Streaking with Emily Altman

EMILY ALTMAN

As I sit down to write this blog post, it is Day 1,413 of my Covid-19 Running Streak.

  

The odometer reads 15,366 miles. 

DAY 1: MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

New York City was locked down. 😷

Something inconceivable was happening and the future was uncertain, unclear, and indeed very scary. 

I recall my apprehension.  Despite the thick cloud of fear looming over me, I rationalized the following:

I may lose my job, all of my savings, my apartment and my life.  But, there is one thing that the situation can not take from me:  the ability to put on my sneakers and go running. 

STREAKING

The pandemic would not stop me from running.  I focused on this mantra as I started to run every day.  I decided I would run every day until Covid was gone.  

In my mind, each daily run represented one more chunk of 24 hours of survival.  Between each run I navigated the horror of going to work at a hospital. 

I estimated that we’d make it through it all in around 3-6 months.  It did not work out that way.  Covid-19 is still with us, and will be for the duration, but we have figured out how to exist with it.

There was so much uncertainty.  What would be the definition of Covid-19 being over?  When I can drive to Massachusetts with New York plates?  Fly in an airplane?  Ride a train?  Stay in a hotel?  Attend a conference?  Eat at a restaurant?  Go to someone's house?  Go see a movie?

Gradually over the months and years we all began to do those things again…but Covid-19 was not gone.  So I kept running....  Every single day.

In time, I began to create challenges within the overall challenge of running every day.  They have included things such as:  The Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee 2020 and 2021, a marathon in November 2021, running 100 miles in a week, getting to certain average-per-day milestones, beating previously achieved yearly mileage totals, and more!

MY FINISH LINE FOR THE
GREAT VIRTUAL RACE ACROSS TENNESSEE 

In general, my focus is on miles only.  I don't do speed work and I don't really care about pace.  The one exception was when I chose to run a marathon.  I did about 3 months of weekly speedwork sessions.  When I ran the Northern Central Railroad Trail Marathon in November of 2021 I did not meet my own time goal, but I did qualify for Boston!  I then forgot to enter during the "window".  Oops. 🤣

I go through phases of setting slightly different mileage goals, based on nothing very scientific...mostly "I wonder if I can do...this...or that".  My pace doesn't vary much.  So far, knock wood, I have remained injury free.  It does help that I am a physical therapist so I have a pretty good sense of the status of my own "machine."

Dome of Silence with Amy

I run many many miles alone, but I have also run hundreds of miles with my good friend and running buddy and longtime Flyer Amy Stern.  When I'm alone, I think mostly about the projects I am immersed in at work.  I am convinced that more oxygen is getting to my brain because I figure out a lot of things while I'm running.  When I'm with Amy, we talk about so many things.  We run in what we call the "Dome of Silence."  Anything that is said in the Dome is OK, and will not be judged or repeated elsewhere (what happens in the Dome, stays in the Dome 😊)!!  Also, of course, very many miles with running partner/life partner Ed Altman. 💕

Have there been threats to the streak? 🌋  Yes!  Apologies for TMI, but, the biggest challenge was navigating a routine colonoscopy.  For those who know, you know!  I ran 3 miles on a treadmill at 2:00 a.m., in between doses, on the day of the procedure.  Not so bad.  

There were other minor challenges like a snow storm ⛄ and a day-long family event, but I have always been able to eke out at least 2 miles.

• Before the streak I was happily running 5 days a week, 6-8 miles each run.
• Yes, there are quite a few days that I am not excited about going running.
• I ran with a mask for an entire year.
• For 2 years I ran only counter clockwise on “the loop” so I could be on the outside and could move away from oncoming runners.
• I run early in the morning, starting at 4:30am on some days and up to 6:15am on other days.
• I use 8.5 pairs of shoes per year.

COMPLETING 10,000th MILE!

