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Week Four

I managed to nail all of my training goals this past week:

I was up and at ’em three mornings in a row during the work week (which would not have happened without Suzanne as a running partner — thanks!) , including a speed workout on Thursday morning. Since I don’t have access to a track nearby, I decided to do this one on a treadmill at my gym: 5 repeats of 400 meters at my 5K race pace, interspersed by slow jogging or walking. I am nothing if not a steady runner — I can pretty much keep a consistent pace throughout a long run without much of a problem — so doing short sprints broken up with a little walking was actually pretty entertaining (call me crazy).

And this morning I did a great 7 mile run with Suzanne and Dave. We had to be a little creative to fit the mileage in — which included running up to Prospect Park, alongside the outside of the park along Prospect Park West, entering the park at 15th Street, doing a full loop, and running home the same way we got there. We kept our eyes out for all the water fountains because of the heat and made pretty good use of them.

Good times. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and see where it takes me!

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Race Report: New York Mini 10K

Back in 1972, the New York Mini 10K was the first women’s only road race. It was founded in part by Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially enter and run the Boston Marathon. She was able to enter that race in 1967 only because of an oversight on the entry form — there was no place to indicate your sex, simply because people did not think it was possible for women to run marathons.

This morning in Central Park, there were 5,000 women ready to run the race that Kathrine Switzer helped to found, and she was there at the start line to cheer us on. The temperature was not high, but with 70% humidity, it was like running through a steam bath.

We started at W. 63rd St. and ran north along Central Park West for a little over a mile. My problem is that I actually line up at the start in my correct pace group, so that my first couple miles of every race is spent dodging walkers and slower runners who, for whatever reason (ignorance? poor etiquette?), line themselves up with the 7 or 8-minute milers. Don’t get me wrong, I support everyone in the sport of running (or walking), but if you’re going to run in a race with thousands of other people, learn the rules of the road and own up to your actual pace! There’s this fancy piece of technology called a time chip — it won’t start timing you until you cross the start line, so starting ahead of your pace group does NOT mean you will have a faster finish time. I am not a speedy runner myself (the winner ran twice as fast as me), but at least I have enough respect to create room for those that run faster.

Okay, moving on. We entered the park at W. 90th St. and continued heading north along the “big loop“. I love hitting Central Park’s northern hills from the clockwise direction — so much easier! I felt super great (despite sweating buckets) for the first three miles and was moving along at a decent enough pace. After about Mile 4, the humidity started taking its toll. I managed to keep up the same pace, but it felt a lot harder. Around Mile 5, I was feeling a little dizzy from losing all those electrolytes, but kept pushing on until the end.

I am pretty happy with my finish time, especially given the crazy humidity. I love running races with my friends, but for some reason, whenever I run races on my own (like today), I tend to run a little faster. I suspect it’s because I don’t need to keep up my end of a conversation and can pick it up a bit.

Either way, the finish line was a mass of sweaty people. Not a dry woman in the crowd. I felt pretty great, and I still do. A good reminder that races are a fantastic way to increase your motivation while you’re in the midst of training!

P.S. And here’s a shout out to my friend Emily, who’s currently training for her second triathlon!

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Random 8

I was tagged today by jo_annie in Hawaii for this meme, so here are…

8 Random Facts About Me

1. I’ve only had a cell phone for the last 3 years. Yep, before that life was all about home phones and answering machines and actually making detailed plans on where to meet up with friends.

2. With all the chaos around tuberculosis these days, maybe you’d be curious to know that I had a positive skin test for TB. I spent a year working for an AIDS clinic in Uganda in 1999, and many of our clients had active TB. Plus, a friend of mine worked at the TB clinic across the street, and I would go and hang out with him once in awhile. I had a negative chest x-ray, but had to take 9-month course of Isoniazid just to be sure to kill off anything that could potentially develop into TB. That stuff is toxic for your liver, and is the reason why I can’t take Tylenol anymore, but better safe than sorry.

3. I can’t whistle. Don’t ask me why.

4. For about half a year in 2002, I had cherry red and platinum highlights.

5. No matter how much I travel, domestically or internationally, I always have to get to the airport freakishly early in order to avoid an overwhelming sense of anxiety that I’m going to miss my flight. This is sometimes tempered by traveling with my opposite-minded boyfriend. Once when flying to Seattle, we heard over the intercom, “Will passengers Mandi and Daniel please board at Gate 9? Your flight is ready to depart.” We’re working on finding a compromise somewhere in the middle.

6. The only thing I’ve ever had stolen, both at home and during my travels, was a battery-operated alarm clock that I foolishly had sitting visibly in the front mesh pocket on my backpack in Kigali, Rwanda. It was either taken while I was wearing my backpack, or when the backpack with in the back of our matatu with the other bags and cargo (and a chicken). Maybe the chicken lost her rooster?

7. If I’m in a deep subway station and I see a set of stairs next to an escalator, I ALWAYS have to take the stairs. Even if it’s 4 or 5 flights, even if I’m tired, even if I’m wearing heals. I think it’s a mixture of pride and stupidity that makes me do this.

8. My Dad used to (okay, maybe still does, once in a while) call me Mandirella.

The Directions

“Each player posts eight random facts/habits about him/herself and then tags eight other bloggers to participate. In turn, the folks who are tagged write a post listing their own eight facts/habits, along with these rules, and then tag eight more people . . . and so on.

Each blogger must list the eight people they are tagging, and visit their sites, leaving a comment notifying them that they have been tagged and inviting them to read your entry.”

And I’m Tagging…

1. Tyson & Traci

2. Travel With Emily

3. Schipegan

4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Whoever else reads this blog and hasn’t already given a go at the 8 Random Facts!

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Infections and Inequalities (cont’d)

In follow-up to my earlier post about a needle exchange program in Washington, D.C. called Prevention Works, here’s what Kristen has to say about the reaction they’ve received to that front page article:

“The article attracted a lot of attention and as of Friday we had gotten over $4,300 in donations as a response to the article. Over 30 supporters sent in donations from as far away as California and Maine, in amounts ranging from $25 to $1,000. It is really amazing to see this kind of support for a program so close to my heart.”

Also, click here for a great to-the-point editorial in today’s NY Times called “Congress Hobbles the AIDS Fight,” and then take note of one correction from Kristen:

“We don’t actually turn anyone away. Our problem is that resource constraints mean that we’re not able to serve everyone that could benefit from our services.”

I’m glad to see awareness being raised, and hopefully soon (to quote the editorial), we can start to “let public health officials save lives.”