I'm making burgers baby! mmmmm

September 15 Movie Night "Without Limits" @ 6:30pm @ Bob's apt.
Snacks + drinks will be served at 6:30pm. Dinner to follow @ 7pm. Movie begins @ 7:15pm.

I will be making:

Some good old American grub to honor American running superstar Steve Prefontaine, the subject of our feature film!

MAIN COURSE:
Burgers (and veggie burgers on request) - we runners need our protein!
Sweet Potato Fries - for those oh-so-crucial carbs before our runs.
Salad w/homemade balsamic dressing - let's not forget our veggies.

DRINK:
Homemade lemon/lime gingerale - help aid digestion with a boost of Vitamin C and ginger tang.
Soda, water & Gatorade will also be provided - must keep hydrated!

DESSERT:
Jell-o Jigglers! - yeah Bill Cosby! what can be more American than that?!
And fruit for topping - oh so healthy...and yummy:)

Email Bob Scofield at bobscof@gmail.com to make sure there is still room.

Capacity is 25 and there are only 14 spots left so act quickly!

Then log into my donation page and donate $20. My number is 57823 and my last name is Landers. $5 will be asked at the door so I don't go broke buying all this food!

You don't want to miss a great night of movie watching, cool people, and of course, a full belly of yummy food! Hope to see you there, and of course, non-runner friends are welcome too! ;)

Practice in the Rain

So I was obviously not thinking straight this morning because I decided to pack my brand new running shoes for practice after work (since I think I pretty much outran the old ones after the 1/2). I threw them in my bag AND I biked to work. As I got to work, of course it started raining ALL day. Great... my bike is outside getting wet and I am wearing new shoes for practice tonight AND I'm biking 43 blocks uptown IN the rain. Fantastic. Oh well.

At 6pm I head up to 90th St. on my bike. It's not pleasant and I'm being extra careful with the rush hour traffic. I make it to practice early and see my finishing partner in the 1/2, coach Deana. The others start trickling in and before I knew it, it was 6:45 and we were off jogging on our warmup.

We did an extensive stretch exercise and worked on our running forms til about 8:15. From there, coach Alem took over and we headed up to the reservoir track for two loops around which were divided into warm up/race pace runs then jogs throughout. It was hard! I think I started off way too fast with my pace group and so I lost some of my energy later on and ended up falling a little behind. Oh well.

BUT, this was my first time running around the reservoir! I know, with all this running you'd think I'd have made it up there by now. It was great though. Slightly eary when I found myself running all alone in the dark. I just kept telling myself, I have a loud scream and there are enough team members behind me and ahead of me, I will be ok!!!

The view was amazing though! Although I wish I could have enjoyed it more but I was looking down most of the time trying to avoid the puddles (not too successfully). The shoes have had quite an initiation. My feet were burning by then end and I blamed it on them of course! But I'm trying to toughen myself up and push myself. These practices are difficult but I know it's all going to pay off...I hope!

The end was a light cool down jog down to the bridge and back. It was pretty dark at that point and I was alone, so when I got to the bridge, Bob was there waiting for people and he ran back with me and another girl. Thanks Bob! :)



We ended with some stretches and that concluded Tuesday night's practice. I feel pretty good now...after a nice hot shower and under my big blanket all DRY!

Nike 1/2 Marathon

I did it!

The alarm went off at 4:30am and I jumped out of bed (yes I know, very unlike me) and started getting my stuff together:

• race bib #6039
• wallet w/metro card
• Body Glide (a must)
• Gatorade - rasberry lemonade
• fuel belt of course
• cliff bar (breakfast!)
• Aleve
• chapstick
• keys
• umbrella
• raincoat
• long sleeve RISD shirt (for after)
• extra shirt for after
• band aids
• hair brush
• my TFK sweat band!
• sneakers + chip


I walked out of my room and noticed the light in the hallway was on. Then I heard something and it was Moulsari my roomate! She was JUST getting home from a night of partying and dancing! Wow, as she was ending her Saturday I was beginning my Sunday, too funny.

So I made it to the subway and as I stepped in when the train came there were already two runners I noticed, when I got off at 86th st, pretty much everyone else getting off was a runner. So no problem in finding where I needed to be, just follow the masses!

Found the team at 6am on the 102nd St transverse in Central Park. After getting organized and stretched, we were on the pavement at around 6:20 for our first 3 miles. We finished at the starting point of the race, did some more stretching , regrouped with our pace groups and were off.

The run was going fine and then, it started drizzling about 40 minutes in. Shortly after that it pretty much downpoured! We were drenched. I have to say though, it was pretty refreshing and nice. Of course my feet swimming in my shoes were not the most comfortable feeling. The rain died down pretty quickly and from there on it was about dodging the large puddles.

At about 55 minutes we were heading out of the park. That was really exciting since the crowd was out there cheering us on and it was also the end of the hills of Central Park! Time Square quickly approached and I realized Silvia must be close. Turns out, I ran right past her a few minutes back so she had to jump onthe subway to catch up with me later!

