East Coast Appetite

Week 8 of NYC Marathon Training

September 13, 2016September 13, 2016Posted in nycm, TrainingTagged marathon, nycm, Running, Training2 Comments

After a really amazing Week 7, Week 8 was still pretty decent. It was a major cutback, from 34+ miles to 25.

Monday 9/5: Rest day.

Tuesday 9/6: Skipped the 6am training group (and the accompanying 5:20am wake up call) and did 3 miles around my neighborhood. Went to the same turf field area as usual but didn’t do laps because I wanted a longer speed workout later in the week. Faster overall, but it was only 3 miles and I knew it would be a shorter one. Rock climbing at night with coworkers. I’m still new to belaying and accidentally shredded my hand a bit. I mainly did 5.6 and 5.7s.

Wednesday 9/7: Rest day. I usually do a Wednesday night run with a group, but it was Gabby’s going away party so we toasted to her in the Lower East Side.

Thursday 9/8: Solo speedwork night. I was debating between Prospect Park and Red Hook Track, but went where I would know the fast route home since it’s getting dark so early now. I did 4 mile repeats (along with a warmup mile and 1.6+ cooldown). The first 2 were great but the net downhill was working for me. Once I made it onto flat land and was a bit fatigued from the 8:50ish pace, the 3rd was really hard. The humidity was nasty. Some friends raced the Superfund Super Run but that thing starts at 10pm, which let’s be real, is my bedtime these days.

Friday: Rest day. I was indoctrinated to the New York Steakhouse experience at Smith & Wollensky’s (ok, technically Wollensky’s Grill) then got a fancy cocktail and live jazz trio at Bemelman’s Bar, which I’ve been wanting to visit forever. I wish I had taken photos but the lighting was all wrong.

Saturday: Prime Rib, half a bottle of wine, and a negroni do not lend themselves easily to a zippy early morning run. I instead opted for a 4.4 mile (gotta offset the .6 from Thursday!) slogfest in the sun and humidity after 11am. I am a fool. I ran each mile on the fast side but has to take some long water breaks.

Sunday: Long run day; only 11 because it was my cutback week. It was a humid slogfest if we’re being honest, but I ran the majority of it with people who helped take my mind off of it. After 2+ park loops, I misread my watch on the way home as 9.03 when it was really 9.93 miles and had a momentary freak out. How could I do 2 more miles when I was already exhausted and drenched in sweat? Fortunately, my Garmin beeped at 10 miles pretty quickly after and I knew I could pull out that final one. I had already turned off early from the group to get home (and have a smoothie) instead of getting coffee further from home. This was definitely my worst long run of my training cycle so far, physically and mentally. I hope that cooler temperatures prevail and my mental fortitude gets back on track.

Total: 25 miles out of a recommended 23-27.

The heat and humidity last week lent themselves to a quicker than usual laundry cycle plus some tough runs. I’m planning to race a half marathon in early October and try to PR. More details to come because I still haven’t bit the bullet and registered. I have some exciting travels coming up, which will mean long runs in exotic locales (and lots of delicious food).

Mofongo, takoyaki, and a pandan coconut Twinkie from a mini food fest near work

We made flower crowns at my friend’s bridal brunch. Hill County BBQ platters behind me.

And a photo from last Saturday the 2nd when I tried really hard to get the best Honeycrisp apples. Yeah, I’m basically inside of the tree.

Week 7 of NYC Marathon Training

September 6, 2016September 6, 2016Posted in NYC, nycm, TrainingTagged marathon, NYC, nycm, Running, Training4 Comments

Monday 8/29: Off day.

Tuesday 8/30: Queensboro Bridge repeat then getting a little lost around Long Island City to meet my friends for delicious desserts for 4.3 miles total. The bridge was an interesting experience. I was worried about the climb initially but it was fine (it’s a long one). The only issue was all the cyclists pedaling away in the pedestrian lane. I ran the way back on the side closer to the bikes and the fear made me run a full minute per mile faster. I met my friends at Sugarcube after and enjoyed their $10 special for a pastry (lemon choux for me, raspberry mousse for my friends) and gelato (strawberry Greek yogurt and rosewater flavors for me).

