The (literal) path less traveled

The tiny little jet that flew me back from North Carolina last Thursday swept over the Verrazzano Narrows northwards over Brooklyn to La Guardia, affording those of us on the portside terrific views of the city beneath. With my forehead glued to the window and my eyes soaking in the sights of home, I had myself a little epiphany.

Some people may find NYC intimidating. I know I did when I first visited - back in the summer of 1994. It wasn't until I started running - specifically marathon training - that I began to feel really comfortable and at 'home'. When you can head out the door early on a Sunday morning with nothing but a taxi fare and a metrocard in your shorts, and the vaguest sense of where you're going, but make it round an 18 mile route encompassing three NYC boroughs and 3 bridges, you really feel like you're at one with this big city.

On my first attempt, I mustn’t have got very far down Brooklyn when I stopped a couple and asked them to point me in the direction of "the Bridge". "You mean the Williamsburg Bridge, right?" was their confused response. "No no" I corrected them "I'm heading for the Brooklyn Bridge." At that point I had a very poor mental map of the city, and this contributed towards feelings of being overwhelmed by it. But now, as a direct result of all my long and adventurous training runs, you could drop me at just about any spot in Manhattan or Queens or western Brooklyn and I think I would find my way home. Just call me the running pigeon.

It's a very empowering feeling. And one that has brought on a sense of closeness and bonding with the city I moved 5000 miles to live in.

And as somebody with a notoriously bad sense of direction it has also done wonders for my self confidence. Often the best thing about these runs was actually getting lost. Getting lost means discovering places you never knew existed - and ensures you develop a mental map of the a much wider area. I’m thinking of a run I did with Suzanne from our meeting point in Queens to the The Cloisters in upper Manhattan. We managed to make that a 20+ route with all of our accidental detours! But it doesn’t matter – the great thing about NYC is that you can’t go far without running into a subway station. And just how many yellow cabs are there everywhere?!

The topper happened one beautiful Sunday morning a few weeks before the ’04 New York marathon. I stayed over at my friend's house in Bayside and, instead of taking the LIRR home the next morning, I chose a fantastic 20-mile pedestrian route via Flushing Meadows, upper Astoria and Vernon Boulevard. I didn’t really have a clue where I was going – all I knew was I had to head in one direction - west - until I hit the East River; how hard could that be?!

These long runs make up some of my absolute favourite memories of being in NYC. And boy, do I miss them...

Losses & Gains

I had my third sonogram this week. We had semi-hoped to learn the gender this visit, but alas it was not to be. In fact, the whole appointment was a bit of a letdown. This scan was not nearly so revealing as the one I had 4 weeks ago; this time we could hardly make out the baby's head and body, never mind determine the sex. I guess I'm going to have to be patient for four more weeks at which point I have the more thorough 21-week check up.

Apparently everything is as it should be, with the exception of my placenta lying 'low.' This is potentially quite dangerous, so the doc instructed to me to avoid 'bearing down' activities such as squats or weight lifting over the next 4 weeks. As I never do either of these things, this news did not faze me. However, when I also received the big thumbs down on running I became a little disheartened. My knee no longer causes me to hobble like an 80 year-old up and down subway steps so I was actually planning to attempt my first jog in ages this weekend. Now I have to resign myself to my non-running life for some time to come. It's weird - I feel almost like I'm grieving for the sport, I miss everything about it, but none more than the simple action of running, if that makes any sense at all. But I know this is only temporary and for a good reason so it's a manageable grief. Thank goodness for swimming - I'm assured that's perfectly safe. I've never been more grateful for my Y membership.