Truth be told, I may have a tendency toward streak-like behavior. 🤣  

From grade 10 - 12 I ran 10 miles per day with my best friend Michelle. 🏃🏃  

Michelle and me

And for the past 27.5 years, I have shown up, on premises, for work every single day without one unplanned day off.  Not one sick day or unable-to-show up day! 🤧

Run Distribution:

Miles/day Frequency

2	5
3	15
4	39
5	10
6	187
7	30
8	83
9	10
10	118
11	102
12	406
13	36
14	281
15	34
16	35
17	5
18	1
20	7
21	1
22	1
26	1

People often ask: "When will you end it?"  It will end.  That is for sure.  Something will come up, something will happen.  I don't worry about it and I will not be upset.  In the meantime, I just keep going.  It has very much become a part of my life and I like the consistency of it.  

Many elements of my day-to-day life are challenging and unpredictable.  Running helps offset that element.  Although I am often tired, I like the sense of solid baseline fitness.  My streak was absolutely a critical anchor to windward during the intense, horrible days of the first 2 years of Covid-19.  And I remain eternally grateful for running as an extremely important part of my life.

-Emily Altman

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Rock ‘n’ Roll in Arizona

Joanna Gunderson

January in NYC can be rough for us cold-averse runners!  The air can hit hard and the sun sets way too early.🥶Delightedly, I escaped the frigid temperatures for a long weekend with fellow NY Flyers and friends Lisa Konorty, her daughter Romi and Manuela Montagnana. We welcomed the warmth of Phoenix, Arizona along with each other's company, great brunches, happy hours and Personal Records at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Race Series!  (Of course, good music too!). 😎🌞🍸🥞☕

This annual event always takes place during Martin Luther King Day weekend, which can make for a quick getaway to recharge⚡right at the start of the new year!

This was not my first time, rockin' (so to speak) Arizona's Rock 'n' Roll series.  In 2022, I took on the marathon, though as a training run. Lisa and former flyer Vanessa Koury opted for the half instead. 

Hot, sunny, 68 degrees and a late start would not lead to a PR (4:15:06) but I embraced the opportunity to escape NY's cold 🧊 while practicing a long run with my new hydration camelback.  The dry desert's heat 🌵🔥, rolling hills and bridges made for a challenging run indeed, and it was no surprise that  they cancelled the marathon option moving forward.  

Now they offer a 5K, 10K and Half Marathon; much more enjoyable distances in such challenging conditions.

FLYERS ROCK THE HALF AND THE 10K IN 2024

Lisa with her daughter Romi graciously hosted me at Lisa's house in Sun City.  Manuela opted for a hotel, but joined us for brunches and happy hours as we ate and ran our way through the fun-filled weekend! 🥳

Flyer women Manuela Montagnana, Lisa Konorty, Joanna Gunderson, and Lisa’s daughter Romi attend the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona expo. 

I was pleased to learn that Rock ‘N’ Roll moved the start time of the event to 7:15am to accommodate the heat. The weather was a lot more comfortable than in 2022, with a 42-degree average temperature. 🎉

Since I was on the mend from COVID and also busy with life's obligations, I choose to run the 10K with Romi, while Lisa and Manuela raced the Half. This scenic race was beautiful!  The sun rise in the desert made those rolling hills and three bridges more bearable. 

Runners running during the desert sunrise of the 10K

Congratulations to Lisa and Manuela!  They both ran strong half marathons and both of them PR'd -- Lisa ran her PR in 1:52:33 and Manuela beat her prior PR by 3 minutes! 

Reflecting on her race Lisa said: 

“The half was a PR for me by  more than one minute. I thought the course was fun and full of energy with the bands along the course. I especially loved the challenging two miles of hills; mile 10 and 11 in Papago Park. It was so cool to run through Tempe, Scottsdale, and Phoenix all in one race. And I loved the Flyer ladies’ camaraderie.”

A stunning sunset in Sun City, Arizona.

 While you're out there, take the time to see the surrounding region of Phoenix including Tempe, Scottsdale, and Sun City.  We also enjoyed a few walks through Sun City with "Harley the Corgi" and Lisa's neighbor Marv -- (Marv just finished his 90th marathon in December and is 83 years old!).  

