Tag: NYC Marathon

NYC Marathon 2021 Recap

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This “fun run” jaunt tied my debut marathon (NYCM 2016) as my favorite of the three NYC Marathons I’ve run. The crowds were wild and seemed so thankful to have us out there. The lower number of runners made me feel way less cramped for space (except when the crowds were squeezing into us in Central Park and on Lafayette Ave). I had friends come out and watch AND bring me baked goods and cold brew iced coffee.

The plan was simple: run a 12-13 minute mile pace, don’t get carried away in Brooklyn like the 2018 NYC Marathon, walk the bridges and big hills (many of which are in the back half), stop for selfies, and HAVE FUN.

Pre-race:

Couldn’t sleep and woke up in a cold sweat at 5am. At least Daylight Savings eventually brought up the sun. I realized the my Garmin 245 hadn’t charged overnight, so tried to get that some more juice before heading out. Spoiler alert: could only get it to 68% and it died shortly before the halfway point.

Train station bathroom selfie – amazing throwaway clothes from Ian

I took MetroNorth to Grand Central then took the 7 to the 1. Unfortunately for me, the 1 train (and the R which would have also gotten me to the ferry) was only running every 20 minutes. I was very certain I’d make my wave (Wave 3 out of 5 this year) so I just stayed tight and sat on a bench instead of trying to get an Uber. Used the (real) bathroom at the Staten Island ferry terminal then hopped on the buses.

Start Village:

I made it in with not much time to spare before needing to get into my corral for Wave 3. Came to see who was left at the PPTC meetup spot right as the cannon for Wave 2 went off, so I only had 20 minutes to get in before they closed my corral. Went through my bag very quickly and tossed or packed items into my shorts and handheld bottle as needed; ended up not using my gloves or hand warmers at all and left them for any Wave 5 folks with cold hands. I had suffered a gel explosion in transit and cleaned that up while I could. I donated my throwaway clothes, gave my neighbor/training partner Dani a hug, then hopped into the corral. I was able to use the many portapotties in my corral and still have plenty of time to walk up to the bridge.

Staten Island:

Nice and easy up the Verrazzano! I was in green (lower level) and the views were still great. I stuck to the back of my wave and watched everyone go ahead. The descent on the bridge was much-needed, as were the speckle of people cheering just for our wave before it meets with everyone else (ok but that’s technically Brooklyn so I’m ahead of myself).

Brooklyn:

From Bay Ridge to Greenpoint, Brooklyn is probably my favorite part of the course. I lived in Brooklyn for 5 years and Manhattan for 5 years, but I would say my biggest sense of community still comes from Park Slope/Prospect Heights in part because I joined a local running club during my time there. I thanked everyone who cheered for me and ditched my arm warmers in Sunset Park.

Park Slope and Fort Greene to Bed-Stuy were the absolute best because that’s where a lot of my people and my running club were. It seemed like everyone knew PPTC meant Prospect Park and I was still at the back of Wave 3 (faster Wave 4 people began to overtake me around Mile 8). Being at the back made for a lot more space around me (see below from 3rd street) so my friends and coworkers found it easy to spot me. Mile 7 meant the PPTC cheer spot, croissant dropoff from Michelle, and selfies galore.

3rd St PPTC Cheer Station
St Marks – clutching my new croissant

Mile 8 was more of the same along Lafayette with live bands, costumes, and surging crowwds. I slowly ate all my croissant and saw a few more friends amongst the raging party crowds. Then there’s a bit of a lull up Bedford until you get to Williamsburg proper. I knew I had friends to see between miles 10-11 in Williamsburg and was looking forward to that.

Brittany and Gabby provided me with another replacement gel to make up for the exploded one and I got a selfie with them and Kimberly.

Broadway and Bedford with Kim
I loved stopping for selfies and sweaty hugs
K BYEEEEE

Heather and Katie made a sign for me and got a great shot after giving me a Peter Pan donut in Greenpoint as per their tradition.