I want to wish the best of luck to all racers tomorrow. Thomas (fingers crossed) is running the Connemara Marathon in Ireland. And I will be in Central Park to cheer on the many Hellgaters et al. taking part in NYRR's More half and full marathon. Those 40+ year-old women must be nuts - four loops of the park as a marathon route?! Rather them than me ;-)

Scotland Brave Down Under

It's a rare week where you can read the words 'Scotland' and 'medal haul' in the same news headline - but now happens to be one of those weeks . I may be 5,000 miles from home, and about 10,000 miles from the athletes who are performing their way into the history books, but I am nevertheless proud as hell of my countrymen and women.

For a nation of such insy winsy proportions to be ranking 4th in the medals table is no insy achievement. In fact, a quick cheeky tap on my calculator tells me that accounting for the relative populations and wins of these countries versus Scotland - England should have scooped 147 medals instead of its 37, and India 2,500!!!

Since I am turning more and more to swimming right now, I am garnering tremedous inspiration from Scotland's swimming results. I will be 'flying' up and down my lane at the Y tomorrow morning pretending to be Catlin McClatchey - albeit a considerably shorter, slower, and fatter version of the celtic speed demon.

In spite of her unforuntate nationality (kidding!) I admit to being thrilled also for Liz Yelling and her bronze medal coup in the women's marathon. Can you imagine being capable of a 2:32 marathon yet living permanently in the gigantic athletic shadow of your closest buddy? I guess that's the price you have to be willing to pay if you're best friends with Paula Radcliffe.

I for one, will be glued to the Internet for the next couple of days as the rest of the athletic events play out in Melbourne.

Burglary update: the cops have been all over our block like (welcome) cockroaches over the past week or so, in response to the apparent rash of robberies in our 'hood. Two days ago they caught some kids climbing down our neighbour's fire escape, their pockets loaded with loot from their most recent heist. Even if these kids aren't our particular perpetrators - this is a highly unexpected and satisfying outcome =)

A Week of Bikerizing and Workerizing (among other things)

My husband called me at work late last Wednesday to inquire as to the whereabouts of "all our loose change?" Turns out, it went the way of our digital camera, some jewellery and a broken old laptop - out our fire escape window in the hands of some desperate burglar.

With my new-found ridiculously positive frame of mind, our apartment break in did not negatively affect me much. In fact, it took me only a few hours to see the silver linings; 1) at least this occured before baby's arrival, giving us the time and impetus to thoroughly burglar-proof our apartment, 2) we'd been meaning to get rid of that broken old laptop for ages, 3) we really needed a new and better digital camera anyway and 4) I got to hear otherwise serious and authoritative police men and women say "burglarize" over and over. That's got to be one of the funniest of all Americanisms. Never fails to crack me up.

Saturday was the most glorious day here in NY, wasn't it? My husband and I took advantage of the near-70 degree sunny weather by heading out on our bikes for a ride around Roosevelt Island. Hey - if I can't see this island and the wonderful Manhattan views it affords my favorite way (running - naturally), then the bike is a decent second best. Boy, is my bottom paying for it now though! I felt my left knee too on the ride - so there's no hope for me that riding will not aggravate my condition (whatever it is - still have not made it to a doc...)

Sunday and Monday were not nearly as much fun, with 6 and 12 hours spent working in my office on each respective day. Actually, I'm not even particularly minding these long hours. In a bizarre reversal of fortune - I love my job right now. I think it's just that nothing can bring me down these days. If I were any more joyful about having a son/daughter on the way, I think my heart would explode.

Congrats to all racers this weekend - particularly my team at Sunday's 15K in the park. GO MARITZA!

I'm delighted to advertise that two of my fellow Hellgaters are starting their own blogs. When you have a spare moment, please go say hello to Kate and Josh.

