The NYC Insider's guide to the NYC running is inspired by the thoughts and experiences of a New Yorker who has run the NYC Marathon twice and is now training for 5 Half Marathons - one in each of the five boroughs.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Dieting Tips
I've been keeping a log of my daily food and exercise choices for the past two months or so. I've seen quite a few ups and downs, but no really significant change. So I've been trying to think about ways to take control and lose some weight. I'm not really interested in a severe diet -- been there; done that -- but rather some changes that I can stick to. In looking around, I've found some good ideas:
A monthly guide to big events and how to handle them (and why champagne is such a good choice for New Year's Eve -- and other times, too!).
Low calorie, low fat substitutions for diet-busters (good things to have on hand).
When I run in Central Park, I am sometimes stunned by the rude, and often illegal, behavior of the drivers who share the rode with me. Apparently, I am not alone. Transportation Alternatives, with the help of dozens of volunteers, set out to quantify just how often New York City's traffic laws are broken. They sent out scores of observers to a few big intersections and recorded nearly 40 hours of traffic data. This is what they found:
Traffic law violations occurred approximately three times every minute per intersection -- 157 times an hour. Drivers failed to yield the right of way 24 times an hour. Drivers disregarded traffic controls, including traffic signals, signs and roadway markings, approximately two times every minute -- over 100 times an hour. Over 38 hours of surveying, no summonses were issued for moving violations in the survey areas. 57% of pedestrians believed they were endangered by traffic while navigating the survey areas. 43% of pedestrians actually avoid an area or intersection in their neighborhood because they feel endangered by lawless driving.
I usually run in the mornings, but to make the best use of my time lately, I've been taking my runs while my boys attend late afternoon sports practice. It is a change of pace and gives my day a whole different feeling, but it has actually been kinda fun to shake things up.
I can't say I was excited about this morning's race in Harlem when I woke up this morning. The rain was pouring down and the radio was predicting morning thunderstorms. Plus, instead of my usual jaunt over to Central Park, I would be traveling quite a bit uptown and way west. (I'm guessing that the round trip walk to pick up my bib and chip yesterday was about six miles.)
I even reviewed the annual race schedule for the NYRRC to see what my other alternatives were. But since there aren't that many more this year that work with my schedule, I decided I better head out the door. Unfortunately, as I checked the start location one more time, I realized that I had the start time wrong - I had mistaken the walk-a-thon time for the road race time and had a half hour less than expected. So I hurried out the door and into a cab. We hit a inordinate number of red lights (of course) and the driver had trouble finding a place close to the race where the streets weren't blocked off. But finally, he found a spot and I ran the last few blocks to the start (down a number of staircases, complicating things even further).
I've never started a race late before. But I wasn't the only one - I was behind two other latecomers, and as we ran over the first tape, quite a few others joined us. The first mile was largely uphill and I labored to catch up to the end of the pack. But by the end, I was glad I was there: the neighborhood is lovely and the sponsors and spectators were enthusiastic. And since it was a smaller race than many of the Central Park runs, there was a real spirit of camaraderie. And the cause - a healthier Harlem - couldn't be better!
The two places that I've been running lately, Central Park and Randall's Island, were both devastated by a fast, freaky storm Tuesday night. The estimates are that more than 100 trees were felled by lighting and 70-plus mile-an-hour winds. I saw the wreckage on Randall's yesterday and in the Park this morning. It's just amazing.
This coming Saturday, I'll be joining thousands of other runners for the Percy Sutton Harlem 5K Run. It's an ING New York City Marathon qualifying race through historic Harlem streets and it culminates a series of "Relieve the Stress" sessions in Harlem.
I'm enjoying the family's new Wii Fit program. The running programs are fun with options to race, run by yourself, and even run while watching TV (as so many of us do on the treadmill at the gym) while Wii keeps track of your progress.
I recently read about the new advice for runners to take one baby aspirin on race-day morning to prevent a sudden, and fatal arrhythmia during a long distance run. Apparently, the statistics show that one in 50,000 otherwise-healthy marathoners will die suddenly during a race - and that baby aspirin can dramatically improve the odds. Who knew that something so rarely even given to babies (for fear of Reyes Syndrome) could be such a big help?
The temperatures are climbing outside, and having spent the whole morning out doing errands, I am not really interested in going for a run in the heat and humidity, too. So I think I will run with Wii Fit. I tried it for the first time yesterday and it was lots of fun.
It's going to be HOT today - the hottest day in NYC so far this summer. So I've got to get my run in early -- I'm ready now and just waiting for the boys to get up so I can go.
I usually really, really hate to run in the rain. So it is surprising that I had such a great run on Sunday when it was pouring and I got absolutely soaked to the skin. I hadn't been out since Tuesday, and so I felt a real restlessness and need to pound the pavement. So despite the weather and the hills of PA, I ran enthusiastically for about 3 miles. I did the same course in lovely weather yesterday and it wasn't nearly as nice.
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