NYC Half Marathon Report

Yesterday I ran the New York Road Runners NYC Half-Marathon. Despite the high temperatures and humidity it was a pretty good race for me. I had a personal record, but more importantly I made strides toward my personal goals.

I was feeling a bit frustrated with my running after the Brooklyn Half Marathon because I finished slower than I wanted and did it feeling generally miserable. Ideally you want to finish a race with a little burst of speed and not feeling like your turtle paced hobble is the fastest you can go. So my main goal for Manhattan was to finish feeling strong and like I could speed up for the last mile. I didn't have a very specific time goal, although I couldn't help but want to go as fast as possible in the given situation. I decided at the very least I would be satisfied with something faster than my previous time of 2:17:28.

My strategy was to run Central Park as conservatively as possible, so not too slow but also careful not to blow everything on those hills. Then if I felt comfortable I would try to speed up going through Times Square and again in the last couple miles to the finish. Basically, when I got to Time Square I wanted to visualize I was starting a 10K race and the last three miles I visualized it was a 5K race.

In practice, it did not work out that way exactly. Although, I think the visualizing did help me maintain my momentum because I never felt like my engine dropped out completely the way it did in Brooklyn. I ran exactly the way I wanted in Central Park. I took those hills without dropping my inner tempo like they were just part of the course. I was fortunate to get in some killer altitude/hill training last month while vacationing in the dolomites. Also, I think the Bikram yoga helped for acclimating to the New York humidity.

My only big surge of speed came through Time Square. Holy crap was that AWESOME! There were musicians playing on almost every block. The musicians each had their own banners with their names on them flying high. I was in Heaven. Just the sounds coming from the guitars and drums and voices as I passed filled me with ecstasy. Performing is such a high, musicians are always pushing energy out to their audience and as a runner it's like you can take that energy and do something with it. It was fantastic. Of course I had the added motivation that maybe next year or in another similar situation I could get "Lady Southpaw" up on one of those banners and I could be performing and giving boosts of energy to runners. I started hauling it down Seventh Ave with a huge burst of adrenaline. Of course I had to try to participate in the "Mama Mia" sing-a-long as I rounded the corner onto 42nd Street. I couldn't help but get a little choked up thinking about my younger self back in high school in the Midwest who was so in love with Broadway theatre and the young woman fresh out of college first moving to the city and this journey I've been on since. Yes, this is what I want a big running event to bring out of me. I want that sense of awe that I can accomplish things that I work for and that I am part of this big celebration with others achieving their goals. Not everyone around me was having a great time, at this point I had to weave around a girl who looked like she was about to spew gatorade and GU without breaking her stride. It can't be wonderful every time but at that moment I was having the time of my life.

The last leg of the race went down West Side Highway to Battery Park. This was probably the most disappointing part of the race for me. The website made it sound like the party was going to continue with Capoeira (which I adore and was really looking forward to) and Samba dancers and DJ's all the way to the end. Unfortunately I think the dancers had packed up or were on a break and though there were some hard working DJ's and a couple of bands they were a bit too few and far between. There were long lulls of nothingness and because it was the last leg I kept thinking I was closer to the end then I actually was. As a result my energy started to wain for the first time. Also, my achilles started to hurt which was a completely new phenomenon for me and made me worry. Ironically, the achilles thing also made me realize other things that were going well. My IT bands and knees were not hurting which made me very pleased. Also, typically by the end of these races my stomach usually starts clamming up and afterwards I feel like I can't eat for hours. This time my stomach was not tied in a knot! This was the first race I used my fuel belt. In the past I use it for training but thought it looked too dorky to wear in a race with all the fluid stations. So, I think it was the Gatorade that was causing the aches. This race seemed to prove it because I brought my own electrolyte drink, which by the way was Propel so it's not like I have anything against the Gatorade brand it was just all the sugar and stuff in the regular formula.

I did manage to power through the last 800 meters and crossed the finish line with a net time of 2:11:26 a full 6 minutes faster than Brooklyn! Mission accomplished. Now, I wonder if I could cut that down even further next time? The journey continues...