Wednesday 8/31: 7.2 miles total, which includes a warmup mile to the meeting spot, a loop of Prospect Park, 0.7 miles to the bar, then 1.5 miles home after 2 beers and a pimiento grilled cheese. One of the beers was free from a Pacifico bar rep, in my defense. The 1.5 mile shuffle home was shockingly quick and not queasy.
Thursday 9/1: Off day for running, but I did some top rope climbing (and failed bouldering) before work at Brooklyn Boulders. It was good to try another spot and some new routes. I’m still thinking about getting a harness and climbing shoes so I don’t have to keep renting equipment.

Friday 9/2: Fireworks group run to Coney Island. It was a little over 2.5 miles to the meeting spot, then a straight shot down Ocean Parkway to the boardwalk, then down a ways to the main spot near Ruby’s and Nathan’s Famous. 8.7 miles total, most of it with 2 other PPTC members at a conversational pace. We then stood in line for Nathan’s, watched the fireworks, and finally got our food close to 40 minutes after getting there. My chili cheese dog was amazing but the lemonade stole the show. We took the Q back and I did some foam rolling before bed.

Saturday 9/3: Off day from running. I drove a minivan full of friends up to Newburgh to our favorite Lawrence Farms Orchards for early season apple picking and produce shopping. Obviously I was most excited about apple cider donuts, but all of the other goodies were fun, too. I bought a fair amount of Honeycrisps and some eggplants. We went to a British pie shop for lunch, then I had Chinese delivery for dinner for carbing up.

Sunday 9/4: Long run day (or as Carla says, Church of the Sunday Long Run). My NYRR Virtual Trainer called for 13 miles but most other training plans would have me at 14 and I knew I would feel a lot more confident going longer. I left at 8am and did a warmup mile and loop around the park before meeting up with the group at 9am. Fortunately, the group was willing to go around 9-10 miles at my pace, so I kind of led the way across the Brooklyn Bridge, through lower Manhattan, back across the Manhattan Bridge, then a quick pit stop for water before ending at the new Park Slope Juice Press. I went just over 14 miles, so figured 14.1 would be better for inputting into my virtual trainer. Strava ended up giving me 14.5 miles total, but I assure everyone this was “just” 14.1 miles. Which makes it my longest run EVER. I’ve done 13.1 (really 13.3 because of not running tangents) in half marathons in 2015 but never further. These numbers made it feel real for me. I thanked everyone profusely for joining me on this momentous occasion (yes, really) and excitedly drank my free watermelon juice while strolling downhill.

I ate a Honeycrisp immediately, then downed some duck poutine and roast pork sandwich at Smorgasburg plus some apple cider donuts. Then I made good use of the Japanese and regular eggplants I bought with this miso roasted eggplant recipe I’ve been meaning to try forever.
Total: 34.3 miles out of recommended 30-34 miles. Yeah, that’s right, I achieved more than the minimum.

Week 6 of NYC Marathon Training

August 31, 2016August 31, 2016Posted in NYC, nycm, Running, Training6 Comments

Heavens to Betsy, I can’t believe I’m so deep into training already (or that August is almost over). Overall, it’s going really well! Almost surprisingly well. I’ve been foam rolling like a champ and I think all the rock climbing has been helpful in building my strength. I’d like to keep squeezing in barre classes for additional stretching and strengthening.

Monday 8/22: Rest day from running. Rock climbed for a few hours and got up to (and completed) a 5.8 It’s so cool to see progress in this arena. Then I tried bouldering, which I haven’t attempted since 2012. I got up the V0 pretty easily but failed on the V1. Will try again and report back.

Tuesday 8/23: Quick 3 (morning!) miles around the neighborhood, including a turf soccer field. It feels really good on the feet and knees, that’s for sure. I did a half mile warmup, then 4 x 800m, then a little over a half mile cool down. My paces were not great, hovering around 9:00 minute miles which seems slow given that sub-8 minute mile at the 5K only a week prior.

