Today’s run: 3.14 miles, 30:17 minutes. WT: 18:85. First true cold blasts of wind. For the first time this season my long sleeve tech shirt was needed rather than hopeful. Tried to push but still landed with a less-than-exciting 9:38 pace. Looking forward to a good long run tomorrow.

Today’s run: 4 miles, 42:00 minutes. As I was waiting for a light in Chinatown, I stretched my painfully tight quads and without really realizing it, whimpered out loud. A tiny lady with a face quilted by wrinkles smiled and chuckled. Empathy, but amusement too. “The folly of youth.”

Ever wonder how I run 25 miles a week, work out with a trainer, and still aren’t exactly skinny? Wine. LOTS OF IT.

Toward the end of my workout the other day, my stern French trainer watched me, shaking her head, as I jumped around, squealing about a foot cramp. This happens at the end of most of my workouts.

(don’t forget to imagine a French accent…)

Trainer: I tell you so many times. You need to take magnesium supplements!

Me: I don’t need supplements. This only happens when I drink.

Trainer: Why do you always drink before you see me?

Me: Well…. it’s more like, I always drink. And sometimes I see you.

Trainer: How much are you drinking?

Me: One and a half glasses of wine, five nights a week.

Trainer: Not so bad. And you have nothing the other nights?

Me: Uh no. One I have only one. But the other I have three.

Trainer: You need to cut it. Three nights a week. Only.

Me: <cringe>

Trainer: I mean this!

Me: <cringe>

Trainer: OK, four nights?

Me: <nodding yes but meaning absolutely no>

Train: Great!

When someone French tells you you drink too much red wine, you know you’re in trouble.

Today’s run: 5.0 miles, 47:43. YT: 713:61. Shot for a 9:30 pace, managed 9:31. HELL YEAH.

Yes. I rewatched The Hangover this weekend. Again. (With company, and we fastforwarded to the best parts, thankyouverymuch.) And so I’m re-obsessed. A few quotes:

“Next week’s no good for me. The Jonas Brothers are in town.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve found a baby before.”
“You found a baby before? Where?”
“Coffee Bean.”

“Gambling? Who said anything about gambling? It’s not gambling when you know you’re gonna win. Counting cards is a foolproof system.”
“It’s also illegal.”
“It’s not illegal, it’s frowned upon, like masturbating on an airplane.”

“It’s not a purse, it’s called a satchel. Indiana Jones wears one.”

Oh, Zack Galifiankis, stop wasting your days making hilarious comedy for the ages and instead, come running with me!

Today’s run: 4 miles, 44.49. WT: 14 miles. I couldn’t get my body to go faster than 11 min miles. I just couldn’t. Payment for drinking two bud lights last night instead of something delectable. And, there was the humidity.

Humidity, you think you’re slick. But you’re really just sweaty.

I came home drenched from 11 MINUTE MILES. Ridiculous.

I also had to pee most of this run. Finally at some point my body decided to change the channel from the situational comedy “How I Have to Go to the Bathroom” to the tense procedural “Pain in the Calf.”

Now I’m sitting in my bedroom, post-shower, dripping sweat. Do I really have to get dressed?

Today’s run: 4 miles, some number of minutes. The run started just a few blocks from my office at Madison Square and was supposed to be 5 miles. But I lost the trail at Tomkin’s Square Park and let myself be talked into hot-tailing it directly to the bar.

It was nice to see some familiar faces at this my third hash. I don’t know that my second really counts, since I didn’t make it to the OnOn (the bar) and ran the trail alone.

The thing about hashers is they all have hash names. None of them very complimentary. Pizzaslut. Bargoggles. Pimpy Longstocking. Owmyballs. (I think?) But I hear that in New York, it’s much harder to get your hashname than elsewhere. It could take years. We shall see.

I think that hashing is going to help me run faster. Just to stay in the middle of the pack, I’ve got to pick up my normal lackadaisical pace. The good thing is, it’s not that hard. I’m fitter than I think.

Tonight there were visiting hashers from London and from Alabama. Cool, huh?

Today’s run: 2 miles, 20 minutes. YT: 668.34. WT: 6. Treadmill run before and after my training tonight. The only exercises that we do that I really like are the stability and balance ones, where I get to jump on the Bosu ball and stuff. It’s like jumping rocks in a creek. Less picturesque though. Unless you consider sweaty, grunting bodybuilders picturesque.

Migrating Monarchs in the Lower East Side

Today’s run: 5. 2 miles, 54:37 minutes. YT: 652.71. WT: 18.06. Four runs and one training session in four days and I think my runs are reflecting it. Slower and slower. not going to try for anything special with my 7-miler tomorrow.

One of the East River fishermen finally caught a fish! A very exciting moment for all within 30 feet. It was a 10-inch striped bass! Know how I know? Because it looked exactly like this:

He hacked it up on the spot. Yep, I think it’s what’s for dinner.

Between the fisherman, a super-bendy yogi, a soccer game, and a handful of people doing qi gong with swords, it was a pretty active Friday morning in East River Park!

Big day tomorrow: The NYC Hasher’s Red Dress Run. Now we know what it takes to get me to do a group run: Costumes and beer.

Today’s run: 8 miles, 1:20:48, plus 1.23 miles cooldown, plus 1 mile yesterday on treadmill. YT: 634.65. WT: 27.88 miles. 10:05 per mile on this run – beating last week’s average of 10:11. Yay!

That mile that I did last night on the treadmill? It only happened because my coworker/workout buddy (we got gym memberships together at the place across the street from our office, creating a path of least resistance) MADE me go. I would have done 2 miles, but I had made an early happy hour date.

Yay for friends who smack you around and keep you in shape!

Today’s run: 3.9 miles, 39:47 minutes. YT: 624.42. WT: 17.65 miles.

At some point on this run, my energy just turned on. I think about a mile in. Keeping up 10:30 was requiring focus, then all of a sudden, 10:00 was my comfortable, easy-peasy pace. Increasing the carbs in my diet overall is making my running a lot easier. Makes me nervous though.

I’ve been watching a mashed dead rat in a parking lot I run through decay over a period of weeks, only because it’s right in the center of my path. It’s miraculous how resilient those tails are.

Today’s run: 6.26, 1:00:19. YT: 620.52. Argh – missed my sub 1:00 10K goal by 19 seconds!! Kill!! I know I have this now. The breakdown for this run was: 1 mile warm up, then alternated 9:30 miles with 10:00 miles, kicking up the speed to around 9:00 on the final .25 of each mile, then running the final mile at around 9 even. Somehow the math didn’t quite add up. :-)

I love using mantras to keep myself going. Here are some of my favorite:

You have this.
Finish strong.
Do this thing.
This is your run.
Go.

Hmmmn. Now that I look at them in print, I see how totally uncreative they are. Who has something better, like … Ride the wild elephant?

What’s your favorite mantra? Most creative?