Running Rock Resource

I recently came across the article, "The Nike Experiment: How the Shoe Giant Unleashed the Power of Personal Metrics" in Wired Magazine. The article describes the phenomenon of "Living by the Numbers--the ability to gather and analyze data about yourself setting up a feedback loop that we can use to upgrade our lives, from better health to better habits to better performance." The concept that feedback can elevate your performance is one of the core principles of the "Flow," a theory by happiness psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Basically, the theory is that people who are happy tend to get that way because they do things they enjoy and feel in control of. A key way to get there is by earning positive feedback. This is similar to "being in the zone" in sports because that happens when you are performing at the peak of your ability. In this case it is the the numbers (pace, distance, running frequency) that are telling you when you are improving.

The article explains that as people upload data into the Nike+ network they become hooked. There are many effective elements, watching the data, the online community, the challenges and the goals. The Nike+ Apple union is a great gateway drug for running. They are tapping into something that goes deep. There is a whole other element to its success that the article barely even touches on. In order to use Nike+ you have to also be using an iPod. Those 1.2 million runners had to spend 130 million miles listening to something. There is also a hunger for a good soundtrack. So, I take over where Wired left off and present some useful resources I have found for running music, including a tried and tested playlist.

The Nike+ store has started including a section for the "SportMusic" blog. Conversely on iTunes you can now make "Sport iMixes." Runner's World uses Sport iMixes for a series called Music is Motivation with playlists of elite athletes such as Deena Kastor, Andrew Wheating, and Kara Goucher.

When you are in sync with a song while running it is a very similar feeling to the ecstasy of nailing a song as a musician because you are synchronizing movement to something bigger and you can feel it. It's the same reason why Guitar Hero can be gratifying. If you become one with the beat the fact that you can stay on top of it is the positive internal feedback.

The problem with so many of the songs being pushed forward in "running mixes" is that they are all over the map in terms of pace. Even when you are not trying to run directly to the beat, a powerful rhythm can still have an effect so it is important to be conscious of it. Popular songs are frequently around 120 or 130 b.p.m., which is terrible for running.

If you are running strictly to the rhythm of a song it is your steps and relative arm swing that are syncing. Since your legs tend to match what your arms are doing I suggest that you use your arms to find the beat. This will keep them engaged and hopefully avoid your feet stomping it out. Light quick steps are best. If you count the steps of one foot for one minute you will get a number that could range from 70 to 100. If you double that you can get a good idea of what b.p.m. (beat per minute) will naturally match your stride.

There are podcasts that are especially geared to running with music. Jog Tunes Indie usually goes through a set of songs that range of tempos with Dr. Bob Marcus explaining them as you go. Podrunner DJ Steve Boyett takes one tempo and goes with it electronica style. Then the Indie Soup Runner's Edition with Cecil Smith tackles all things Indie. There are also sites with extended mixes that do a good job of helping you choose a tempo like Hellasound and run2rhythm.

It turns out that most elite and experienced runners have the same average stride rate: 180 steps per minute. If you do any reading on this subject you will see this number come up a lot. One renowned coach and exercise physiologist who did a comprehensive study is Jack T. Daniels, PhD, who said, "I try to save runners a lot of grief by encouraging them to convert to a stride rate associated with less landing shock and more efficient use of energy."

I have been doing a lot of experimenting with this idea and have found that you can still run really slowly at 180 b.p.m. It becomes more about nailing down your form with a short quick stride, then when you want to speed up you put on the gas. It is the force you are pushing off with that will speed you up (and lengthen your stride.) However, your cadence and basic form should stay smooth and consistent. I have found the quick stride makes it easier to go faster when you want to. I explain this more here.

Music has the potential to be effective tool in your training. If you can tap into the tempo and maintain it you can develop a more efficient stride. That efficient use of energy will help you feel on top of your running for longer periods. It a form of internal positive feedback to help you achieve your running high. Let music can be your guide in that. It certainly beats running with a metronome as suggested by ChiRunner, Danny Dreyer.

I put together a Sport iMix incorporating some Lady Southpaw songs. I was so disappointed not to be able to include some of my favorite artists because they didn't have the right tempo, but it furthers my point that there is a need for more music with the running experience in mind! There are several programs out there for analyzing tempos but I used the very unscientific method of tapping it out on my amp. Therefore this is not a perfect 180 bpm mix, but all of these songs are in the neighborhood and when I tested it they all worked pretty well. Enjoy!

Song #6 - So Cold

Back in the US-s... A

I had a fantastic time trekking the Italian Dolomites. While we were there they were declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

It was great to go with a member of a huge Italian family. Everyone spoiled us rotten with their kindness. I think I ate my weight in gelato, pasta, polenta, wine and cheese, oh so much cheese. So yea, the carb loading part of my training is covered, just roll me to start line of the Manhattan Half Marathon.

