I love it when you plan for a nice change of scenery run and everything works out perfectly!

This weekend, as planned, I decided to do my long run along the Summer Streets here in NYC. I can’t even really begin to accurately describe how happy I was with this run. First, no cars!! The ability to run through New York City streets without cars is one of the most amazing things a runner can experience. This is one reason why I enjoy the NYC Half Marathon for that brief stretch that goes through Times Square. Running down Park Avenue, going through that little overpass around Grand Central Terminal, and making my way all the way down Lafayette Street near the Brooklyn Bridge was heaven. Event he cyclists behaved and stayed on their side of the road! The volunteers controlling traffice were super nice and we got free things like Cliff gel shots, sun block, and free water. I took a wee rest stop to check out the professional sand castle builders before heading back up the road to finsh my mileage.

Ok, now to the actual run itself. It went very well. I had enough gels and felt really good and confident. So confident that I added on an extra mile which took me right to the entrance of Grand Central Terminal. People, you cannot plan this stuff. While for long runs I’m never concerned about the actual time it takes to complete because these runs are always about the distance and not race pace, I did feel really great about the time it took to complete the run. I rarely felt like this last August, but I suppose part of this is because it hasn’t been dreadfully hot like it was last year. (I may have just jinxed myself.)

This week, I’ve got 12 miles on the schedule and will do that as part of the NYRR Long Training run and oh looky at this, I forgot I’m running the Bronx Half Marathon! Who forgets they have a half marathon scheduled? Me. I guess this happens when you are able to schedule this into your marathon training on a day when you are actually scheduled to run 13 miles. I’m actually looking forward this because I have been feeling good and have been sticking with my plan for each run.

If I can keep this through the rest of August, I’ll be in excellent shape for the real long runs in September and October.

This past Sunday I ran in the Damon Runyon 5k at Yankee Stadium. As a big time Yankee fan, I have been wanting to do this race since I first heard about it two years ago. I think the first year it took place in November and I was on a business trip and then I think I missed last year because the date was moved to August and it conflicted with a long run. I found out about this year’s almost at the last second and got one of the few hundred spots left.

I have to say that this was one of the most organized races I have participated in that was not organized by NYRR. Everything was ran according to schedule and the crowd control was perfect. Even better, there were plenty of post-race goodies for the last heats that ran. Not something that can be said for a lot of events. So kudos to the Damon Runyon organizers and volunteers!

The course had 286 steps and took us along the first concourse level twice, then down to the field level for two loops around the warning track of Yankee Stadium. Two Loops! I touched everything that security would allow me to touch. When you look at that WB Mason sign in the outfield, think of me, I rubbed my right boob on it! Then we headed off the field and up some stairs to the second concourse, ran that, then up some more stairs to get to the third concourse. Finally, we had the chance to run down the ramp all the way to ground level in the Great Hall. But don’t think we were finished yet. We then had to climb all the stairs back up to the third concourse to run around that and then back down the most beautiful of ramps for the finish. We even got a finisher’s medal. Never had that happen for a 5k before.

I’ll definitely do this one again next year and made sure I signed up for the email alert.

I’m still training for this @#%@# marathon! Thankfully this week is one of the down weeks for mileage and I only have to do a seven mile long run. I’ll be hitting the Summer Streets in NYC for a nice change of scenery. So much of my longs runs take place either where I live or along the Hudson Greenway, that any chance I have of giving myself a new route I’ll take advantage of it.

I have also decided that this will indeed be my last marathon for a while. I really like the half marathon distance better and there are a bunch I would like to do but marathon training gets in the way. I already have a list of potential half marathons for 2012 that I am looking into. The first will be the Miami Half Marathon, that I have already registered for. I might do some of the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathons and maybe one or two in Canada.

Given that, I really want to do better in this year’s amarathin than last year so I have to really get my butt in gear and focus!

My marathon training is underway. It technically started while I was tapering for the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon but now my entire focus is on the NYC Marathon in November. I’m not sure how many full marathons I have in me so depending on how the training goes this year, this may be my last one for a while. My main goal is to improve on last year’s time of 6:25. Ideally, I would like to finish under six hours.

I’m sticking with my Hal Higdon Novice plan and feel confident heading into this training now that I know what to expect. I know August is going to be a difficult month as I’m sure we’ll be dealing with our typical NYC heat and humidity. I remember only have one good run in August last year and I’m going to try and not get discouraged if that happens again this year.

I’ve ordered my case of Gu and am very thankful to Stop-n-Shop for their 10 for 10 deal on Gatorade. I’ve got new attachments for my FuelBelt and am well stocked on Body Glide and other ermgency treatments for chafing.

I’m ready for you NYC Marathon 2011!

