In September, I started an 8-week training plan with Stryd that I’ve loosely followed for the Prospect Park Track Club Virtual Turkey Trot. Loosely being the key word. The Turkey Trot is virtual this year, so we have from Thursday-Sunday of Thanksgiving week to race it. I’m planning to pick my race day based on weather conditions and crank it out solo on a nearby flat loop.

After a couple months of slow base building starting from near-0 mileage in July, I finally started upping my consistency to 4 days a week of running and at least one other cardio/strength workout weekly. I wasn’t too worried about speed or distance, but have slowly built both up along with more activity. I hit 27 miles/5 hours of running the week ending November 1 (halfway through the training plan), which is my highest volume since April. (Then I haven’t run as consistently since in November, but that’s another story).

November 1 would have been the date of the 50th New York City Marathon, so I decided to run a bit of the course for fun in my 70 minute planned long run. Of course the rain began by mile 1, so I put on my Asics Stormchaser jacket and popped the hood (should have brought a hat to keep the rain off my glasses). I’m pretty happy with my splits, all things considered, though the faster times were due to going downhill. The last mile was an absolute slog. I overshot my turnaround point and went up to 90th St then back down to Columbus Circle. My form was falling apart (once I accidentally kick my own ankles, I know it’s getting bad). However there were supporters with cowbells cheering us on and some folks present for their virtual marathoners near the finish line. Even though the weather wasn’t ideal, it was nice to see so many supporters and see so many other runners.

In October, I had a few (mostly outdoor) adventures other than running. I made it to:

– New York Botanical Garden

– Bartlett Arboretum

– Pennings Orchard

– hiked some the Palisades and the George Washington Bridge

– shot engagement photos in Liberty State Park/Jersey City waterfront

– Norwalk Maritime Aquarium

That’s really it! A shocking lack of food photos this month but the lighting in our apartment is not great and I haven’t been dining out as much.