Wednesday 8/24: 1 mile warmup to Prospect Park, 3.35 mile loop, then hurried up and waited for my friend’s running group and did 2/3 of a loop with them (cutting up Center Drive), then ran a mile to a bar in Prospect Heights. 8 miles total of varying paces from 9:31 on the downhill to 11:54 when I only had my prescription sunglasses on in the dark.

Thursday 8/25: Day off. Made my own Shake Shack concrete flavor for the first time, with a marshmallow swirl and crispy crunchies mixed into the Buttery Blackberry flavor of the week. Failed to take a picture.

Friday 8/26: Day off. Had a few beers, which had me concerned for my run the next day, but drank lots of water and went to bed very early.

Saturday 8/27: Long Run day. Ran an uphill mile to the starting point before 8 am, then did a conversational 11 across the Brooklyn Bridge, around lower Manhattan, and back on the Manhattan Bridge, all with several people from PPTC. Paces ranged from low 10:00s on the bridges to higher 11s in the FiDi with swarms of tourists. I had a ShotBlock after the first 5 miles then again closer to the 10th mile. This run had me questioning my sock choices, so I might try to get some with better sweat-wicking properties soon. I ran straight to Brooklyn Juice Company and had an amazing watermelon slushie, then foam rolled and showered before an amazing brunch at Miriam, local beers at Threes Brewing and String Rope Brewery, and ice cream at Ample Hills. BEST FOOD DAY.

Sunday 8/28: Quick 6 around the park before a beach day in Long Island. Nothing notable about this run except that I did the math wrong and thought these 6 miles would put me over the 30 mile threshold for the week. Got home, inserted into NYRR Virtual Trainer and boom, 29.4 miles total. Oh well, next week.

Total: 29.4 out of a recommended 30-34.

Long Beach was fun but full of seaweed, washed-up jellyfish, and some nasty riptides. At least there were fish tacos.

Week 5 of NYC Marathon Training

August 26, 2016August 26, 2016Posted in NYC, nycm, Race Recaps, Running, TrainingTagged 8k, NYC, nycm, Races, Running, TrainingLeave a comment

This post is late because I was attending a work training for 2 days. I now have a White Belt in Lean Six Sigma and actually have thought about how to apply some of my newfound process improvement skills toward marathon training (namely, morning runs). Look out, world!

Monday 8/15: Red-eye back from Vegas was rough, so I slept until 11am then napped in the afternoon. Meant to get a run in but didn’t. Still had some desert sand on me from the hike.

Tuesday 8/16: My usual snooze struggles were coupled with a touch of jet lag. I brought my running gear to the rock climbing gym but ended up just climbing for several hours. I completed my first 5.7 (and then my second) and tried a couple of 5.8s that I did not summit.

Wednesday: The final Al Goldstein Summer Speed Series 5K. I wanted to try for even splits of 8:20-8:30 but had some digestive unrest for the first mile, so hit 8:55 (this mile has the big hill, too), then sped up to 8:15 for the second (mostly downhill) mile and was feeling great. I saw some teammates ahead and hung back for a while before passing them in the last 250 meters then sprinted it in for a barely sub-8 final mile. I don’t think I’ve seen a sub-8 mile on my Garmin since I raced the Fifth Avenue Mile last year. The last 0.1 was sub-7, so I guess I have some untapped sprinting speed in me yet. I did a warm up and cool down mile as well to bring it to 5.3 miles for the day.

Thursday: Quick run-commute jaunt to book club, picking up some duck liver mousse and buffalo cheese on the way for tartines. 2.5 slow miles with my running backpack on. I contemplated running home but had some wine and a lot of tartines, so enjoyed a leisurely walk.

Friday: Off day.