Queens:

I walked across the Pulaski Bridge and made the tough decision to leave behind half of my red velvet donut. I ran into a friend and got a selfie as we walked. I took the downhill into Long Island City nice and easy and really enjoyed the crowds. My VP from work found me and got a quick hug. I had already told myself that I would be walking up the Queensboro Bridge and it was easy to stick with that plan. There were plenty of other walkers and I was able to pass a few others.

Manhattan Part 1:

The UES scream tunnel coming off the bridge was real this year. I found a few friends (no stopping for selfies though) and I think I made it up 1st Ave to the Willis Bridge before walking again.

Bronx:

My feet hurt pretty bad by this point so I slowed way down. Walked across the Madison Ave Bridge as well.

Manhattan Part 2:

Revitalized by my cold brew from Allison a planned pre-mile 22 stop), I was smart and still walked a mile up the hill on 5th Avenue.

Saw Meagan again at Mile 23.5 right before heading into Central Park and stopped for a selfie.

Then once I entered the park, I felt good again to make it to the finish with a real run. Running down Cat Hill makes all the difference mentally. My second watch died right at Mile 25.2, but the last mile was great and I felt strong again. Wasn’t as amazing a finish as 2017 Richmond Marathon‘s consistent pace and negative split 5 miles, but was happy to get it done.

Hammer dropped just a bit.

Post-Race:

Shuffle out of the park to the meetup spot on the UWS. It felt so good to sit down again. I took in half a can of Coca-Cola then wiped down and changed in a bathroom. Went to Levain and got a cookie with Jimmy and Anya then stumbled down to the Tracksmith popup (I hadn’t reserved a poster because I knew I wouldn’t like my time). After rejecting the pull of retail therapy, I said my goodbyes to friends and walked a little further to Columbus Circle to head home. I decided my post-marathon celebratory meal should be Szechuanese with my fiance and a couple friends, which really hit the spot. Had a glass of rose, showered at home, and passed out at 9pm.

Reflections:

This was my slowest marathon of the 4 but supremely enjoyable. The energy of the crowds was incredible. Honestly I finished 4 minutes faster than my Stryd predicted (only 81 minutes slower than my Garmin) so I was proud of that. My fast final 1.5 miles made me really happy because then I felt like I had left it all on the course.

My PT/acupuncturist took care of my troublesome leg on Wednesday and I’ve done a couple 12-minute mile+ recovery runs since under Zone 3 Heart Rate.

What’s Next:

  • 5K as a rust buster Thanksgiving weekend
  • consistent Stryd 10K training plan
  • mid-December 5K race
  • goal 10K and hopefully PR attempt early January
  • maybe a late March Half if I can stay consistent and injury-free through the winter
  • Fall 2022 big PR half or full goal race TBD
  • all of this on top of continued visits to my acupuncturist/PT and strength training at the gym, plus mobility work

Weeks 17 and 18 of NYC 2021 Marathon Training

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Week 17:

I had a really good second taper week! Finally feeling jazzed for the marathon. The weather is looking good (to the point where I really wish I could fell send this thing at peak fitness) and I think the crowds are going to make it such a good time.

10/25: 3.3 mile easy run outside. It was humid but cool enough and we knew we were about to get a lot of rain, so I’m glad I fit this in early evening.

10/26: Hour-long treadmill intervals for 4.65 miles (my recovery paces are still extra extra slow).

10/27: Easy hour on the treadmill for 4.2 miles (literally my Zone 1/Easy on Stryd is closer to 14 minute miles. Will take a fitness test a couple weeks after the marathon to change that but happy to keep it lighter for now).

10/28: 3.44 mile outside easy run with strides in the middle.

10/29: Rest day

10/30: Last 10 Miles of the marathon course with my Brooklyn-based running club. I brought my Stamford running buddy and she had a great time (and could finally run with the faster pace groups). It poured rain at mile 2 and again at mile 8, but I was able to change clothes right after and grab some Starbucks. Had a busy rest of the day (after my must-have shower and nap) and came home late.

Catching up with Brooklyn club mates
Waiting to get started and lead my pace group

10/31: Rest day – slept in, took a nap, had pastrami Reuben for lunch, watched Dune. My watch gave up on telling me to move more.