I LOVE YOU SILVIA!!!! My die hard fan! ;)

Time Square was awesome. Running under all the lights and past an orchestra at Carnegie Hall was just amazing. All with no yellow cabs in sight. So great.

At mile 10 (which was really about 13 for me) I started feeling pretty tired in my legs. That's when I got a little worried and nervous about not finishing strong. But Jenny and Kelly were right by my side (the pace group sort of split up from before) and they were great.

I also knew Silvia was coming up in the crowd so that was exciting. Since we missed each other uptown I made sure to see her this time. With the help of my cell phone we united for a brief 15 seconds at Canal Street. I gave her a big sweaty hug and she gave me the last bit of energy I needed to cross that finish line! THANKS SILLY!!!

And with the help of Jenny reminding me we only had 20 minutes left (and what is 20 minutes after an hour and a half?!), I kept up pretty much til the end. At mile 11, our pace group leader and some of the other guys appeared and we regrouped. They started running warm up pace (about 30 sec faster than our commute pace of 9:30) at around 1 hour and 55 minutes and at that point, I just could not give any more than what I was giving. So I stayed at my pace.

As I came up to the sign saying I had 800 meters left, I picked it up and caught up with Dana, one of our coaches. She kept me going and at the 400 meters left mark, I picked it up more with whatever I had left and finished with a time of 2:02! So I ran faster than my 9:30 pace which is great, and makes sense since I was doing commute + warm up pace throughout the run.

Silvia met me at the finish area. It was so great to have someone there cheering me on and waiting for me at the end. We walked up to the subway, stopped for a quick photo and then headed back home.




DONE! I know, long entry, but long run, I just had to write about it! :)

Sunday's weather...rain rain rain

So the nice casual picnic in the park is not looking too good afterall. C'est la vie. At least it wil be a nice cool temperature for us runners!

Also, for those of you who want to watch the run, it will be aired on ABC channel 7 at 7am.

Check out the commercial. The editing is emaculate and the casting is perfection. I also love the stress on random words throughout the sentences, it really keeps me motivated throughout the 30 second spot. And don't blink at the end, there is an amazing group jump. WATCH me run!

Nike 1/2 marathon + 2.9 miles-come watch me!

So this Sunday will be my first real experience in a large race in NYC. I get to run through Time Square! So I will be getting my first preview of what is to come this November 5. Of course my team doesn't think 13.1 miles is long enough so we are running 2.9 prior to the race for a total of 16. This will be my longest run to date. After 14 last week, I'm a little more at ease about this run.

For those of you early birds and die hard fans:

The course will BEGIN at 7am on Central Park's East Drive (near 87th Street; enter the park at Engineer's Gate at 90th Street). The FINISH is on West Street near Rector Street and Battery Park.

I am attaching the map of the course so you all can start plotting out where you will be for the sidelines! ;) I will be running a 9:30 pace so I hope to finish in a little over 2 hours. But who knows, depending on heat/humidity/my will power!....we shall see!

Also, if you plan on sleeping in Sunday morning (I don't blame you!), I will making it over to Sheeps Meadow in the afternoon (post shower of course). So anyone interested in some good company, snacks, drinks, you will find me LAYING down somewhere in the lawn. Call me if you're around!

The Map:

Also can be downloaded at here.

14 miles=jello legs

I made it! I can't believe I actually did it. I have a huge feeling of relief knowing I made it the whole route and... no more running! well... for 2 days. Back to practice on Tuesday. So I left my apt at 5:30am today and was up at Rockefeller Park at 7am. Ahhh, I know, wayyyy too early for a Sunday Morning. We brought some snacks along with the rest of our 9:30 pace group. (the donuts seemed to be a big hit). I also brought these new Cliff Gels I found, I'm a little sceptical a gel substance can be at all satisfying, but I put it in my fuel belt for the run. Too bad all of Manhattan seems to be out of shot bloks, those things rock! Yes, I know, all these athlete foods, really weird, I'm still getting used to them and learning which ones I actually don't mind. Energy beans are next on the list! (Found at Dylan's Candy Store!). Now that sounds yummy. May have to buy some regular good old fashion candy as well. :)


Can't seem to upload my pics from my cell at the moment, but I did take some of the trail, so I'll post those soon. We passed cows people! It was great. And pigs. And lots of people riding horses. Gotta watch out for the horse droppings! My shoes are black anyway, (they WERE white when I got up there). Oh well.


All in all, a very fun run and I'm very glad it's over! ;)

Getting nervous

I'm getting nervous about running 14 miles this Sunday. That is insanity. How is that physically possible? This morning's run with Adam was ok, slightly better than Tuesdays, but I'm still struggling. And that was just 6! I don't know, I really don't know. This can't be healthy...

3 bridges in one run

Yup, 3 bridges! That would be the brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge. I felt like I was going to die.


Ok, not that bad but I took it easy last week, a little too easy, and today it felt like I hadn't run in years! Man, the minute you go easy on training, your body gets used to it! Anyway, I discovered I can take pics with my camera phone on my runs so I can post photos here as well! I know you are all dying to see my super fun runs. ;)


And p.s. most of the pics are my consistent view of Adam's sexy behind. I am the one panting in the back.