I love Napa, I just wish I could have a really good half marathon there.

If you read this blog regularly you know that I lost two weekends of long runs due to a chest cold I got. Those two weekends happened to be my two longest, 12 and 14 respectively. Not getting those runs immediately changed my goal of getting a PR to just finishing strong. No matter what happened race wise I was not going to be hard on myself if the race turned out be a total bust. After all, I was in Napa with great wine, food, weather, and scenery.

My trip out was pretty good but I lost most of my Friday afternoon and evening trying to fight of the time change. Yes, that was me getting ready for bed at 6:00 pm local time because I just could not win the battle. Surprisingly, I did not wake at 3:00 am local time and got a very decent nights sleep. I headed out for a very easy three miles along the Napa River and again was impressed with how the powers that be in California have made really great trail areas for runner, cyclists, and walkers alike without disturbing the natural surroundings. The rest of the day was spent going to a few wineries and just taking it easy for Sunday’s race.

One of the best decisions I made this trip was staying in the hotel where the shuttle busses pick up the runners the day of the race. While the hotel was located by the major highways and not pretty scenery, it did buy me an extra 30 minutes sleep on race day and they provided free, I repeat, free high speed Internet. None of the fancy schmancy hotels I have stayed at have ever done that!

The other bonus of choosing this hotel was that the busses dropped us of in front of the In-n-Out Burger across the street from the hotel. As all of us runners headed in with our free wine glass to get our burgers, I was even more satisfied by the fact I could just hobble back to my room and not have to travel any further.

The other, other bonus was that my room was right across from the swimming pool and hot tub. Thus making it even better to go from shower, to pool, to hot tub. If I run this race next year, I know where I’m staying!

Now on to the race itself. I got that 5:20 bus because I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to check my bag, use the facilities and get acclimated to the cool weather and surroundings. Oh, and to actually come up with a race plan. Since I had run this race last year I remembered most of the course. In particular that at the start in Cuvaison winery there is a sweet downhill but as soon as you make that left turn out of the winery you immediately hit what the locals call Butt Burner Hill. If you run in Central Park it is a cross between Cat Hill and Harlem Hill so no biggie for us, you just have to remember to keep that race start adrenaline in check.

I did a pretty good job of holding my pace and picking out people to pace myself with. It was a nice overcast day and was about 57 degrees at the start of the race, something I was hoping for as I knew this would help me and my not so trained body.

All was going well, even with a headwind for the majority of the race. I was actually on my PR pace up until about mile 10.5 when my quads fought back. I stopped to stretch them out a couple of times but it still didn’t help. What also didn’t help is that Sonoma hasn’t repaved these back roads in a while so there are a lot of pot holes and that can beat up your legs a bit. This meant that I had to do some run/walk intervals for the last 2.5 miles and missing out on my PR.

While I was disappointed, I was very satisfied with my first 10.5 miles and encouraged going into my marathon training. I know exactly what I need to do to improve my marathon training and get a PR for this year’s marathon.

Now the important things about this race. At the 10 mile fluid station there was wine being given out along with Heed (I do not like the taste of it) and water. This is also the top secret fluid station where you can pick up some extra gels if you need it. I did not partake in the wine or gels. This is also the fluid station where two years ago Valerie Bertinelli needed to stop and get some nutrition which is why they now offer the gels.

After the race, you get your medal, cliff bars (yay!), bottles of Vitamin Water, and your wine glass. After my post-race stretching and Vitamin Water it was time to hit the booths for the wine tasting. There was some very good wine but it’s hard to drink this stuff after a race.

I’m not sure if I’ll head to Napa again next year because I want to make sure this stays a fun race with good memories for me. In other words I don’t want to wear out my welcome. For those of you looking for a fun destination race I highly recommend is one. Registration opens in November and sells out fast. But if you don’t get in don’t fret, they do allow for the transfer of bibs and you can pretty much do this up until race day.

Now it’s time to focus on the NYC Marathon!

Well, I’m here in Napa relaxing and hydrating for tomorrow’s half marathon. The change in temperature has been a very nice relief from all the heat and humidity that we had in New York.

This year I chose to stay at the hotel where the shuttle bus picks us up to take us to the start of the race. I was merely hoping that this would buy me an extra 30 minutes sleep on race day but it has provided so much more. First there is the free high speed Internet. What hotel does that? Very few I tell you! I’m right across from the pool and hot tub, will be going there later. Oh and I’m across the street from Target and In-n-Out Burger. I know what my post-race meal is!

My morning run took place along the Napa River Trail. After seeing the trail along the Berkeley Marina last year and the seeing this, I am very impressed with how in this area of California these areas have been created around nature.