With Romi, Marv, and Harley the Corgi 😊

The colors of the  desert are stunning, Arizona is beautiful, the desert desserts were delicious and the coffee flights are fantastic!  

A tasty coffee flight at JOJO Coffeehouse in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Overall, I would recommend Arizona's Rock 'n' Roll Running Series for a beautiful long weekend getaway and a healthy dose of vitamin D for those of us trudging through these frigid and frosty NY winter months!  🌞 

-Joanna Gunderson

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Run Moys Run – A Dynamic Duo

VIVIAN AND CHRIS MOY

On April 29, 2019, my husband Chris and I took our first steps on a treadmill after my best friend enticed us to train for our New Jersey 5K race.  I (Viv) had always dreamed of running a race—so why not start with a 5K.  Lo and behold, it wasn't long before we were training for the NYC Marathon as well!  Ever since I was a kid growing up in the Bronx, running the NYC Marathon was on my bucket list!

My late mom and I always watched the NYC Marathon together on TV during my childhood.  I continued the tradition on my own during my adult life, which fueled my dream of running the marathon. Running the 5K in NJ was a kick-starter that led me to sign-up for NYRR’s Bronx 10 Mile Race. When Chris heard there’d be a finisher medal, he was all in! 🤣

BRONX 10-MILER

This race began our 9+1 journey, and culminated on New Year’s Eve at NYRR’s Midnight Run.  We gained guaranteed entry to the 50^th Anniversary of the NYC Marathon in 2020! 🥳🎉 This bucket list dream of mine was to come true thanks to the help of a longtime friend and fellow Flyer, Andy Tse, who had explained how easy it was to qualify for the marathon by completing the 9+1 program.

In February of 2020, Chris and I joined The NY Flyers with hopes of having a great marathon training cycle.  Andy Tse was the driving force in recruiting us as Flyers. He told us all about the group runs with the club, the great running events the Flyers would host, and how awesome it would be to run with others who were as passionate about running as us. We even had a little FOMO when we saw Andy post pics while at the 2020 Flyers Awards Gala! It looked like so much fun seeing runners all dressed up! We needed no more convincing and signed up to become new Flyers!

We decided to join evening group runs in Central Park in addition to the Flyers large organized summer long runs.  I remember our very first race as Flyers.  It was a cold Manhattan 7 Mile Race in Central Park, and it took me more than two hours to walk the course.  I was on pain medication at the time from a recent surgery to remove my thymus gland.

OUR FIRST RACE AS FLYERS! 😊

I had recently learned that a malignant tumor, a thymoma, had attached to my thymus gland, located in the middle of my chest.  The pain that I felt in my chest after a 10-mile training run led me to go to the ER two days later which was when the mass was discovered.  As a result, I believe running saved my life.💖  I don’t know if the tumor would have made itself known otherwise.  Surgery was successful, and with the clearance of my medical team I got the go-ahead to return to running.  I was determined to continue training along with Chris, expecting to run our scheduled half marathons and the 2020 NYC Marathon.  Then…the world shut down.

During the difficult days of Covid, being separated from loved ones and Flyer friends, Chris and I continued training together to keep some sort of routine and normalcy in our lives.  

What wasn’t normal were the completely deserted streets of NYC.  We were able to run everywhere and anywhere without worrying about traffic.  Long runs were a dream even though the world was a nightmare.  By June, it was announced that the NYC Marathon was cancelled, but we continued to run together and decided to run it virtually.  

After months of training together, and when it was safe to do so, fellow Flyers and I cheered and supported Chris and other Flyers running four-plus loops of Central Park in late October of 2020.  I had the same support group two weeks later when I ran my 26.2 miles.  I ran the virtual marathon on the day the "real" marathon would have been held on, November 1, 2020.  I ran along the actual NYC route except for the Verrazano Bridge.  The last 10 miles, there was a downpour and I was cold and soaked.  But, I made it to the finish line that NYRR laid down in the park.  It was an emotional moment as Chris ran the last 200 meters with me, captured my finish, and draped the iconic blue poncho over me that we purchased second-hand online.