While I was gone ReverbNation invited me to participate in a Microsoft sponsored promotion that offers free downloads from unsigned artists. The artists get paid when their track gets downloaded. Since I was away from the internet I didn't push it too hard; so I was shocked to come back and find I already hit my cap! That means enough people downloaded it that I'm getting paid the maximum amount possible for this campaign. How cool is that? I won't be paid for further downloads but if people keep downloading it next time I could earn a higher cap. I encourage you to check it out at this url:

http://www.myspace.com/windows?homepage=ladysouthpaw

The song I chose for the promotion is called "So Cold." It is the last of the 6 Songs For Running to be written up on this blog. Actually, it was the first song I wrote for this project way back in February when trying to run in the frigid cold was high on my mind. I put it third in track order but it was my first official attempt at writing to the tempo of 180 beats per minute, the "optimal cadence for peak performance."

Which reminds me, my running pal Jess pointed me toward this running music article that was in the NY Times while I was away. It sites some of the players in the growing trend of making music for running. Jack Tupper Daniels the elite running coach and exercise physiologist responsible for the concept of the optimal cadence for peak performance has teamed up with musician Patrick Crowden to create a running music training program. Hellasound was also reviewed. I've been passively stalking them on twitter since their first running release a few months ago so it was cool to see them get some good press. Overall the article was further encouragement that there is a place for music that is conscious of the running experience and still plenty of room for growth. I already have tons of ideas churning for the next set of running songs that I am writing so it's exciting to get back to work on this.

Good news! If you want to add any of the Songs for Running to your running playlist they are now available for download on iTunes, Amazon, Napster, emusic, and Rhapsody. If you take them for a run, please let me know how it goes. Your feedback will help me in writing the new songs.

Thanks!
ladysouthpawmusic(at)gmail(dot)com

Running Song #5: Why I Run

All this packing is making my brain soft (I'm going away for a month see blog from 6/12.) Instead of leaving my blog on a marketing note, I'd rather leave it with a song. The song "Why I Run" has a special place in my heart. It is the most basic, stripped down song in the set. It's just guitar, a beat and my vocals. I was inspired to write it after reading a blog by my friend Lela titled, Why I Run. I am always touched by stories from runners who run for something bigger than just looking fit or being fast (not that there's anything wrong with either of those things.) It has become a great way shed light on causes and lost loved ones by participating in a running event and raising money for charity while doing it. There is a whole higher level of strength that is drawn from making something emotional into a social and physical event. It is so healing.

When I started to get into the song I wanted to focus on some one in my life that I draw strength from when I feel weak (on runs and in life) and it got me thinking about my Dad. Thank god, he's still with us and in good health (knocking vigorously on wood right now) but in my early days of running when I wanted to quit I would think of my Dad, his discipline and how he would approach difficult moments. Then I'd know that I had to hang in through those parts.

It's on those runs where you overcome your mental barriers and face the tough stuff that you have the most rewarding breakthroughs.

Songs For Running on Amazon

I'm pleased to announce that the Songs For Running E.P. is live for sale on Amazon!

Check it out:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002C3OT82/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

And if you really want to support independent music there are t-shirts too ;)

Song #4 - Get Out of My Head - and other musings

I have been a bit out of it lately. Last week I had to go home to Michigan for the double whammy of High School reunion and my cousin's wedding. It was fun but exhausting because it meant seeing people I had not seen in a long time and also introducing my boyfriend Chris to some of my extended family for the first time.

Next week I am leaving for a month long trip to Italy to see the town where Chris' family is from originally. It is a very remote town in the northern Italian mountains (more Sound of Music than Roman Holiday, I'm told.) It will be exciting but isolated so we may not have any connection to the internet. I have decided to consider it a social networking detox. Don't worry, "I'll be back." ;)

Today I am posting the song "Get Out of My Head." I wrote most of the lyrics after I came home from a night drinking and Chris was on business trip, so take it how you will, haha. The tempo is 180 beats per minute.

Here are a couple pics I snapped when I was at home. One is of my parents dog, Leo (he's a labrador retriever.) I LOVE this dog. We really bonded after I graduated from and was home for the summer. I was so burned out and totally clueless about what direction to go with my life. He was barely full grown and the first time we went for a walk he drew my blood because he pulled so hard on the leash going after another dog. I made it my mission to whip him into shape. The long walks became a very meditative process for me as I mentally sorted things out. It was so hard for me to leave him when I moved to New York. I took him for walks this last week like I do every time I visit and we fell into all of our old patterns as if no time had passed. It really made me look forward to a living situation where I can get a dog.