Physical Wreck

While two of my running heroines Chelle and Luann were earning themselves 2nd place age group awards at the Coogans 5k Sunday morning, I was dragging my sorry self on my once-favourite out and back short runs: home-over the Williamsburg Bridge to Manhattan-home again. About three-quarters of the way along the return stretch, I gave in to my weak and painful knee and settled for a brisk walk home (which - disturbingly - wasn't that much slower than the pace I'd been running). I've moaned about my knee already here, but I'm the worst sort of complainer in that I haven't actually done a thing about it yet. Time to seek out an orthopedist once more (after a 3-year break), and face facts that I will most likely have to fit twice weekly physical therapy visits into my already packed week. I really want to sort this issue out and not have it linger - so I am able to get running seriously again whenever I'm ready. If it weren't for my pregnancy, I suppose I'd be a lot more upset about this debilitating injury than I am - which is a blessing.

I also need to see a GP/neurologist about my Tylenol-resistant recurring headaches and an ophthalmologist about my increasingly sketchy eyesight. What with all this and my frequent OB visits, I expect to be spending more time at the doctor's office than my own office in the coming months (actually- that doesn't sound too bad at all.)

Well, it could be much worse. The most important thing - my pregnancy - is apparently coming along as it should. The only slight concern raised from my last visit was that I haven't put on any weight yet. I find this very hard to believe, given that I'm now eating every 2 hours or so, and my scales at home tell me I've gained 3lbs. Then again, as I was only half-jokingly telling a friend the other day -- think of all that alcohol I used to imbibe every week. I reckon I should be able to consume a few extra snacks and meals each day and still not come close to my pre-pregnancy calorie consumption!

So I'm going to hold off of the running for a while now, at least till I know what's going on, and what I should be doing to recover. If I could only drag myself out of bed every morning of the week for my mile swim instead of just a few, I'd be satisfied that I'm doing everything possible (given my schedule) to maintain my fitness.

Thanks

Thanks so much for all your congratulatory comments guys. It's been so great to tell everyone and receive lots of support and advice. Since revealing our news, we have discovered that five of our friends/acquaintences are pregnant (many due in August too!) and five more couples are trying! I suddenly feel part of this 'community' that I was oblivious to before, and it's wonderful.

I wanted to respond to some of the specific comments left for my last post:

Bella - I'm very impressed that you ran through your pregnancy. Did you use a 'belly belt'? I have a friend who told me about those things. I hope to run for many more months myself. I just wish my knee wasn't giving me so much trouble right now. I've recently heard/read about all sorts of women running right through to the last trimester - including a story of a 6-month pregnant woman running a sub-3 marathon (just how do you do that while keeping your heart rate below 140, I'm not sure...)

Actually, now I mention it, this article challenges the ubiquitous 140 bpm 'rule'. This author purports it doesn't work for everyone - that for her (as I suspect for me,) maintaining a that heart rate entails crawling along at a snail's pace. Now I don't know who to believe. I guess it's always best to follow your own doctor's advice.

So you think it's a girl Thomas? I do too now, although I felt strongly it was a boy at first. And hey - I take umbrage with your comment (jk). I take particularly pride in the fact that there aren't that many Scottish lassies (or laddies) in the world - just over 3,000,000 in fact! See, we're a rare and precious breed ;-)

Susan - you would take back your 'sexy' comment immediately if you ever met me in person. Never mind projecting to 6 months from now. But thanks anyway.

No Danny, they are definitely Brooks, not Asics. I'm positive s/he will inherit my over-pronation!

Now you come to mention it Chelle - that profile is cute, isn't it? Oh-oh, here I go already with the goo goo-ga ga'ing over this child. Please forgive me.

Mike - I have heard about all those physiological benefits, yes! And I sincerely hope they're not urban legends bandied about to make pregnant runners feel better. I've got this theory (based on absolutely nothing), that new mothers rebound strongly also because they are determined to prove they have not been set back. I can see myself leaning slightly that way...

Actually Rich, I looked at jogging strollers on Craig's List before I even got pregnant (does that make me completely crazy?) Did you know you can pick up a good one that's hardly been used for about $50 these days? I'm looking forward to being a serious mummy bargain-hunter!

And lastly, but not leastly Chad, Mike's right - you are a total "dude", but we wouldn't have it any other way.