Runner’s Blues, NYC Half, & Running Injuries

Posted on April 4, 2012 by kymarie13

What is runner’s blues and how do you get them? I’ve read many blogs where people talk about runner’s blues and it is different for everyone. They have just run a marathon and they miss their daily training routine, they just finished a marathon and they are starting to come down from the “finish” high, you get a running injury and you can’t run anymore. The runner’s blues come in many shapes and sizes and mine hit me after my first half marathon. It wasn’t until about a week later and I was getting up for my first run long since the half and I just did not want to run. I had no desire to get up early and get out there. I think I made it about 8 miles that day and as soon as I hit 8 I was done, I just stopped and looked at my running buddy and said I have to go. I jumped in a cab and went home.

It was a pretty weird feeling to not enjoy running because for the past couple months, I looked forward to Saturday mornings where I would spend 2-3 hours running over bridges and exploring New York with my running buddies. Running was not only an escape from reality but I have met some of my best friends through running (you know who you are :) ). Since I didn’t want to run, I didn’t run. The only problem with that was I had been invited to run with Autism Speaks at the NYC Half, which was an opportunity, I could not pass up.

The NYC Half was exactly 6 weeks after my first half marathon and since I had a case of the running blues my training did not go as planned. I skipped out on my speed work and I got in only two long runs (12 miles each) before the race. Luckily the allure of the NYC Half took over when I went to the expo a couple of days before the race. Saturday morning I woke up bright-eyed and bushy tailed to run the race. My goal had changed from a time goal to just being able to run the entire race since on my first half I stopped to walk a couple of times.

As I sat in my corral waiting to run I made more friends, it is pretty easy to make friends when you bond over long bathroom lines. Finally around 7:54am (yes I remember the exact time) my corral was off and running. Being able to run on my “home turf” was an amazing feeling. Running through Central Park was calming because I knew what to expect (even with Cat Hill). Running through Times Square was surreal because they had shut it down for us (granted the street wasn’t very even), and running down the West Side was the home stretch.  Running through the tunnel at the end was not fun (I felt a little claustrophobic) and crossing the finish line with all my friends to cheer me on was the best feeling in the world. I finished in 2:15:03, which was 11 seconds behind my first half (2:14:52) but I achieved my goal, I ran the entire time! Seeing how my first half was flat, I considered this a huge win and the best part of all I remembered why I fell in love with running in the first place. I run because it’s fun, social, and it’s time for me. I do not run for the negative splits, a certain speed, or to get a PR (even though those are huge bonuses).  I run because I love the way I feel and I love the people I meet doing it.

Sadly this fairy tale ending did not end the way I wanted it too. Where I run off into the sunset and get ready for my next half marathon (which is on June 2nd in Annapolis). On my shake out run a couple of days after the NYC Half, 2 miles into the run I had excruciating pain underneath my foot. I went to see my podiatrist; she said I had a slight case of tendonitis and I just needed to rest. I took off two weeks and my foot was feeling fine.

Yesterday was my first run back to train for Annapolis and before I ran my foot started hurting again. I still went out for a 5-mile run, which I was fine while running but started to hurt again when I got back. If I have learned anything from my friend Katherine, from Sweat, Passion and Tears, it is to rest even when you don’t think it is that serious. I am going to go back to my podiatrist and see what she says but I am still planning on running the Annapolis Half on June 2nd. I will keep you updated on how my training goes.

Have you have a case of the runner’s blues and if you did how did you get through it? Also check out this blog post I found on Bald Runner’s blog for ideas on how to get over Runner’s Blues.

Filed under: Running | Tagged: , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Part 1: How I went from Hating to Loving Running

Posted on February 8, 2012 by kymarie13

Running, I feel like you either love it or hate it. I know that I have been on both sides of this. I played with the idea of running in June of 2010, I really wanted to run the Newport Half and sadly the Newport Half came and went and I think I laced up my shoes once to go for a run (oops don’t judge). It wasn’t until April 2011 that I decided I needed something else in my life, I was feeling a bit lost and I needed something to focus my energy on. In New York you see two things, little dogs and runners. Since I couldn’t afford the little dog I went with running. Also around this time I found a blog called Walk to the Mailbox and immediately I was inspired to get out there and go. Gina, from Walk to the Mailbox, is part of the 50 States Marathon Club and she writes when she runs a Marathon. Every post has such passion in it that you want to love running as well.

I took myself to Jack Rabbit Sports and bought myself a good pair of running shoes. What shoe is my solemate you ask… Brooks Ravenna 2. I am not going to lie when I walked in there I wanted a pair of Mizuno’s just like Gina but what I quickly realized is, the shoe will pick you and Mizuno and me just weren’t meant to be (It would have been a very awkward relationship, so it was for the best). #1 if you are just starting to run get yourself a good pair of RUNNING shoes (I can not stress this enough).

