Ran with S & K this morning, small group showed up to give our legs a little workout after the half yesterday. We definitely took it easy, keeping the conversation going the whole time.

Distance: 5.35 miles
State of Mind: It's a beautiful day, who cares how I feel. I need to learn how to look at the bigger picture.

Ran the Brooklyn Half this morning. I was really excited & quite nervous about this race, mainly because I knew I didn't feel quite recovered from the Santa Ynez Half earlier this month. But I also wanted to make my club proud & run a good time on our home turf.

It was quite amazing to see almost 12,000 runners in Prospect Park, but for me, I felt like NYRR did a good job of handling the insanity. I met up with K, B & J prior to the race, which was a nice distraction.

I tried to run a smart race, but I just don't think my legs had it in them to give me a PR. I worked really hard to not push it too hard on the mini & full loop of the park, hoping to have left myself with enough to push it hard once we started heading down to Coney Island but I knew after mile 8 that I just didn't feel 100%. I tried to push myself by thinking of Lebron's game on Thursday night, trying to think about how amazing it would be to run a PR on my home turf & listening to the ever-inspiring music of Katy Perry & Kanye West (kidding). I had a turning point when my mind couldn't get my body to speed up, even though I wanted it so bad.

Miles 9-12 were a struggle but I held a pace that would have put me under 1:40 which is what I was looking for. At mile 12.5, right when we got onto the Coney Island boardwalk, my body just shut down & I pulled over to puke. I puked about 3 or 4 more times as I tried to focus on pulling myself together. I think I pulled off to the side for about 2.5 minutes, which was really disappointing but I physically had no choice.

It was great to hang out with the crew after the race. We even jumped into the ocean for a brief second before taking the long subway ride back to the hood. I walked back on 7th avenue with S & K, stopping along the way to enjoy the day.

Distance: 13.1 miles at 1.42.44 + 2 mile warm up & a 1 mile warm down
State of Mind: Slowly accepting that I am nothing but average

Went to yoga with R & J tonight, I could tell right from walking into the studio that tonight was going to be great. Ali was loudly playing music, energizing the room with her own spirit. Practice was definitely aggressive, we did some crazy group work tonight involving flipping partners over our backs. It is strange how strong & in control your body can be.

Distance: n/a
State of Mind: Yoga can't fix all my problems, but it sure can help

Got stuck on the C train on my way home from work today & ended up missing the group run. I got out of the train at 7:08pm & seriously rushed as hard as I could to try to catch up with them...but I was too far back. I ended up running down to the finish of the speed series 5k, talked to a couple of PPTC folks & heading back up to GAP to meet up with the group. I surprisingly stayed very calm throughout the whole debacle, which I was proud of.

Afterwards, a bunch of us met up at Bar Sepia for a few drinks. Of course, with no food, I got drunk very easily. I am way too vulnerable when I am a little toasty. S, K & C came over afterwards for pizza & the LA v Denver game, I never get tired of spending time with such great people.

Distance: 4 miles
State of Mind: More running, less drinking

Right as I was leaving work it started to mist, but it was the last speed session for the season. Just when I thought the weather had changed, we are once again reminded about the variety of storms that NYC treats us with.

Coach wanted us to do hydrants about the park tonight...at 50% ability. Ran most of the way with C & M, they are both such excellent runners. Just kept thinking about the Brooklyn half this Saturday, really started to get nervous.

Distance: 5 miles running, 4 miles biking
State of Mind: Hold back, hold back

Met up with the group today, dragged my lil bro Trisquit along to enjoy the park as well. He rode my girly bike & was instantly bored by the group -- unfortunately he didn't think one of the runners was fun or interesting enough to talk to. Per Ami, we did the outside of the park. It can be so nice to mix things up sometimes.

Distance: 5.75 miles
State of Mind: So happy to have Tris in town

Felt extremely drained from my long duties of tourism guide for the Kombol family yesterday that I contemplated skipping today's run. But the competitor & socializer in me won the argument. Met the group at our usual spot & B decided we should go over the Brooklyn bridge as a group. Most everyone was there today, I have to say that I feel truly fortunate to run with such amazing people -- everyone brings something light, enjoyable & unique to the group.

We ended up do Manhattan bridge as well, but H, S & I cut back on Mrytle so they could go the gym on Bedford. I was happy to be feeling better towards the end of the run, the first few miles were a little challenging for me. The heat & the lack of proper fueling really alters my strength.

I still feel more tired than I want to be for the upcoming Brooklyn half, but I will TRY my hardest this week to just chill out.

Distance: 8.9 miles
State of Mind: I will NOT complain about the heat, goodbye Winter