Real Coca Cola and Pastrami Reuben at Rye Ridge Deli in Stamford

Total: 25 miles. Same as Week 1 of taper (whoops).

Week 18:

11/1: It’s kind of cool when a new month starts on a Monday, no?

11/2: 2.4 easy miles early AM. Wore 7/8 tights and a long sleeve since it’s getting a bit brisk. Getting a bit chilly but of course you get warm after a mile or two.

11/3: 2.4 easy treadmill miles.

11/4: Work day at the hospital followed by early dinner at USA Brooklyn Delicatessen (I love pastrami). I should have brought more casual shoes but wanted to look cute, which was dumb because my slightly heeled ankle boots caused the front of my ankles to be sore for 3 days after.

Ali on the Run live show with friends. I got to see Emma Coburn and Dani Jones from New Balance and also chatted after with Selena Samuela from Peloton about our dogs.

Happy audience members (no wine for me)

11/5: Expo day! Met a friend by the marathon finish line, then got dim sum in Chinatown before heading to midtown to get my bib.

Popped into the air relax boots, stopped by Lululemon, then had pizza dinner with a friend visiting from Chicago at Emily.

Train home had major delays due to police activity which put a damper on my mood but at least I got to rest my legs after 7 miles (and 6 in ankle boots Thursday).

11/6: Rest day – meant to do a little shakeout run but my ankles were still sore from Thursday so I kept it cute on the couch.

11/7: Race day! Will do a little recap after. My slowest marathon by far but definitely my most fun. I stopped for selfies and snacks and finished in 5:19:09.

Total: 31 miles, including the NYC Marathon.

Weeks 15 and 16 of NYCM 2021 Training

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Peak Week (and taper week #1)! Not the 40+ miles I’ve seen in previous cycles but I threw down a few miles and workouts.

Week 15:

Monday 10/11: Watched as much of the Boston Marathon on TV as I could around my meetings. So inspired by this and Chicago (especially Nell Rojas and Emma Bates and Edna Kiplagat, but yes, also the actual winners). Did an easy run late afternoon, soaking up the good weather and trying to stay under Zone 3 for Heart Rate for 5.7 miles on Stryd (Garmin said 6 even).

Tuesday 10/12: Upper body day at the gym – assisted dips and pull-ups, bench press PR, cable rows and pull-downs PRs. Jog home plus some extra for 2.6 miles/30 minutes. Day 0 of a Stryd 10K plan for my next real goal race in January (and a tuneup 5K or two along the way). I figured a good way to motivate my consistency through winter (and through NYCM taper) was to actually have a date for an honest to goodness PR attempt (hopefully will be my first since 8K/5 Mie PR November 2019). Not gonna keeping beating myself up for ‘wasting’ my March 2020 fitness on a hilly half – time to seize winter/spring 2022.

Wednesday 10/13: Next Stryd workout – warmup with a few faster moments, 15 minute tempo, cool down for 5.2 miles total. My chest was so sore from Tuesday’s upper body workouts at the gym, but the pain calmed down a bit after the first mile or so. Worth it to get into the lower 9’s for my tempo pace; hoping to see the mid-8’s again in a couple months.

Thursday 10/14: Rest day for running, heavy compound lift day at the gym (squats, deadlifts, plus hip thrusts). Finally bought some of my own protein powder at Target afterward.

Friday 10/15: Easy 3 miles with some mid-run strides thrown in, as per Stryd plan. It was WARM (over 70) and sunny and I honestly just couldn’t handle it anymore/wanted to save something for tomorrow and walked the last mile.

Saturday 10/16: Decided to move my long run to Sunday due to sleeping poorly (and my running buddy’s dog passed away Thursday night). Kind of kept pushing out a workout time at all and ended up not going to the gym.

Sunday 10/17: Herbie woke me up at 3:30am to puke (I had taken some Sleepytime tea at 9pm to try and get a better night’s rest). Then my own stomach was giving me issues so I decided to just run later on after all my errands and do what I could, then finish the rest Monday and count it as a Jack Daniels style bunched run. I also pulled my trapezius muscle doing absolutely nothing at all on the couch. 9.6 miles total – 7.3 outside, 2.3 on the treadmill.