Next I signed up for a race, because if you have nothing to work for and you’re just starting out you probably won’t work. I mean let’s be honest here, it is hard to start a routine, you wake up it’s cold outside and if you don’t have a goal well you might as well sleep in. I signed up for a 4 miler in Central Park. Sadly I never got to run it but we will get to the reason why shortly. #2 Sign up for a race, you decide what distance is appropriate for you and how much time you need to train BUT SIGN UP. Just do it!

Now starting and keeping a routine is the hardest part of running. I needed something that would keep me accountable. I had heard many good things about the Couch to 5K program. After reviewing a couple of the apps I ended up going with the Bridge to 10K program (the next one after the couch), I skipped the Couch to 5K because after looking at the workouts, the Bridge to 10K fit my fitness level the best. This was a great way to help me get started and I stuck to the program pretty religiously. I actually started getting excited about running. #3 Find a training program that works for you.

I started to get pretty serious about running and luckily for me I sat next to a runner at work. He had been running for 10 years so I was constantly asking him questions. One day he looked at me and said “you know you’re running a lot, you might want to get an EKG just to make sure your okay to run”. He had a friend that passed at a young age and he took his health very seriously. So I decided he was right and went into my general physician to get a check-up and an EKG. I honestly thought nothing could possible be wrong. Nope I was WRONG. My EKG was abnormal. He recommended that I go see a Cardiologist. So after telling my Mother, she immediately went into panic mode and said I couldn’t run anymore. Goodbye first race… When I went to see the Cardiologist, I found out I have something called Persistent Juvenile T Wave Pattern. Which is a pretty way of saying half my heart isn’t fully developed yet. Luckily for me that just meant I was young at heart and that I could start running again (thank you Doctor!). #4 Go to your doctor and get the okay to run, you never know unless you check. Better safe than sorry.

Because I had to take a little over a month off of running and I was a new runner, getting back into running was extremely hard. Running is not like riding a bike. Sadly, especially if you are new, you can’t just jump back in where you left off. So I had a hard time starting up again. One day I was reading Runners World (#4.5 Get a subscription to Runners World, it is one of the few magazines I read cover to cover ;) ) I came across an ad, Runners World was partnering with Foot Locker to have a coached running group for free! The answer to my prayers a free running group that would have coaches and we would be training to run a 10K. I was nervous, I did it completely alone but I made some amazing friends and I learned a lot from the coaches. I learned about speedwork and hill repeats (Damn you Cat Hill). I also completed my first 10K and it was an amazing feeling. #5 Find a running group (if they have coaches even better). Not only will you learn a lot but you will make some great friends. 

After my race I knew I wanted to do more, so I searched the web and I saw that Run Disney was having a Tinker Bell Half Marathon in January. It was right after my 25th Birthday and Autism Speaks was one of the participating charities. I wanted my first half to be for something that meant a lot to me so I knew this would be the perfect first half. I contacted Team Up at Autism Speaks and before I knew it I was all signed up to run my first half. About 10 minutes later I was like oh crap what have I gotten myself into, I sent out a tweet to some running friends and they told me that Run Less Run Faster was a great plan for someone who didn’t want to run more than 3 days a week. I bought the book and I started my training. #6 Push yourself, you will never know what you are truly capable of unless you push the limits. 

I started training alone because my running group had ended but I quickly got very lonely. I saw a lot of tweets about people who would run on the East Side (close to where I live) and I decided to see if I could join them one day. Luckily I met two great girls and one ended up becoming my sole sister (aka my running buddy that I run with all the time and probably see more than most people, I love you Katherine and I am not ashamed of who knows it ;) ). Having someone to run with on a regularly basis and push you when you don’t want to push yourself is amazing. I wouldn’t be half as good if it wasn’t for Katherine. # 7 Find a running buddy or in my case a sole sister.

So that pretty much brings us to now. I have finished my first half marathon (yah! go me) but I am sad to say I have not gotten the marathon bug yet (I still love my legs too much)… I am training for the NYC Half (which is in 6 weeks!) and I want to beat my time. I learned that speedwork and hills actually play a huge part in your training so I am going to actually do all of my speedwork and tempo runs. While training for my last race I didn’t really do much of that which was fine but now I want to get faster. #8 Don’t skip your speedwork and tempo runs

My last two tips when it comes to running is:

#9 Have fun and #10 Run for you

I would love to hear your stories on how you fell in love with running and if you have any tips please share! I feel like I can constantly learn more. And if you haven’t gotten a chance yet, I am having a raffle to raise money for Autism Speaks for the NYC Half, I am raffling off a necklace from Erica Sara Designs. She designs some amazing Race Bling and your support would mean the world to me.