Saturday: 8ish mile long run to celebrate Summer Streets. The last time I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge was on a run was last September and it was rough; my Achilles were acting up and I got water on the Manhattan side of the bridge then turned around to shuffle home. This time, I was loving life. Endorphins all over the place. We took a few moments to appreciate the views at the top, then paused at the start of Summer Streets for free coconut water. My Garmin got confused after the Brooklyn Bridge and gave me an extra mile (at a blistering pace). I peeled off the route at 59th St. and got a Sprinkles cupcake and some blue Gatorade before taking the subway home. I wish Summer Streets was every week (in the summer or otherwise) and Citibank replied to my Tweet about those sentiments.

Sunday: France Run 8K plus 2 miles warmup and 1 mile cooldown. I’m not giving either race this week the full race report because I’m trying to focus on the marathon. But I’m inclined to agree with whoever called this the France Swim. The rain began right as we were still in the corrals, then intensified in mile 1. I took my glasses off and put them in my pocket (yay for my Lululemon Speed Track shorts and their ample pocket space) and tried to take the Harlem hills as best I could. I stopped for water only after mile 4 because I had foolishly eschewed it before. Overall, my pace sped up just a touch from Team Champs 3 weeks prior.

I later visited the Museum of Ice Cream and mainly got my money’s worth in candy.

total: 23.8 out of 26-29 total recommended. Not bad but I do wish I had squeezed in a few more Thursday night or you know, made my Tuesday workout happen.

Week 4 of NYC Marathon Training

August 16, 2016September 2, 2016Posted in nycm, Running, TrainingTagged marathon, nycm, Running, TrainingLeave a comment

I knew that my trip to Las Vegas would pose some issues for my workouts (aka move them to the treadmill) but it sounds like my runs would have been brutally humid and hot in NYC.

Monday: Rest day running-wise. I took a Pure Barre class after work after not doing barre for a few weeks (trying to use that rock climbing gym membership wisely). I felt strong during the plank portion and held it for all 90 seconds.

Tuesday: Quick auto-belay climb at the rock climbing gym, then ‘regular run’ around the Long Island City waterfront after work. I did 5 miles but didn’t realize until after that the training plan called for 6.

Wednesday: Annual ice cream run with my running club. It was disgustingly humid so I tried and succeeded at taking it easy on the warmup and loop itself, then ran downhill with abandon toward Ample Hills. I ended up with 6 miles total because I was at 5.8 and refused to stop there.

Ice Cream Run 2016 — I’m in the white in the middle row, cheesing with Lillian

Thursday: Rest/travel day. I had a morning flight out of JFK, dropped my stuff off at the hotel, then I met up with a coworker for some shopping time. I mainly took cabs and Uber everywhere but hit over 11,000 steps with all the walking through casinos and outlet shops. We ate at a Guy Fieri restaurant for dinner and had Trash Can Nachos among other delicious junk.

Friday: Woke up at 9am EST/6am Vegas time, so I headed to the gym to get some miles in in part to make up for the 2 miles I missed earlier in the week. I decided to make it a progression run each mile then stretched a planned 4 into 4.5. I then did a stroll of The Strip with friends during the day (with more shopping and eating) plus some trivia competitions. I bought a 2nd pair of the Lululemon Speed Track shorts because they are amazing and chatted with one of the sales reps about NYC and running. I ended up hitting 26,654 steps total for the day, not including the 4.5 treadmill miles.

Saturday: I was dreading my treadmill long run, especially after staying up later than planned (drinks are free even if you’re not gambling so long as your friends are!). I brought my remaining ShotBlocks and podcasts and tried to lock into a nice, easy pace. The first hour went pretty well, so I ate 2 blocks and stepped up the pace per mile for the final 4 by just a bit. My final mile was momentous in that it turned this into my first double digit run since last October! And also because I sped it up by the 0.10s from 6.0 mph to 6.1 to 6.3 to 6.4 and survived. Then I didn’t stop it exactly at 10.0 and figured I should go to a full 10.1 miles so that Strava’s calculations would be better. The things we runners do when we know others are watching. I recovered with an apple and pork jerky, then had a delicious lunch of Del Taco and a Dairy Queen Butterfinger Blizzard.

