Friday, August 26, 2011

Five for Friday–Hurricane Edition

1. First, some good news. I ran yesterday for the first time in a week and I felt good! No pain in my right leg like before and overall the run was pretty good. Kept a good pace and felt great to get out for a run!

2. Irene is getting on my nerves. As you know, Woody and I live downtown, only a few short blocks from the East River and not all that far from Battery Park, which is at the southern tip of the island. Our actual building precariously sits in evacuation Zone C but is surrounded on three sides by Zone A (the first area to be evacuated). We also live on the 24th floor of our building (lots of stairs). We have rented a car and reserved a hotel room in the Finger Lakes district of New York. Chances are pretty high we’ll be skipping town (aka sitting in traffic) Saturday morning. I noticed big generators a few blocks away from our building last night when we were getting back after grocery shopping. I hope our beautiful new East River Esplanade doesn’t wash away over the weekend.

3. The NYRR Bronx Half Marathon, which was to be run Sunday morning, has been cancelled. The race will still count as a qualifier for the NYC Marathon and Half Marathon, for those who were signed up to run. I feel they waited a little long to cancel, but I’m sure they had their reasons. I wonder if the final straw was when the MTA announced they are likely to shut down the system Saturday afternoon (at least partially). [Check out their site for updates HERE] Whatever it was, it’s the safest and smartest thing to do.

4. Another big race that is happening this weekend is Hood to Coast relay out in Oregon. Most likely you’ve heard about this from all the bloggers on Team Nuun. [For a great team roster, check out THIS post from Tall Mom] Definitely a great group of women! My friend, April, is also out there with several others from NYC. Good luck to all the runners! Can’t wait to follow on twitter and read all the stories once they’ve showered and slept!

5. I’ve never quite understood the concept of non-alcoholic beer. Seems to me like that defeats the whole purpose, right? Woody says it’s because of the taste. I dunno. I can’t drink it anymore anyway. Nevertheless, turns out there might be a(nother) really good reason for runners to drink beer after long runs and races. 277 men training for the Munich Marathon agreed to participate in a study on the effect of non-alcoholic beer in training. Turns out the comparisons between the beer drinkers and placebo drinkers showed that the non-alcoholic beer actually seemed to make a difference and the researchers believe it’s due to the high number of polyphenols in the beverage. [check out THIS NY Times article about the study for all the info]

  • Are you in the path of Irene? What are your plans?
  • What are your thoughts on running races during rain storms (not hurricanes or tropical storms)?
  • Have you ever run a relay like Hood to Coast or is that on your list? What do you think is the best part about relays?
  • Are you a beer drinker? What do you think of drinking it as a recovery drink? Non-alcoholic beer – genius or just weird?

************

Yesterday’s Workout -

  • 4m run
  • stretching
  • 125 ab exercises

Today’s Workout -

  • Stretching & ab exercises – rest day

8 comments:

Barbara said...

So glad you're leaving. Don't see how it can go from Zone A right across the street to C where you are. Plus , 24 flights of stairs with possible days and days of no power would be a bad deal.
Just be safe !

Anne said...

Glad your run went well! Great idea to get away during the worst of the hurricane too. I like beer, the real kind...but not for recovery.

Zaneta @ Runner's Luck said...

glad you were able to run with no pain!!
Also glad that you are skipping town... better to be safe than sorry!

gracekelle said...

I will be running the Survival Race Saturday morning and will be huddled in my apt in Astoria the rest of the weekend. Wish me luck!

Angela @ SF Road Warrior said...

Yes, the beer thing is totally true! Beer is mostly water so it's good for hydration, but it's also loaded with carbs and has a pretty reasonable amount of electrolytes as well. Also, no need to stick to the non-alcoholic stuff - there's not really enough alcohol in most beer to interfere with re-hydration. I love a nice cold Sapporo (or something similar) after a long run!

Little Miss Runshine said...

I think it is smart the race was cancelled just in case. You never know! Though I like running in the rain sometimes...just makes you feel badass!

I don't usually drink beer after a race. I know I'm lame. I get tipsy off one drink though! So I have to be careful...running then beer = dangerous for me haha.

I don't think I'd get non-alcoholic beer! Just seems not right to me.

Gina; The Candid RD said...

Good luck with Irene! I hope the traffic isn't bad, and you make it to your escape in time :) Sounds like your plan is pretty solid. We are not in the path of it at all over here, actually the weather has FINALLY been nice (not to rub it in).

So I agree with you, non-alcoholic beer seems pointless to me too, but if you really enjoy the taste of a particular brand, I guess it would make sense. I used to think caffeine-free coffee was lame, but now I drink it(Sometimes)! Strange.

Beer for a recovery drink? Heck yeah! fluid, electrolytes and b-vitamins, why not?!

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