Filed under: Running | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Autism Speaks NYC Half * Race Bling Raffle

Posted on February 6, 2012 by kymarie13

After the Tinker Bell Half Marathon, I was approached by Autism Speaks to run with them again for the NYC Half on March 18th (yes, 6 weeks away!).  I had been dreaming about running this race so I knew I could not turn them down. To help my efforts in raising money for the NYC Half for Autism Speaks, I approached Erica Sara, from Erica Sara Designs to see if she would be willing to help me with a raffle. Erica Sara is an extremely talented jewelry designer from New York who happens to design the best race bling. She just did my necklace for the Tinker Bell Half and I don’t think I will ever take it off. Plus she will probably be doing all my presents from here on out. I am in love with all of her jewelry.

Erica Sara has been generous enough to donate a ½” sterling silver circle pendant on a silver cable chain with customizable engraving with whatever the winner wants.  You can get your race distance, inspirational words, initials, name, etc. See above for some examples. To get more inspiration you can check out her website or Facebook.

Here is how the raffle will work: click here and donate $5 to my cause.

  • $5 donation gets you 1 entry to win the necklace
  • $10 donation gets you 2 entries
  • $20 donation gets you 5 entries
  • $50 donation gets you 15 entries
  • $75 donation gets you 25 entries
  • $100 donation gets you 55 entries

If you spread the word on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, or email list leave a comment below telling me how you passed the word on and I will give you 1 additional entry for every way you spread the love*, after all the more the merrier.  And for all the guys out there, even if you don’t wear necklaces, this is the perfect gift for a girlfriend, sister, mom, grandma etc. I will choose a winner at random on Monday, March 12th.

Thank you in advance for all of your support, it means so much to me.

* You can only receive 1 additional entry  per Facebook post, Tweet, Blog post/mention, Tumblr post, and email blast even if you tweet multiple times or send out multiple emails. So that means you can receive up to a maximum of 5 additional entries.

Filed under: Running | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Part 2: Tinker Bell Half Marathon Recap

Posted on February 2, 2012 by kymarie13

So you probably noticed that it says part 2, and I don’t have a part 1. Well that is because it is coming, I figured after you read this, you may want to know how I went from never running, to training for a half marathon. So I am working on a post that will tell you all those fun details but in the meantime, you get part 2 which is all about the race… Enjoy.

After spending hours of looking at the back of my eyelids and not actually sleeping, I heard that annoying harp noise that comes out of my iPhone. 3:30am, it was time to wake up for my big debut, the Tinker Bell Half! I am not going to lie, I shot out of bed, I was pretty excited, not to mention the fact that I didn’t want to miss anything. Turns out that there really isn’t too much to miss until you are in you’re corral, but who knew? I threw on my Autism Speaks singlet, my Nike capri’s and my new Team Sparkle skirt and one arm warmer (don’t ask, I guess I thought it looked cool or only one of my arms was cold).

I also wore my fuel belt with two bottles, which also carried my phone so I could find my parents afterwards, my Nike + watch (which I LOVE), and a Halo headband I bought at the Health Expo the day before. I should tell you that headband was the best $30 I have ever spent on running equipment. It’s called the Halo Rhythm headband, it came with short-wired headphones and you attach a small music device like the Nike shuffle to the back of it. It was amazing! I didn’t have to fuss with anything on my arm and there were no wires in my way!  So now that you know how fashionably dressed I was lets move on to the race (if you don’t agree and you happen to be a stylist, thats great because I have been looking for one).

They asked us to be outside by 4:30am but it turns out since my hotel was at the start, I really didn’t need to be out until we were lining up in our corals at 5:15am, fail, oh well.  At 5:20am I was in my corral ready to go, my nerves were going crazy. Run Disney, had great race announcers and lit off fireworks during the Nation Anthem at the start of the race. Which was pretty cool seeing how I have never seen fireworks at the beginning of a race. Around 5:50am the race began (I was in corral C so we started about 10 minutes behind the start).

One of the most amazing things I found that Run Disney offered was live tracking during the race. At the 5K, 10K, 15K, and the finish my family got an email and text saying what my pace was and my projected finish time. Not too shabby if you ask me, it would also update your twitter and your Facebook if you wanted but I decided I didn’t want to do that for my first race, this race was just for me (sorry people, next time). Miles 1-4 were very fun, we were able to run through Disney Land in the dark which was pretty cool and they had Disney characters stationed everywhere. People would stop and line up to get their pictures but since this was my first race I didn’t want to stop even though the Pirates were very tempting.