Sunday: After feeling pretty Vegased out overall, I headed out toward Mount Charleston with some teammates where it was a solid 20 degrees cooler. We hiked the Cathedral Rock loop, which was 2.8 miles total. The area itself was amazing and I hadn’t seen desert and plant life like this since I was at the Grand Canyon 5 years ago. It’s sort of otherworldly compared to the East Coast landscapes I’m used to.

Total miles: 25.6 miles out of a recommended 23-27 miles from the NYRR Virtual Trainer. Not including the hike.

With all that said, I’m a few weeks out from needing a new pair of running shoes. I’m planning to stick to the Brooks Ravenna but might switch to the Ghost.

Running Into the Void

August 12, 2016Posted in Musings, RunningTagged distance running, murakami, Musings, Running1 Comment

I originally wrote this in April and it’s more appropriate than ever with marathon training in full swing. I’m currently in Las Vegas for the Trivia Championships of North America and am squeezing in some treadmill runs because of the 100+ degree heat.

—

As I slowly and cautuously add miles to my runs over the weeks (which is really fun to visually examine on Strava and MapMyRun), I’m finally getting to the kinds of distances where the psychological benefits of running take hold. I was perusing http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/04/how-neuroscientists-explain-the-mind-clearing-magic-of-running.html a few weeks ago and found myself nodding in agreement.

I purchased Haruki Murakami’s book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running in April 2012 when I wasn’t racing and my longest runs ever were a 5K. I was in an objectively not-great place in life, done with grad school and still looking for gainful employment while my student loans accumulated interest. I was unsure if I was going to stay in NYC but desperately wanted to stay and put down roots here. My personal life was a bit messy and confusing but I was hopeful. My runs reflected the rest of my circumstances somewhat; brief uneven jaunts along the East River. I moved from the UES to the LES that May and started a longer-term temp position that temporarily quelled my job anxiety. And I read this book. I had read Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles for a book club in 2009 and quickly followed suit with Norwegian Wood and my personal favorite to this day, Kafka on the Shore (loved 1Q84 as well but that came later). But this was different. It was about running. And Murakami as an author. I’ll be honest; I zipped through it but didn’t really take away much, possibly because my runs weren’t very long. Or because I wasn’t running to find anything. Or to escape anything.

I re-read What I Talk About… last year while training for a half marathon and suddenly, it made sense. Whether it’s age and experience, loss, or just double-digit long runs, I had a much firmer grasp on his feelings this time around and was able to identify some of my own. I had a run at night (on a Monday after barre class because that opens up my hips and activates my glutes) a few weeks ago where I was running in order to escape. It was also a little bit of running to celebrate that I could. After so many months off, it feels amazing to go again. The first mile brought with it the small victory of knowing that my total run would be 3 based on where I turned around. But then came the feelings I was trying to escape. The lump in my throat rose and I tried to swallow it down while choking back tears. I felt like I had run straight into what I was trying to avoid. My emotions subsided after the second mile when I was on a downhill final mile home. I had failed to (literally) run away from my problems, even temporarily. Runs that start and end in a perfectly neutral place are my norm (well, for long runs, not speed training). But maybe sometimes I won’t be able to escape.

From Murakami:

“I just run. I run in a void. Or maybe I should put it the other way: I run in order to acquire a void. But as you might expect, an occasional thought will slip into this void. People’s minds can’t be a complete blank. Human beings’ emotions are not strong or consistent enough to sustain a vacuum. What I mean is, the kinds of thoughts and ideas that invade my emotions as I run remain subordinate to that void. Lacking content, they are just random thoughts that gather around that central void.”

It feels weird (a little refreshing too if we’re being honest) to write about feelings and not just times and numbers on here, but I would love to hear everyone else’s takes on running, voids, and/or Murakami.

Week 3 of NYC Marathon Training

August 9, 2016August 9, 2016Posted in nycm, Race Recaps, Running, TrainingTagged nycm, Running, Training2 Comments

After being just 0.2 miles shy of my training goal on week 2, I entered Week 3 ready to get closer. Then I stumbled.

