Training – Page 13 – East Coast Appetite

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.

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.

The final weeks before marathon training

July 8, 2016Posted in ClassPass, Running, TrainingTagged ClassPass, Running, Training1 Comment

I haven’t run a race since the Mini 10K, but I’ve been trying to build my base mileage before I start marathon training for NYCM (November 6th). I’m also still a ClassPass member and am now part of the Core pan, where I can take up to 10 classes per month. Plus I still have a gym membership at Blink, but I think the last time I stopped in was to stretch before taking a Mile High Run Club class back in May. I know, I know. What happened to my pull-up goals? I guess they’re on hold for now. I feel like I’ve been doing enough bodyweight during all my barre classes that I’m still pretty strong overall. Just not pull-up strong yet.

I am somewhere between a Robin Scherbatsky and an Elaine Benes at the gym. Less grunting than Robin, less preening than Elaine.

But back to running and ClassPass. In June, I took 5 barre classes and 2 spin classes and logged 40something miles. Not bad, but I will eventually be running 40+ miles in a week. I’m trying not to add too much of any one thing in my running (whether that be miles, hills, or speed) in fear of tweaking my bursitis. I’m optimistic but still nervous about marathon training overall. I’m hoping to find a half marathon within a couple weeks of Labor Day to fit into my training plan (Hal Higdon Novice 2 but also buying into NYRR’s Virtual Trainer) and am taking suggestions.

I also played some tennis the other week at the West Side Tennis Club. Remember when I took tennis lessons on a clay court in summer 2011? Yeah, my backhand and racket haven’t seen much time on the courts since. I’m hoping to take some tennis clinics through ClassPass in the upcoming weeks to improve a smidge.

I’m going to hit publish on this post even though I feel like I have so many more words possible, (both on marathon training but mainly this week’s news events, but I feel like I’ve largely said my piece on Twitter and Facebook and now need to work on being a more active ally IRL.

May Workouts and Training Recap

June 10, 2016June 10, 2016Posted in ClassPass, TrainingLeave a comment

ClassPass emailed all NYC users (subscribers?) April 27th to let us know of an upcoming price change for monthly unlimited packages. They’re creating the Core membership and keeping it the same $125 a month but with a maximum 10 classes a month (the big up was to $190 for monthly unlimited, which is $200/month for new users). I crunched the numbers from the past 8 months of ClassPass and have only ever taken more than 10x/month once. So safe to say, I think the Core membership will work out great for me. If anything, I might be more motivated to take the full 10 classes a month. I’ve also kept my Blink membership, which really comes in handy due to their expanding number of locations around the city. I’m going to re-assess my membership situation for both once I’m deep into marathon training and/or if I move apartments at the end of summer.

In May, I ran 30.5 miles. I haven’t hit that kind of mileage since September 2015. But of course I am somewhat terrified of the realization that I will soon be running up to, around, and even more than 30 miles in a week when marathon training. 7.3 of those miles were official NYRR races in Central Park, 4.8 were on a treadmill at Mile High Run Club, and half included my running backpack. I also took a Spibelt for a spin on a late-morning hot training run. I actually appreciated the way my keys and phone jingled against the small of my back, alerting people to my presence.

I took 8 classes on ClassPass, including 5 barre and 2 spin. I really like the strength and stretching aspects of barre. I’ve tried classes at PureBarre (3 of their Brooklyn locations), The Bar Method, and now FlyBarre. Most have a similar flow for class and save the glute bridges for the end. I like to fire up the glutes, stretch, then head out for a short run home or to the subway after to take advantage. Outside of ClassPass, I redeemed a voucher for a free SoulCycle class that I won through bar trivia. This was my second SoulCycle class ever and it felt more aggressive (in a good way) than my previous one. Due to the humid day and temperature in the room, there was a lot of face sweating going on.

I also went on a hike back in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park. I was relatively pressed for time and hiking alone on a Friday afternoon, so I opted for the Dark Hollow Falls hike. I drove my rental car straight from Reagan to SNP then geared up and ate lunch at the Big Meadows Lodge after stopping by the Byrd Visitor Center to nab a passport and getting a cancellation stamp. I read on the trail log that a black bear and her three cubs had been spotted almost daily that week and tried to keep an eye out for them.

One national park down, many more to go
Awkward rock posing aside, the falls were beautiful

Brooks Pure Cadence 4 (aka my short distance shoes), getting a little muddy

I ran 4 miles along the Roanoke River as well and damn, do I love a good towpath. All of my May workouts got me very excited for future races.

Hello, Roanoke Star! I had wanted to hike up to it but was pressed for time.