When races slowly began to resume in 2021, Chris and I trained together and raced together.  We signed up for two more marathons, making what was just a bucket-list dream to run New York City into also running Berlin and Chicago!  All in 6 week’s time!  

Running together has taken us around the world, visiting cities we always wanted to see.  

We realized that we already were halfway towards completing all six of the Abbott World Marathon Majors so we decided to pursue attaining the Abbott Six Star Medal.  We recently completed London in October ’22 and Tokyo in March of ‘23.  Only the Boston Marathon remains for us to claim our final Six Star Medal!  I’m hoping to secure a Boston entry via a charity, and Chris’ dream is to time-qualify for Boston.🦄  I know we can both do it!

After having less than stellar marathon finish times training on our own, I decided to invest in proper coaching and was coaxed by our wonderful Flyers Member at Large, Wendy Mitchell, to sign up for the Flyers Marathon Training Program (MTP).  Chris followed along and signed up for training, too! This is what solidified what we especially enjoy as Flyers -- the camaraderie and friendships we have formed after joining the Marathon Training Program.  There really is a wonderful social aspect and support system to group training - something we didn’t know we were missing in 2020.  We also enjoy the personal bests we’ve been achieving while participating in this marvelous program. Being individually coached based on our fitness levels, Chris is nearing readiness for a sub-4 marathon.  And me?  Well, I’m happy to be out of the 6+ hour range!  Last year in NYC, MTP helped me have a course PR of 1:02:12! 😍

When you don’t see me running races, you’ll see me cheering at races.  My team spirit always emerges as I love cheering for Chris at races, along with cheering my fellow Flyers and everyone I’ve met from different running clubs and the running community. 📣

Although we started our journey together by stepping on those treadmills back in 2019, we’ve needed to train apart and at different paces to improve our marathon times.  And that’s totally fine! It’s a small price to pay for the successes we’ve had. 🤗 We continue to celebrate one another’s achievements and continue to encourage and motivate each other for every upcoming race. Both of us joining the Flyers, joining MTP and both of us making wonderful running friends is the best investment we ever made in our fitness lives. 💕

- Vivian Duran-Moy with Chris Moy

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Battered & Bloodied: Steve's Throwback to BROOKLYN HALF-MARATHON 2008

STEVE KAIRYS 2017

Prologue

Less than two miles into the 2008 Brooklyn Half-Marathon, my race hung by a hairbreadth. I found myself prone on the Coney Island boardwalk, having incurred multiple injuries. Would I have to drop out of a race for the first time in over 170 starts?

Not if I had anything to say about it.

Battered and bloodied, I tried to get up…

Mile 0: History Lesson

In 2008, The Brooklyn Half was not this major party with more than 25K runners, finishing at Coney Island. It was a smaller race (5,839 finishers) that, for the final time, started there, and challenged runners by concluding in hilly Prospect Park. 🏔

(Map from usatf.org.)

Mile 1: Want a Hot Dog?

On this cloudy, cool morning, the race began on the boardwalk, with the ocean to my left.🌊 My goal: under-10:00/mi. I passed the shuttered eateries (such as Nathan’s). Thanks to a restroom stop, my split was 10:33.

Mile 2: SPLAT!

Shortly after the turnaround, I stumbled, and apprehension swelled as the boardwalk rose up to meet me. I connected five body parts with the boardwalk: knees, hands, and what I thought was a bone on the left side of my chest.

I stood, tried to run…and I could! Still, I had emerged from this tumble with significant damage. While not bleeding, both knees were scraped: the right, barely; the left, however, sported an ugly red blotch. My hands briefly felt a bit sore, but inspecting them showed no damage. Of greater concern, however, might have been my chest or ribs. Now and then, I’d feel a twinge.