Monday: Rest day. Went to my current preferred rock climbing gym after work, took the test, and got belay certified! I used the auto-belay to try some new-to-me routes. Then I went out and sabotaged myself for the next day.

Tuesday: Snooze button overload and was double-booked for dinner at night. Yes, I had 2 dinners and desserts (and 3 drinks).

Wednesday: Al Goldstein Summer Speed Series 5K. I had Shake Shack for lunch (Shackburger, fries, and a concrete) and was still feeling kind of gross at 6:30pm. I jogged a warmup mile and asked people their different pacing plans in the “corral”. I quickly figured out who I should not bother trying to keep up with and who I could try to use as a rabbit. But it didn’t quite work out that way because most everyone went even faster than they planned to. I was hoping for steady 8:30s across the board to test my fitness.

One thing of note with these races is that there’s no chip time mat differential, so your time starts when the gun (horn?) goes off. I tried to get up closer to the front but didn’t want to be run over, so I guess my time includes an extra 20 seconds or so. I bucked the 5K trend of having a fast 1st mile, slow 2nd mile, and struggling speedy final mile. Instead, I had a slowish 1st mile up the hill, then sped up with the 2nd mile’s downhill, then kind of had trouble pushing in the 3rd. Gabby came back around for me and we kept the last half mile pretty fast (I made her tell me stories to keep my mind occupied) then really sprinted in the final 100m. Final average pace was 8:45 for a finish of 27:07 but that’s less than a minute off my PR, so I think I’ll be fine.

Between the run there, the race, and my cooldown, I hit 5.3 miles.

Thursday: I did a run-commute home with the more scenic route which also had fewer lights. I ran into a couple coworkers walking or cycling home, which was cool. The weather was great overall and I made it home in time to shower before seeing Hari Kondabolu live. 6.3 miles total.

Friday: Rest day.

Saturday: I thought about a quick 3-5 miler in the morning but am glad I saved my energy because I went hiking at Breakneck Ridge in the afternoon with some coworkers. When I heard there would be some rock scrambling, I imagined less steep angles than what actually appeared. It was seriously much harder than I thought it would be. But it was awesome! I think our hike (white trail to red to yellow) was 2.8 miles total.

Sunday: Long run day. My NYRR plan called for 9, so I jogged a mile to the usual meeting spot then did 2 park loops with half of the group. Some of the miles were faster than my plan called for (those downhills!) and some were right on target. I could feel some foot tiredness in the final mile home but nothing to worry about. I foam rolled after then headed out to the beach for some swimming, lounging, fish tacos, and frisbee. Total of 9.0 miles.

Total mileage: 20.7 miles out of 25 (not counting the hiking). This is 17% less than prescribed by NYRR Virtual Trainer, so I’m hoping to not miss that crucial Tuesday run again.

Week 2 of NYC Marathon Training

August 2, 2016August 2, 2016Posted in nycm, TrainingTagged marathon, NYC, nycm, nyrr, Races, Running, Training6 Comments

Monday 7/25: Rest day.

Tuesday: 7/26 Ugh, overslept/hit snooze for 6am marathon training again. After work, I did 3 x 800s on a treadmill at the rock climbing gym with a half mile warmup and recovery jogs in between. I was pressed for time because of my 6:30pm belay class but glad I got in some speedwork. Less than 3 miles overall, though.

Wednesday 7/27: 5.2 miles of a park loop in the morning. I only had 2 ShotBlocks for breakfast instead of my usual frozen waffle with almond butter (ok, cookie butter) so I was struggling a little. I did 5.2 to compensate for Tuesday’s 2.8 miles.

At night, I went to the rock climbing gym and climbed with friends for a couple hours. I tried a 5.6 and 5.6+ route and was pretty sore the next day.