Overall, I feel a bit at home due tonthe fact I was here last year and recognize so many areas. In particular, it was nice seeing the cows along on stretch of highway just laying around and hanging out. California cows are happy cows after all.

Scoops is happy in California.

I have been so bad at updating the blog lately but things have been busy at work and I’ve been a bit lazy when I get home.

To give you a quick update I’m in in the final couple of weeks in my training for the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon. Training started off really well and I was steadily increasing my mileage according to my plan but I was derailed by a cold. The timing only knocked me out for a week and half but took out two weekends of long runs. This was to be my 14 mile long run, my last major distance run before the half. Now I’m readjusting the plan to get in a 10 mile run this weekend and a 12 mile run the week after when I was supposed to run eight miles. this won;t mess up my training but will give the distance that I need to be ready for the half. I was hoping to set a new PR for this one but I think that may be out of the picture now. Not too upset about that because it is Napa and Sonoma with beautiful scenery, nice cheering sections, and a wine tasting after. You really can’t go wrong with that.

This past weekend was the 30th Annual Pride Run in Central Park the day after the historic legalization of same-sex marriage here in New York. Technically I probably shouldn’t have run this one given my cold but it did leave my chest and was just a good ole head cold by this time. Again no time goals for this because of the cold but also because it was a day to celebrate and be very loud and proud. It was an amazing day and there was no way i was going to miss to be out there on that course. From running the NYC Half Marathon for The Trevor Project to always wearing my Front Runners singlet in a race this year has been and will continue to be fighting for lgbt civil rights and making sure our lgbt youth know they have something great to love for — things I will always continue to fight for.

Racing wise things will wind down after the Napa to Sonoma Half as I begin my training for the NYC Marathon in November. I’m sure there will be some races mixed in here and there to help break up the monotony of the training runs and to also see where I am with my race pace. Here we go again!

Four years ago this month I ran in my first New York Road Runners race, the AHA Wall Street Run. It was rainy that day. Four years later I’m going to run this race again and it is raining today.

As someone who stopped running for many years, I’ll never forget the feeling of running 11 minutes without walking. That was a huge accomplishment. Since then I have run numerous races including six half marathons and one full marathon. I never thought I would have accomplished those milestones. I can now look back on each of those events in amazement and pride.

So even though torrential downpours are expected for this evening I wouldn’t dream of missing this race! it serves as a reminder of where I was as a beginning runner and today I’m using it as a launching pad for my Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon training.

The past month or so I have had a difficult time with my running in the sense that I have not been able to keep a consistent pace. Mostly this has involved me starting out way too fast and then being incredibly winded and out of breath for the remainder of my run. The past two weeks I have been very conscious of staying in my goal pace and finishing strong. For my regular runs this has worked out ok, but it blew up spectacularly during this past weekend’s 10k. I started out too fast and because I haven’t trained in Central Park that much this year I blew it after the first of the Harlem hills.

Today will have a similar challenge without starting corrals and an extremely crowded course, although one hopes the rain will force people to skip it. The only goal I have is to stick to my pace consistently from beginning to end. If I do that I should have a decent time and will be happy with the results, much like that first race.

Four years ago I became a runner and now I can’t imagine not running.

Tomorrow is the NYC Half Marathon. This will be my third NYC Half and I think my seventh overall. I think this will be one of my most memorable and I can say that without even crossing the finish line.

This race has always been a sentimental one for me. About a month prior to my first NYC Half a dear friend of mine died unexpectedly. It just so happened that she lived near the finish line for the half. That whole race I kept her in my thoughts. When I was tired and hurting a bit I would say out loud, “Help me get through this Pearl. I need your help.” That was when the NYC Half was in August and for those of you not familiar with New York City in August, it’s usually hot and humid — unbearably so. While others were complaining and suffering to cross the finish line in the heat, I was able to put on a full out sprint. I am convinced Pearl had something to do with it.

Pearl is the reason I want to run this race every year and now The Trevor Project has given me another.

If you have been following my posts on this blog you know that the well publicized suicides of Billy Lucas, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Tyler Clementi and Raymond Chase deeply affected me. I thought of them often and those who did not make headlines as I trained for this race.

Team Trevor has raised over 15,000 dollars for The Trevor Project. We’ve got an amazing group of people who are committed to helping lgbt teens. I am so proud to be a part of this amazing project with them.

Now the training is done and the final preparations for tomorrow’s race are under way. I’m carbing up and hydrating and soon I’ll be getting my clothes ready for tomorrow.

I’ll be thinking about Pearl, Billy, Asher, Seth, Tyler, and all the young people who will benefit from The Trevor Project tomorrow. They will be running with me as will everyone who made a donation. I’m not concerned about meeting any time goals but just being visible as an out lesbian wearing my Trevor Project shirt. That is the best way to honor those teens and the people I love.