Total: 28 miles (could have/should have been higher if the long run was all there, but glad I got a few in over 5 miles)

Week 16:

Monday 10/18: 8 more miles as part of that bunched run. I chose the first several miles on a fairly familiar route, then did the last few with some big hills. Nice cool weather.

Tuesday 10/19: 4.4 miles in Central Park, doing another of those 15 minute tempos from Stryd. These are fun! But I’m still dreading longer tempos just a bit. Wore long sleeves and shorts but it was just a touch too warm (it was cold in the morning when I packed my stuff).

Wednesday 10/20: Rest day

Thursday 10/21: Easy 2.2 mile run that I abruptly ended at Dairy Queen by getting in line for a Blizzard.

Friday 10/22: More beautiful weather – tank top and shorts. 3.2 flat miles on one of my usual routes. Managed to resist the pull of Dairy Queen this time.

Saturday 10/23: 1.4 miles running with Arya the husky. Was supposed to do 12-14 taper miles in the AM with my running buddy but we were both feeling worse for the wear.

Sunday 10/24: Pumpkin patch rest day.

Total: 16 miles over 5 mostly short runs

Weeks 13 and 14 of NYC Marathon 2021 Training

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9/27-10/3:

9/27: 3 mile recovery run on the treadmill after a full upper body workout. Definitely still had some soreness from the longer long run Saturday. Not as easy breezy as last weekend’s recovery.

9/28: 3 still-recovery pace miles in Central Park.

Jackie Onassis Reservoir in Central Park

9/29: Woke up feeling blah. Sinus pressure, sleeping in, just not feeling it. Didn’t even go on a walk.

9/30: Not much better! Slept in until 7:15 and had a busy morning at work. Went into the city for dinner and had a lovely meal at Noreetuh in the East Village.

10/1: HOW IS IT OCTOBER. Still blah. Got dressed and ready to run during some errands but speed walked instead.

10/2: Long run day with neighbor friend Dani. Did ok on the first half, but the back half was a struggle. Basically walked the last two of 17 miles (out of a planned 18). I sent Dani on her way to do the last few without me because she was flying up and down the hills and I was spiking my heart rate.

North Stamford Reservoir halfway through the long run
Hot pot at a friend’s Saturday night

10/3: Rest day. Brunch and boba in the city.

Total:23 miles over 3 runs.

Sunday brunch at Cafe Enrique in Long Island City

10/4-10/10:

10/4: Rest day. Rainy and pretty glum.

10/5: Easy/recovery pace 4 miles in the early evening after heavy squat/deadlift/etc day at the gym.

10/6: Treadmill warm-up, progression run, and cool-down for 3.3 miles in the AM. Acupuncture for my hamstring scar tissue etc in the PM.

10/7: 2 recovery treadmill miles and upper body workout in the gym (skull crushers, rows, French doors).

10/8: Rest day

10/9: Long run day. Goal was 19 miles. Mile 0-8 were a dream, then out of nowhere my heart rate started to spike. I was hitting a nice park where I planned to use the bathroom and refill my water bottle (decided to switch away from my beloved Hydration vest and to my Nathan QuickShot handheld since we won’t be allowed hydration vests during the NYC Marathon). No sign of real bathrooms, just some rough Port-o-Potties. I normally have no qualms using one, especially before or after a race, but these had no TP. I finally found a water fountain and it worked, but was only a dribble. I wasn’t able to get any into my water bottle. Defeated, I shuffled to town (New Canaan) and stopped at Dunkin Donuts after 11 miles. Used the bathroom, got a pumpkin cream cold brew and pumpkin donut, took an urgent call, and took the train back to downtown Stamford. I felt better and ready to run again, but then my whole right leg cramped up. I decided to shuffle home and call it a day at 12 miles. This was technically supposed to be a cutback to 14 miles between 18 (just did 17) and 20, but I was hoping to build confidence about my endurance.

10/10: Rest day. More delicious food in the city with friends.

Total: 21.3 miles over 4 runs. Eek.