Training and General Update Post and brief Japan Day Run race recap

May 13, 2016May 13, 2016Posted in ClassPass, Race Recaps, Running, TrainingTagged 4 Miler, ClassPass, Races, Running, Training2 Comments

Now that I’m in better physical health and running semi-regularly again and racing, I feel very energized about the next few months of running. Jazzed, even. But I’m trying not to get ahead of myself, knowing that I need to prioritize preventing re-injury and trying to make it to the start of mid-July marathon training for NYCM, much less that November 6th actual date. I ran (haha) an analysis via my data on Strava and MapMyRun (which I used for a few years before getting my Garmin 220 in June 2015) to see what my highest weekly and monthly mileage is historically. I knew that my mileage never got as high as it should have been for any of my half marathons in 2015 due to both injury and falling off my training plans. I have a tendency to cut long runs short and skip that 3rd or 4th run of the week, even when uninjured. I also don’t document my cross-training particularly well digitally, but all those ClassPass spin sessions and strength at Blink lives on in my paper planners, Google Calendar, and vaguely in my memory. All of the apps are interconnected in that Garmin uploads to Strava and Strava uploads to MapMyRun and MyFitnessPal. I’m going to try to increase the inputting of my spin sessions going forward since FlyWheel tells you how many miles you biked.

For my paper planner, I bought a couple sets of these running and barbell stickers from FayeCreates’ Etsy. This is the only decoration my planner (a $15 one from Sugar Paper’s Target collection, I might add) receives. But it’s so satisfying to see an array of pastel running stick figures and weights fill up my calendar, especially now that I’m running more frequently. This is also where I let you all know that I’m fascinated by planner communities, having once been part of (but never posting to) the LiveJournal community for organizers and sometimes browsing the YouTube planner gurus.

The general update is that I DNS the Run As One 4 Miler.I was coming off a very busy week and hadn’t slept well that Friday night (the night before the night before the race is a crucial sleep night, right?) and was dogsitting Elle’s pup Bandit and just wasn’t feeling it. Had much more fun sleeping in and doing a brief run on my way to Smorgasburg with some runner friends in Prospect Park. I got to eat my beloved Outer Borough again, try some fries with duck confit on top, and sample a few flavors of Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. Still on my must-try list are Big Mozz’s mozzerella sticks, Jianbing, and Wowfulls. I think I can skip the rainbow cake, but let me know if it’s any good.

I did, however, end up completing the Japan Run on Sunday, May 8th. The skies opened up and poured down rain as I was picking up my bib at 7:15AM. A bunch of us hung out under the Bethesda Terrace and I ran into a PPTC Teammate then checked my bag and hid in the Meet Hello Kitty tent. Sadly, Hello Kitty didn’t appear until after the race and I wasn’t feeling very photogenic.

They let up for the first couple miles of the race, then began pouring again during the final mile. My third mile had been slower than I planned and I knew I was no longer in the running for a PR (had been feeling hopeful after the first 2 miles but my fitness just isn’t there yet). I had to remove my glasses and put them in my jacket pocket because they became too foggy and streaky for me to see. I managed not to run into any fellow racers since my vision isn’t too bad, and had a great sprint finish. NYRR and MarathonFoto did not capture any pictures of me (probably for the best). There was a guy running with his long hair down and in only a leopard-print Speedo who passed me on the third mile. I had hoped to be in some of his pictures but didn’t make it.

My next race is the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K. I had originally wanted this to be a PR attempt, but I think I’m going to instead shoot for the Mini 10K on June 11th instead. That’ll give me enough time to increase my long, slow runs and also try some of the mile repeat 10K workouts from McMillan. I’ll be gambling with the weather but am hoping to be out there more often in heat and humidity in the next month anyway. I feel like my barre and strength classes and spin are helping me get stronger (I kind of love forearm plank pushups now?), so we will see.

Training Update

April 15, 2016April 14, 2016Posted in TrainingTagged Manhattan, Running1 Comment

Several days after the high from the Cherry Blossom 5K wore off, I was feeling pretty good. Aggressively ignoring the 10% rule, I joined my team for a Brooklyn Half training run on Saturday, April 9th. There were 5 mile and 8 mile options and free swag from New Balance, so I showed up at 7:50am, already having done my PT-prescribed dynamic warm-up and foam rolling. I obviously chose the 5 mile run and jumped in the 10:30 mile pace group with some friends. And it went really well! The hill was rough but I had been chatting with a potential member for the third and fourth miles, so it was a nice distraction. I forgot to stop my Garmin at the top after we paused to coordinate breaking off and heading to the coffee shop, but my splits seemed pretty even. I foam rolled and stretched plenty after, bookmarked a 9am spin class for Sunday, and rested on the couch, feeling accomplished and optimistic and full of endorphins.