Thursday 7/28: I planned to run commute to work, but ended up run commuting home from work. I took Google’s recommended route home from a bar in Long Island City (after drinking just water and eating only cake). It went along the BQE for a while as well as the Orthodox South Williamsburg area and there were a lot of long lights, so I will try a more pedestrian-friendly route next time. I did get a feel for the Pulaski Bridge, which is part of the NYC Marathon route. 6.3 miles total and I ended it at Bklyn Larder to buy fondue provisions for a work lunch the next day.
Friday 7/29: Rest day. Ate a ton of delicious foods at work because we had an international food potluck. Went out at night with coworkers and ‘carb loaded’ with ddukboki and budae jigae at Pocha 32 (along with some watermelon soju). Then wisely drank lots of water at the bar.

Saturday 7/30: NYRR Teamp Champs Race! Virtual Trainer suggested 7 total miles, so a mile each of warmup and cooldown before and after the 5-mile race, but I didn’t have time for even a half mile warmup. The womens’ race began at 7:30am this year (moved up an hour because of heat), so I knew I would have to do 2 miles after.

I originally had loftier time goals for this race (sub-9 or close for every mile) but my current conditioning plus the humidity led me to believe I should adjust my goals toward something more reasonable. I asked a few pals what their pacing plan was and latched onto a teammate’s who was trying for 9:15ish then dropping for the last 2 miles. We ran 4.8 miles of the race together and her positivity was so helpful during it. Well, we took the first mile a little too quick and the hills on the next 3 were not great.

I got confused by the last 200-400 meters of the race and accidentally hit stop too early on my Garmin, then restarted. But my official race time was 46:51, so that part is right.

Team Champs Strava Splits — Strava Splits and the GAP tell the story of some rough hills and pacing

I ended up with 2.3 after because I got confused on the bridal path and around the reservoir. I expect to hit up Central Park for my long runs more soon, including the dreaded 18-mile tune-up in mid-September.

So glad to be done and cheering on the men

Sunday: Quick 1.2 mile shakeout run to Bagel Pub, where I got an everything bagel (toasted) with bacon scallion cream cheese and a peanut banana smoothie.

Total: 22.8 miles out of a recommended (by NYRR Virtual Trainer) 23 miles. So close! This was my highest mileage week ever, but they will of course continue to increase.

Week 1 of NYC Marathon Training

July 26, 2016September 2, 2016Posted in nycm, TrainingTagged nycm, Running, Training5 Comments

I took the plunge and bought NYRR’s Virtual Trainer. I was already planning to use Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 as well as my running club’s marathon training schedule and weekly speedwork, but I really like having something so customizable. After inputting my recent race times from this spring and my current amount of running AND the fact that I’ve had a soft tissue injury in the last year (sigh), the trainer spit out a time goal for NYCM of 4:37-4:45. I’m not going to lie, my original time goal was sub-4:30, but I think this makes a lot of sense given all of those confounding factors. I’d only been running 3 days a week (plus spin and barre) this spring and am still very cautious of getting injured again. The great thing is that I update my paces and distances and times into the virtual trainer and it will update my goal.

Monday 7/18: Off day and I mean really off. I drove to DC (well, Northern Virginia) and popped by. Pacers Running to peruse hand-held water bottles. I ended up buying a new Camelback water bottle for my gym/class workouts (my favorite one from the Nike Womens Half has some mildew) and a Virginia is for Runners shirt. (Our old tourism state motto was Virginia is for Lovers). Then I took a long bus ride back to NYC and had most of a slice of Artichoke’s pepperoni pizza for dinner. Off day, y’all.

Tuesday 7/19: I skipped the 6am speed workout with the team but did 3 miles total with some soccer field laps for speed solo. Easy and breezy and way less hot and humid than my Sunday run. As the first official workout of training, I was very pleased, though I should have made it closer to 4 or 5.

Wednesday 7/20: 4.4 miles with part of a park loop. Not too hot at all despite it being closer to 9am (weird work schedule some days).

Thursday 7/21: Accidental off day. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Friday 7/22: HIIT workout with Gabby at the Propel Lab. For almost an hour, we cycled through different bodyweight exercises and cardio plus some 250m repeats on the Erg. Fortunately, they supplied us all Propel electrolyte water and a sweat towel. After collapsing on our mats, we headed downstairs for a nice breakfast, complete with smoothies and a braid bar. I’m so glad the nice folks at Propel let the bloggers bring a friend! I had glute and ab DOMS the rest of the weekend. The swag bag is the perfect gym bag, too.