So much for foot modeling ...

Maybe it's the weather, or the fact that my work schedule is so unpredictable, but I'm just so sluggish today. That and my sleep cycle. I haven't ran since Saturday but I'm heading to the gym now for some urban rebounding and pilates. Love those classes. Then hopefully an early morning run tomorrow with Kelly and Adam. I'm a little worried about a 12 mile run on my own this weekend. I won't be able to make the run with the team this Saturday since I will be in Ridgefield for Jon + Barbara's's wedding. So that will def be a rest day, I'll probably do the long run on Sunday instead. The question is.... where?! Waveny is not 12 miles, hmmm, I may have to hit the raods. I want to stay in CT for it though, I think. We'll see.

Oh, and some other running related news... I didn't post this before but my right pinky toe nail finally came off due to excessive running and blisters. I know people, it's gross. This is what running does. So now, my left pinky toenail is on it's way out. I have it wrapped in a bandage but it's def coming off. Wow, the sacrifices I make for running.

So yeah, I think foot modeling is out of the question. And to think, I was once told I could go far in that industry. Damn.

11-mile training run with NYRR and TFK

Saturday, August 05, 2006 @6:30am

So I just got back from the run in central park, it was intense! But Adam and I kept our pace with our pace group! So yay! (that's a 9:30 pace). Actually, I think we went a little fast, hmmm. I heard it's not good to do that because you should conserve your energy for later on, after all, we were running commute pace. (Commute pace = you can have a conversation while you are running). Man, learning all these running terms! lol.

Anyway, so a few highlights of the run:

After seeing the line to the port-a-potties 2 minutes before the start time, I decide to "hold it in"

well.....

Adam had the same idea and after a minute into the run we both had to pee like a horse! And with no port-a-potty in sight, we start thinking...of course this seems all rational when you have the running endorphins going, we spot a good off-trail location and jet to it! A quit pop of the squat and water bottle wash of the hands and we are all good to go! We catch up to the pace group with a relief that I just cannot describe.

2nd highlight of the run, as if you thought that wasn't bad enough... I know. We get to the 6-mile mark and they have the refuel station. Our pace group stops for a minute to regroup, pick up some gatorade and then head right back into the run. I had stopped my watch so I was looking down to restart it and not looking ahead. Well, apparently, not a good idea.... I practically jam right into a trashcan! Everyone around me sees and I just have to start laughing. Everyone else does to! It was actually really funny.


so after the run, we regroup with the team for some team stretching. I insist Adam and I need some pics, so we get some people to take them.


We then talk to coach Danielle to get some more tips on training. Turns out we have been over training! Ok, we don't want to get injured here! So I'm going to cut a few miles out of my week and then gradually work it up, that is the key word here-GRADUALLY!


So I will be sending out my fundraiser email very soon so be expecting that baby! I tried to make it as personal sounding as possibly but it's a fundraiser letter... so come here for the real nitty gritty Danika dirt!

10-mile run with Adam and Kelly

Thursday, August 03, 2006 @6am

The Course:


West Side Highway Brooklyn Bridge

Met up with Adam and Kelly at 6am on 34th and West Side Highway for my first 10 mile run! We stretched and then were off. The last 2 miles were especially hard, as was the first uphill portion of the Brooklyn Bridge. Adam and Kelly sped up by the time we got to the Brooklyn Bridge. I know I tend to slow my pace on the uphills, but I did catch up with them later on. Adam sped up the last mile but I kept my pace, it was very hard. But I finished in 1 hour and 35 minutes, which means a 9:30 pace, so that is great! I'm very happy with myself. I also had three Shot Bloks, which were surprisingly good! I think I will use them from now on. At least on the longer runs. Which seems to be always now! Eek.

Riding back home I was fine and energized. But I think it's not having anywhere to be that makes me just want to pass out again in my bed. I had a strawberry yogurt shake and my vitamins and then took a shower. I didn't feel so good so after showering and icing my ankles, I passed out from 10-11:30am. Oh well. My body needed it I know.

8-mile NYRR/TFK Race in Central Park

Saturday, July 22, 2006 @7:30am

So I ran it! I'm so proud of myself. I ran the first 4 in 38 minutes, so perfect 9:30 pace in my group. Awesome! (it was a 4 mile race but the team did another 4 for practice)...I know, for all you normal people you are thinking, are you f-ing insane! I was kind of thinking that too....but I'm slowly getting into this runner's mentality...ahh!

So the second lap was a lot harder!! I ran the first mile or so and then at 51 minutes, I had to stop and walk for one minute. I was getting chills all over my body. So I listened to my body and stopped for a one minute walk. I did that every 5 minutes or so, so walked about 4 minutes of the second half. It was ok. I didn't finish with the 9:30 pace group but that's ok. Adam did, I'm proud of him. I need to get up there. It's ok, I still have tons of training to do so that is good!