Run Disney is a great race organizer, they had cameras everywhere and I made sure to run, skip, jump, and hop by every photographer and look as happy as possible. I actually got some pretty great pictures (thank you Bright Room, now if you could just lower your prices I would be super happy). At almost every mile outside of the park there was a cheerleading squad, dance team, marching band, or local band. It was amazing to have that kind of support while running and it always made you look forward to what was coming next. I stayed pretty strong all the way up until mile 9.5 and that’s when I started hitting mental walls, I knew I could keep running but sometimes, I let my head get the best of me and I would walk and then I would start-up again. Believe me this was a constant battle of me talking to myself but luckily I got through it with no one thinking I was crazy (or so I can only hope).

Finally at mile 12, we were back in the park at California Adventure and I knew I was close, but the last mile is NEVER close. I ran by a camera and I tried to do the number 12, turned out to be 21, I forgot it would be the reverse, fail. I feel like I was constantly looking for my finish and I never get there. Around 12.5 miles I found my family waiting for me, which was exactly what I needed to finish the race (I had one amazing cheering squad, my younger brother Nolen got up at 3:30 with me). Seeing the finish sign in the distance was unreal, I was finishing my first half marathon! I raised my hands and ran through the finish, to be honest I raised my hands because everyone else does it and I thought it would make for a good picture. Next time I need to come up with something super creative (if you have any ideas send me an email). I finished in 2:14:52, which is 8 seconds under what I put down as my estimated finish time. I am pretty happy with that and I know I can only get better from here.

I am so glad I chose a Disney race to be my first half it was an amazing experience that I will never forget. I learned so much about running in those 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 52 seconds that I didn’t learn while training and I am so excited for my next race. Which I should mention is the NYC Half Marathon on March 18th!!!! There was one spot left on the Autism Speaks team and I couldn’t pick a better team to be racing with, so here is to the start of another training adventure.

Filed under: Running | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Where have I been?

Posted on January 22, 2012 by kymarie13

A better question, would be where haven’t I run? For the past couple of months my life has followed a routine that I have come to love. I call it, “Sleep, Run, Eat, Work, Eat, Yoga, Eat, Sleep, Repeat”. If it was done in pictures it would look a little like this (and yes, I actually look like that while I am sleeping if you are wondering).

Running has become a huge part of my life and has helped me learn a lot about myself that I might have never taken the time to learn. It has taught me many valuable lessons like “How to not get bored while running for hours straight” and ” How to yell at yourself so you don’t stop running.” Ha, but in all seriousness have learned many lessons. I have learned how to keep a routine even when life gets hectic, will power, stamina, how to quite my thoughts, not give up even when it gets hard and what it really means to work for something.

Running would be much harder if it was not for my running buddy Katherine, who writes the blog Sweat, Passion, and Tears, she has been a savior through this whole training process and has made it much more entertaining than if I were alone. While I am training for my multiple half marathons this year (my first is next weekend!) she has been training for the Paris Marathon, yes you should all be jealous. Not only does she get to run 26.2 miles around Paris, France she can eat amazing crepes after, I know I am jealous. Katherine and I have run many different routes around the city, each weekend it’s a new task to try and find a new route (even though Katherine is really in charge of that).

I have gone through many phases during running. Some include:

  • “I need to buy everything in the running store” phase
  • “I need to have at least 8 pairs of running shoes” phase
  • “I will wear my leg compression sleeves even when I don’t need too” phase
  • “I will eat froyo after every run” phase
  • “Running in anything hot pink makes everything better” phase ( I don’t know if this one is going anywhere)
  • “I will bore people who don’t run, by talking about running non-stop” phase (I think I may still be on that phase)
  • And my favorite ”I like to take pictures of myself before I run” phase

Sadly I never thought I would get a chance to ever use those pictures but now I have a reason! For your viewing pleasure the short-lived phase of “Kristine Before the Run”.

I know they are very exciting. I have a feeling the only running pictures I will be taking are before and after races. So finally after all those phases, I have figured out what running means to ME and it feels great. Everyone has their own reasons for running and I promise we do not do it to torture ourselves. After the first couple of months it actually becomes fun. So that is what I have been up to for the past couple of months, and I just didn’t feel like there was anything really exciting that I should write about until now (if you didn’t think this was exciting just keep your thoughts to yourself ;) ).

Next weekend I will be running my first half marathon, the Tinker Bell Half in Disney Land. I am very excited and I will make sure to write all about it. I have a feeling 2012 is going to be a great year!

Filed under: Running | Tagged: , , , | 8 Comments »

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    Hello! My name is Kristine and I live and work in New York City. Since I have been here I have realized how hard it is to maintain a healthy balance while living in the City. Work starts to consume your life and you can get lost in everything around you.

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