So obviously I signed up for some races.

I’m of course already signed up for this year’s NYC Marathon, since you have to pay NYRR the big buck$ in February. I hope to know early on in training whether or not I’ll be able to run it and plan to consult with a sports doctor and my PT accordingly. So I figured I should set my sights on some shorter distances for spring.

I’ll be running the Run as One 4 Miler on Sunday, April 24th in honor of my late Uncle Werner. I hadn’t realized last year that this race’s charitable contributions go toward a foundation that supports lung cancer research, specifically named in honor of a never-smoker like my uncle. I donated some extra money to the cause in my NYRR cart. The Run as One is a 4-miler, which I feel tentatively positive about, training-wise. I can probably PR (my last one was February 2015), but hopefully just have a positive race with a meaningful (and personal) cause.

I also want to try for a new 10K PR. I just missed out on the Queens 10K signup, so I bought in to the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K on May 14. I had such a miserable time last year and am hoping for redemption. It’s 2 weeks earlier this year, but I will still try to prepare for potential humidity and the waterless mile 5 water station. I might take a crack at the Mini 10K as well, but mid-June feels like an awful long ways from here. I’m sort of surprised this weekend’s More/Shape Women’s Half Marathon hasn’t sold out yet. I’d been hoping that would be my spring goal half (or the NYC Runs Queens Half on the same day) after a strong showing at the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile, but obviously that didn’t come to fruition. Maybe a fall half will happen? Maybe I’ll fall in love with summer racing? Possibly I’ll travel 3,000 miles for a race again? No telling.

Weekly training recaps to come, I suppose. When did I even start my weeks again?

Training Recap 10/12-10/18 and 10/19-10/25

October 27, 2015Posted in ClassPass, TrainingTagged TrainingLeave a comment

Current activity levels post-half pictured above.

I tapered pretty hard before Nike Women’s SF Half, then got back to NYC and had a 3-day doctor’s order moratorium on intense exercise. I’m taking this time to deal with my Achilles tendon pain and try more cross-training (like hopping on a real bike). I’ve decided not sign up for the Richmond Half Marathon this year (11/14), but did choose to do the NYC Runs Haunted Island 10K on 10/31. I’d like to hit a 10K PR, weather and body permitting, but it’s ok if it turns into a fun run. I don’t want to not run any more races this winter, but am going to follow medical advice until my tendons and right hamstring/glute feel better. So I have my eye on some early December local 10Ks and Halfs just in case.

The week before SF, I just did a quick 2-mile run on the West Side Highway Tuesday morning and a “Ripped Ride” at Crunch on 38th. Those bikes have cages so you don’t have to wear cycling shoes, but I definitely prefer the clip-ins. I felt like my feet kept slipping into weird angles. The music and blacklight effects were good, but I was distracted, trying not to rub my heel against the bike. I wisely stretched and foam rolled before the class after a warm-up but had to rush off to join friends for Umami Burger. I had signed up for a dance class Thursday night but canceled it so I could pack.

In SF, I had signed up for 2 of the optional race weekend events; a tune-up/training session Friday at 5pm, then a 7:30am shakeout run. The 5pm workout was a lot of fun and got my heart rate up with side planks and HIIT work, but didn’t test my body too hard. I decided to cancel my shakeout run since I had walked about 5 miles Friday and developed a blister on my left heel. I walked around 5 miles on Saturday as well, but use Lyft Line to get to dinner and back and get off my feet for the last 12 hours before the race.

I signed up for a post-race yoga class early on Monday morning, but canceled that as well. Sleeping in was a great idea since I had hung out with friends after the race, watching the Mets game and eating a few meals. I got a Thai massage with a friend the day after, which was a good call. I hadn’t had this type of massage before and it was really cool to feel the masseuse walking on me. We felt noodley after and took a walk to see the Painted Ladies, which involved some hills, but I was fine. My flight was a redeye and I think the massage really helped me sleep (I’m a terrible airplane sleeper) and not wake up feeling too sore.

After my 3-day exercise break, I did my semi-regular spin class at BYKlyn. I pushed myself harder than usual, which felt really good. And that’s it for 2 weeks. My Achilles are feeling pretty good most days, but my hamstring pain persists. Over the weekend, I went to the Village Halloween Dog Parade, attended a grants committee meeting for my running club, and went on a wine tasting tour of the North Fork. I was hoping to squeeze in 3 miles before the dog parade, but it didn’t happen. But I met a lot of dogs, tried a lot of wine, and obtained half a dozen apple cider donuts.

Not my winery bike.