I defiantly stated to one of the concerned runners that after putting in two 10-milers, I wasn’t going to let a little tumble stop me. I was going to run competitively as if I had never fallen. I think this incident increased my determination. 

Split: 10:06, Net: 20:40, Deficit  0:40

Mile 3: Goodbye, Boardwalk

Around mile 2.8, the race mercifully left the boardwalk and descended onto city streets. Soon, we took a right onto Surf Avenue and before long, I hit the Mile 3 marker in an estimated time of 9:50.

Miles 4 - 9; Ocean Parkway to Prospect Park

The race proceeded north on almost-flat Ocean Parkway. Now and then, I’d draw on the company of my fellow runners with whom I would share my story about how lucky I was to still be in this race.

I settled into a nice rhythm, most of my miles under-10:00, and took the lead on my goal pace by Mile 5. While I wanted to accumulate a time cushion before the dreaded Mile 11 hill in Prospect Park, I needed to save something. The race was going by pretty quickly, a testament to the good day I was enjoying. What injuries? Adrenaline and determination were getting me through the half-marathon.

Eventually, I ran up an exit ramp and soon entered the park near Mile 9 with a comfortable lead.

Net: 1:28:41, Lead: 1:19

Mile 10: Gobble, Gobble

Now, around a 10:19 pace would attain my goal. I soon would pass landmarks I recognized from the Turkey Trot; however, my planned post-race dinner was steak. I gained another 10 seconds by Mile 10, body still feeling good.

Split: 9:50, Net: 1:38:31, Lead: 1:29

Mile 11: That Looming Hill

Shortly thereafter, on East Drive, the hill appeared. The slope is significant and lengthy. I met the challenge head-on. Finally, on West Drive, I would reach Mile 11. Relieved, I checked my watch.

I had conquered The Hill in 9:44 for Mile Eleven. About nine miles earlier, I could’ve taken a DNF. Now, I stood just 2.1 miles from a triumphant finish.

Split: 9:44, Net: 1:48:15, Lead: 1:45

Miles 12 - 13.1 – Hanging On

My injuries were still holding up. At Mile 12, I lead by 1:49. I could taste it.

I was tiring though, and challenged by the long, gradual uphill on Wellhouse/Hill Drive. I had defeated that big hill, but now, the course walloped me with the back end of a one-two punch. I refused to give in, looking, looking, looking for the end of this road. Would that intersection ever appear?

Mercifully, it did, and I returned to East Drive. Shortly thereafter, I made the final turn, onto Center Drive. Somewhere along this road came one more short, slight uphill. Finally, I spotted the Mile 13 marker, hitting it in 10:00. I still led by 1:49. My battered body had nothing left for a finishing sprint, but I had fully earned the right not to kick. I would cross that Finish Line, and secure my first competitive triumph in over ten months.

I had started adversity in the race, turning a fall that could have ruined my race into victory. 

Split   1:01;  Net:  2:09:11 (Pace: 9:52/mi)

Miles 14 - 15: Celebration! Celebration!

Now, my body could allow itself to feel beaten up. My left knee started hurting, all I needed when I had to climb the steps of the baggage bus.🚌

Still, I reveled in my achievement and enjoyed the generous post-race team brunch hosted by New York Flyer couple Sara and Gary Heard, including a bagel, meatballs, and quiche.🥯 As my rib injury pained me when I coughed, I remarked that I hoped that no one would tell me any jokes so that I did not have to laugh. The fabric of my post-race sweatpants rubbed uncomfortably against  my knee. After the gathering, fellow Flyer Ed Altman saved me from a taxing subway ride home by driving me back to Manhattan. Thank you, Ed! I’ve met so many wonderful people through the Flyers.

By evening, it hurt to get in and out of bed. It didn’t matter. Especially during my celebration dinner. Nothing like steak and plentiful wine🍷🍷🍷to ease the pain after one of my proudest races.

-Steve Kairys

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