Weeks 11 and 12 of NYC Marathon 2021 Training

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I’m finally caught up – with blog posts, not with my training miles. But my long runs are finally where they should be, albeit a few weeks behind. It wasn’t smart to train like this (and have no real cutback weeks) but I did it out of mental and physical necessity. I’m honestly dreaming about a 5K, 10K, or in between PR attempt next year (this November/December is getting tight with race availability coinciding with any potential fitness gains). But for NYCM? Let’s just finish. Ideally before the sun goes down.

9/13-9/19:

9/13: 3 easy miles on the treadmill and lifting at the gym.

9/14: 4 miles running

9/15: 5.4 miles running including some speed pushes.

9/16: Weight lifting and 3 miles

9/17: Rest day. Sichuanese for dinner.

9/18: 14 mile long run with a neighbor/friend who is also training for NYCM. Turns out I need an accountability buddy all along. It was pretty humid so we tackled the hills first, then kept to a flat final 6 miles down by the water with walk breaks sprinkled into the last 3 miles. I used my Salomon Advanced Skin 8 hydration vest and loved it – drank ALL the water and Skratch by the end.

9/19: No running. Went to see the Yayoi Kusama exhibit again at the New York Botanical Garden and did a lot of walking. I felt shockingly good after the long run (since my longest in the 6 weeks prior was 7 or maybe 9 miles. Do not recommend). Going slow really helped as did all my recovery efforts after.

Total: 29.4 miles (of a recommended 36 – my midweek runs and long runs are still a bit behind).

9/20-9/26:

Great weather for lots of walks to the park, both with and without Herbie. Could have done with a few more runs.

9/20: 2.3 easy recovery treadmill miles after some lifting at the gym.

9/21: Longer walk with Herbie. 5.5 mile run with intervals. These felt good! I could mostly do them at my new estimated 10K pace of 9:15-9:20 (my old pace of 8:30, not so much). Recoveries around 10:15 minute miles.

9/22: Rest day – long walk

9/23: 3.3 mile run

9/24: Rest day – longer walk with Herbie.

9/25: 16 miles. The temperature and humidity dropped a lot from the prior week, so we definitely took this one a bit faster. I struggled on the bigger hills going up to the turnaround point (where we had bananas and Gatorade waiting for us). but the back half had a net downhill that was awesome (for morale and for my legs/lungs).

9/26: Rest day. Tried on more wedding dresses in the city. Got great Korean at The Jin in Hell’s Kitchen, had coffee at Rex, then got so many mochi donuts in Nordstrom at Oh Mochi. It was a perfect fall day, weather-wise.

Ddukboki, fried chicken, katsu, paleontology, and bulgogi at The Jin

Total: 27ish out of a prescribed 31 miles

Weeks 9 and 10 of NYC Marathon 2021 Training

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Still catching up on these! I had a couple of weeks where my running was off. Physically I was fine, but I just didn’t FEEL like running. Especially the long runs. I think knowing that this marathon won’t be my fastest (and in fact will now definitely be my slowest) made it easy to take my foot off the gas during training. I kept thinking each week that I would turn it around, but then I would catch myself stacking up my Saturday with plans (and sometimes work) then being too tired/busy/annoyed with the rain or heat waves on Sundays. I considered my prior tactic of doing midweek long runs, but wasn’t really feeling those either. I think having the first few weeks of a marathon training cycle be ‘off’ is more normal for me, but this time weeks 6-10 were the hardest.

8/30-9/5:

8/30: Rest day

8/31: AM weight lifting then 7.1 miles along my favorite route in the late afternoon.

9/1: Rest day. My friend Carla visited from Chicago and I just missed the start of the downpours from Hurricane Ida.

9/2: 3 miles around town; flooding impeded one of my typical running routes along the Rippowam River.

Post-Hurricane Ida Flooding of Mill River Park

9/3: AM bench press and Peloton ride at the gym. Then the long drive up to Northern New Hampshire to my friend’s home in the White Mountains.

9/4: 3.2 mile hike up Mount Willard.

Herbie on the way up Mount Willard
View of Crawford Notch from the summit
Growing puppies and flowers at Sherman Farms

9/6-9/12:

Hmm, not much better in terms of running. In fact, even worse.