You can still donate.

Maryland Delegate Steven Schuh: “Traditional marriage is a means of perpetuating our species.” Same-sex relationships “don’t benefit society broadly.”

Maryland delegate Emmett Burns: “Show me your Birmingham, Alabama where high-pressure water hoses were turned on us”

“Show me the Ku Klux Klan home invasions, the billy clubs, your James Meredith.”

“Show me the dynamite, the hangman’s noose, the albatross thrown around the neck of Emmett Till.”

“Show me your Selma, Alabama.”

“Those who are gay can disguise their propensity.”

“Show me your hands and let me see the scars that my race has known, that my people has known.”

These are just some of the incredibly hurtful things that have been said by two Maryland State Delegates during today’s marriage equality bill debate.

Thankfully there have been plenty positive comments from both gay and straight Maryland Delegates.

But think for a moment about being a teenager who is being bullied in the state of Maryland and one of your elected officials has basically told you that you don’t matter, that your struggles pale in comparison to others.

I haven’t needed too many reminders about why I am running the NYC Half Marathon for The Trevor Project but this has made me incredibly angry and even more convinced that I am doing something that benefits society broadly. I am doing something that is going to make a difference in someone’s life, maybe even save it.

I’m going to use this anger to push me through my last few training runs for the half and to continue to good in my life

Please make a donation to The Trevor Project through my donation page.

Remember when your mother used to tell you about all the maladies you could catch by getting stuck in a rain storm? OK, maybe it was only my mother who did that to me. Afterall, she is the one who told me a watermelon would grow in my stomach if I swallowed the seeds. I believed this to be true for a very long time and there was a brief anxiety attack when I was eight years old and accidentally swallowed a watermelon seed. But I digress.

In case you were not in New York on Sunday it rained — a lot. Rain, does not deter us crazy runners however, so about 5,000 of us headed on up to Washington Heights for the annual Coogan’s Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5k. This is always one of my favorite races because it is not in Central Park and it goes around the Cloisters in Ft. Tryon Park. The downside to this race is that is has some crazy hills. The upside is that as you are reaching the top of the most challenging hill while rounding the Cloisters you are greeted with one of the most incredible views in NYC of the Hudson River. It was well worth the run in the rain and soaking wet clothes. I did better than I thought given the fact that the day before I had one of my last long runs for the NYC Half Marathon.

There is no other way to simply put it except that long runs can be hard. That is sort of the point of the long run, you build up your mileage so that on your big day you’re good to go with no worries. It seems that every single long run I have done this year has been accompanied by some serious head winds — in both directions! I have been trying to look at it as additional conditioning as I try to maintain a steady pace against the wind. I think I noticed some payoff as I ran Coogan’s because those hills weren’t as daunting.

Long runs also give you the opportunity to deal with all sorts of things as the miles go by, this can be anything about maintaining proper form as you start to get tired and the all important mind games you sometimes have to play to get through them. I’ve got one more long run before the NYC Half Marathon on March 20 and I feel really good about where I am as opposed to last year when I hardly trained at all. That is a very good place to be mentally at this stage.

In addition to thinking about how hard these runs can be I remember how much harder life was when I was dealing with my sexual orientation as a teen. It really helps but things in perspective because once I got over my fears and accepted myself for who I am things have gotten so much easier. Sure, there are every day challenges that we all face and I have said on many occassions that one of the most challenging things I have ever done was complete my first full marathon. But in comparison, that was easier than coming to terms that I was gay and then figuring out how to live my life openly. Thankfully, I was never openly teased or bullied about that during high school. There were many times I wanted to talk about this with some of my close friends but was never quite sure how to so I never did. The fear was just too great.

I am in awe of those teens are able to come out at such a young age. When they come out there is always the chance that they will be picked on or bullied. This is what happens to kids who are different in high school. Being different are being a part of something not cool makes you a target. My freshman year of high school was spent in Texas where we had both a band and an orchestra. If you were in orchestra you were referred to as an orch dork. It rhymes. If you were in band you were called a band fag. It doesn’t rhyme, it’s just cruel and demeaning. When I moved to New York for the start of my sophomore year, I was so relieved that there was only a band and the band fag moniker didn’t seem to exist at my new high school. But you can see why there are certain fears around being called a name and even worse when those extend to getting beaten up.

So yeah, long runs are hard but being an lgbt teen is so much harder and I’m trying to make it a little easier for them. So far our Team Trevor has raised over 12,000 dollars and with just under two weeks to go we want to reach 15,000. Please up us reach that goal.