28190063710_abfaee2470_o — At the smoothie bar, grabbing the chocolate/banana option with more protein

Saturday 7/23: 8 mile long run solo. It was hot, so I took it very slow and steady. I stopped a lot at water fountains and didn’t pause my watch so most of the miles were around 11:00 min mile. I did take a stretch break (ahh, the DOMS!) by the lake for a hot second.

Sunday 7/24: 4.5 mile run for food. We were on city streets and it was pretty sunny, so I reached new levels of face sweat with my visor on. Had a watermelon slushie, jian bing, a couple crab soup dumplings, and a mango smoothie after.

13725000_10154328173441870_4115745446042039350_o — The final 100 meters to deliciousness. Rocking my Lululemon Run From Work backpack with a 2L Platypus bladder and Run Times shorts

13775391_10209942613270880_8283184064712154253_n — Slushie #2 from Mango Empress for the road

Total miles: 20 (out of 22 recommended by virtual trainer).

17 Weeks Out Recap

July 24, 2016Posted in NYC, Running, TrainingTagged marathon, nycm, nyrr2 Comments

I had a lovely draft started of all the activities I did in my 17th week out, but then life happened. And the workouts didn’t. I think this was hopefully one of my last gasps of mind-body disconnect about what I’m heading toward. It’s time to ratchet up the discipline and willpower and mind-over-matter mantras. I just purchased the NYRR Virtual Trainer and it gave me a very realistic time based on my race performances this spring as well as my current fitness, so I’m planning to log my runs and workouts into there, with some additional structure from Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 and my running club’s weekly Marathon Training Group’s speed workouts.

In anticipation of all this mileage and realizing that I only took 5 classes in my last billing cycle, I’m downgrading my ClassPass membership from the 10 classes a month Core to the 5 classes a month Base membership. I’m hoping this will assuage my guilt about rarely hitting 10/month but still allow me to cross-train with spin and get stronger with barre. I also am going to try and take some tennis clinics and use it for bouldering/rock climbing wall time.

Not-really-training-yet recap:

Saturday 7/9: Short “long” run with my friend Maya for 5 conversational miles including a park loop. This felt great! I dropped her off at a rock climbing gym then dealt with my hangover on the couch.

Sunday 7/10: I had a packed day of apricot Cronuts at Dominique Ansel (along with Elle of A Fast Paced Life), a Reuben at David’s Pastrami House, then the Smith St. Bastille Day celebration. I was hoping to eke out another run but my hamstrings were a little sore and I was so busy eating and cheering for France in the EuroCup final. I foam rolled at home.

Monday 7/11: PureBarre class before work. I couldn’t tell if it felt harder (and I got sweatier) because I didn’t do barre last week or because it was a slightly modified warmup that used weights in parts. I’m pretty strong at the planking now but tricep-focused push-ups are still so tough.

Tuesday 7/12: I smartly adjusted my alarm to not get up at 5:20am for 6am speed work with my running group (after going out for drinks and Mexican the night before). Unfortunately, I outsmarted myself by sleeping past my next round of alarms at 6:20am and missed a morning run altogether. But then I went on the best Yelp event of the year; the birthday cruise.

Wednesday 7/13 – Saturday 7/16: All work and travel, no workouts. But I got family and Rufus time.

So according to Strava and NYRR, Mondays are the start of the training week. I mentally consider it to be Sundays (is that a holdover from MapMyRun?), so here’s to some thought shift.

Sunday 7/17: I ran 3.5 miles while at home in VA around 9am, which meant that it was 80 out and 85% humidity (with a dew point in the 60’s). Needless to say, this was disgusting. I also ran it on an empty stomach, which I don’t usually do. The good news is that I tested out my SuperGoop sunscreen and it survived the sweat test. Then on Monday, it was back to NYC for my first real week of training.