaranteed entry for the 2008 NYC 1/2 Marathon. Although, I will be using this as a long training run. Ramon made me promise not to race it.
April 22 - adidas Run for the Parks (Central Park) - This is going to be a TNT Fun run to recruit alumni to come back for the Fall season. It'll be followed by a free breakfast and $3 mimosas at the Gin Mill. Check back for more details
April 29 - M-Day! New Jersey Marathon in Long Branch.

Pacing

Last night we continued to focus on pacing (something I was not so good at during my last marathon). We started at Bethesda and ran up East drive, across 102 and down the West side for 30 mins. Then we turned around and ran back pushing ourselves a bit. I managed to run back faster then I ran there (which is good). Ran just over 6 miles total.

Spoke with Coach Ramon about this weekends training run. Wasn't sure if I needed to run long again or if I should begin to taper (taper is when you start running easier to prep your body for marathon day). While my mileage will go down, I don't actually get to taper. According to Ramon, I need to run 14 miles on Saturday: 6 very easy and 8 hard. Making sure to push myself on the last 8 is key. Weather should be in the 40's on Saturday, making it great running weather.

Fall Season

As hard as it is to believe (given that the Spring season isn't over yet), Fall season has begun. For Fall season I will be mentoring for the NYC Marathon and running the Chicago marathon. This is particularly exciting for me, because I have a lot of family in the Chicago area and am looking forward to having them there. We just had our Fall Season Mentor Kickoff meeting followed by a social (Coach Michael even bartended). Great way to start off the season. Training for Chicago officially starts on May 12 - just 2 weeks after New Jersey. I am nuts!