To leave you with "a moment of zen," here is a random shot I took right after some rainfall. I thought the robin on the branch was appropriate because it is Michigan's state bird.

Brooklyn Half Marathon Report

OK, I am coming clean today. I am not a fast or competitive runner. I have been running pretty consistently for the past decade (2 times on a bad week 4 or 5 times on a good one) it's very rare for me to get through a week without running unless I am really sick. I love to run on my vacations and I haven't had an injury to hold me back (aside from post marathon stiffness that had me out for awhile.) Still I have never been serious about time goals and I was very reluctant to get involved with racing. Last year when I started training for a marathon was the first time I entered a race of any kind. Through Team in Training I did a 5k, a 5 mile, and the 18 mile marathon tune-up race with the New York Road Runners Club as part of the marathon training program. It was very strange to see my running performance broken down to a series of numbers next to my name. Numbers completely freak me out, in general objective data measuring me tends to make my inner 8 year old cower. That's why I've always been a fan of the arts. I like that it usually isn't measured in any empirical way. There are no points or rankings. It makes it much easier to delude yourself about how talented you are.

Anyway, my running buddy Jess got a new watch. So she timed our splits. I think it really pushed us to keep our pace and as a result we finished in around the time I was hoping we would. The pace was about 10 and a half minutes per mile and the total time was just over 2 and a quarter hours. Whatever time I finished with was going to be a personal record because this was my first half marathon on record. As a result I was fine with it.

At one point Jess recommended I get the watch because I would like it too and I joked, "Me and time really aren't such tight friends if anything we are just casual acquaintances."

Ughh, thus the sad truth making me squirm as I write this. Overall the race was not what I hoped it would be because of the way I felt at the end of it. Had it not been for the watch I certainly would have slowed down in order to feel more comfortable. I am glad that I didn't because I also felt that ideally I could have run it faster (given my times on shorter distances.) So I am left wanting to run another one with more conscious time goals.

I can make excuses about how I felt like I was over-heating (I swear every time I looked at the weather report it said low 60's and cloudy which would have been fine for the black running t-shirt, it was an awesome shirt by the way except that it was turned out to be so freaking hot.) Or that I was distracted by the fact that I couldn't find my boyfriend in the crowd in Prospect Park. Also, the water stops were seriously under-staffed which made that process more stressful because I really needed the water. The truth is in that last mile I felt like I wanted to die and had to let my running buddy Jess charge ahead without me. My engine dropped out from under me as I struggled to the finish line. When I saw Chris in the final stretch beaming at me and trying to run beside me with his video camera it made me want to break down and cry right there for ever doubting him.

When I finished my marathon last fall I was extremely emotional at the end out of euphoria for finishing. This weekend I felt the same wave of intense emotion but it was because I felt so awful and wrong about things. It was the ugly side of my human competitive nature that tends to make me want to shy away from the whole thing. I don't have the drive or natural talent to be a super fast runner but that doesn't stop me from feeling so weak in the face of inadequacies. My goal has always been to not worry about that stuff and just try to run strong. So therefore I didn't make my goal. Although the end number itself didn't upset me the feeling of defeat at the end did and the knowledge that had I not been conscious of the time I would have run it much slower made me see the possibility of using numbers as more of a help while training and not such a hindrance while racing.

Reading other people's blogs it comforts me to find that these ambivalent feelings are pretty universal among runners regardless of pace. The fact is it's not always a good high, you are going to occasionally have a "bad trip." As far as my music goes I am not discouraged. I want to be able to articulate all those hills and valleys, that's what art is all about. It also works to my advantage that there is a consistent inherent tempo for running regardless of your speed.

One last thought on the music front. I am not an advocate for racing with headphones but I was really surprised by how many ipods I saw out there! I sang a few songs in my head which I think helped a bit during the hard parts because I never actually stopped running except at the water stations. Also, a Ting Tings song was blasting over the finish line when I crossed which was awesome because I have a definite soft spot for The Ting Tings.

Now that it's done I don't regret anything (except not communicating a better place for Chris to stand in Prospect Park.) I still love running and want to keep training for races. Although I also want to re-evaluate some of my mental hang ups about time and get more friendly with it.