9/6 (Labor Day): 3 mile hike to Champney Falls. Pulled out the grill at night and had fun trying to perfect ribeye.

Labor Day Hike to Champney Falls
Ribeye, veggies, and pull apart garlic bread

9/7: 5 hour drive back to NYC area from NH. Finally tried the Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew (TWICE because 5 hour drive). Exhausted regardless after I got home and did not run.

9/8: 4 mile run

9/9: Weight lifting and 4 miles including a 5K time trial. I did it as a progressive run. The 9 minute miles felt good, the 8:30s less so. Didn’t quite make it to the 8:00 zone as I had hoped.

9/10/21: 4 recovery miles

9/11: Tried the Dunkin Donuts pumpkin cream cold brew. Also acceptable and a full $2 cheaper than Starbucks.

9/12: Weight lifting in the morning, then seeing Shang Chi in theaters.

Snack Mix: ddukboki chips, shrimp chips, and Flamin Hots

Did you see any long runs? I didn’t see any long runs. More to come next time.

Week 7 and Week 8 of NYC Marathon 2021 Training

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Week 7 already? (Ed. note – I wrote this 4-5 weeks ago.) After missing my long run last week, I initially felt motivated to be more consistent. Then I got hit with the combo of work (still doing every-other-weekend Covid surge call duty too), dogsitting, and bad weather.

Monday 8/16: 3.3 miles outside hitting the hills after an early afternoon full/lower body workout at the gym. Squats, deadlifts, banded lateral walk, and reverse lunges.

Tuesday 8/17: 2 easy treadmill miles at a recovery pace. Upper body workout at the gym – lat pull-downs, cable rows, assisted dip, assisted pull-ups. Squeezed in the treadmill miles right after since I was pressed for time.

Went for a nature walk earlier in the day with the pup.

Wednesday 8/18: 4.2 miles at a moderate pace. Tried to keep it in heart rate Zone 3 to keep me honest. Lower body still sore from Monday’s workout.

Thursday 8/19: (Unplanned) Rest Day.

Friday 8/20: AM run of 3.4 miles (cut short by work stuff), then PM Peloton ride and bodyweight workouts.

Saturday 8/21: Rest day. Dinner (pho and ramen) and cocktails at Mecha. My cocktail below was made with ube liquor and was incredible.

Sunday 8/22: Tropical Storm Henri derailed my long run plans, so I did 5 on the treadmill late morning.

Total: 18 miles, still no long run. Better than last week but not by much. Mostly easy miles so the room for long runs of 14+ is definitely there.

Week 8:

Monday 8/23: 1.7 miles in the pouring rain with my friend’s Husky.

Tuesday 8/24: 4 miles in Central Park between work meetings (I was at the hospital for one).

Wednesday 8/25: 6 miles on the Woodway treadmill at an easy pace, which takes over an hour at my current pace. It was 90+ outside and I didn’t run early AM, so the gym was the best. I should have also lifted but runs this long take it out of me and I also didn’t want to be sore (should have lifted my usual Monday).

Thursday 8/26: Rest day. Was going to run more at the gym (I did some drills on the tread) but knew rest was probably best.

Friday 8/27: 3.4 easy miles at 7am in high humidity. I hit my 100th Peloton run and got a shotout from my favorite running instructor Becs.

Saturday 8/25: Jackson Heights Mile – 7:31 chip time and gun time (not sure but I think there should have been a 1 second difference at least). Humidity was still there but it had cooled off a lot thanks to overnight rainstorms. I did a little warm up but gave up on the cool down miles. I was 13th in my 30-39 women age group.

Womens 30-39 waiting for the gun to go off

Sunday 8/26: ANOTHER skipped long run. My dog was sick and that took up my whole day.

Weeks 9 and 10 to come. Will my training get back on track? Stay tuned!

Week 5 of NYC Marathon 2021 Training

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We’re in the thick of it.

Monday 8/2: 3 recovery treadmill miles at a 14 minute mile pace. Upper body weight lifting at the gym.

Tuesday 8/3: Trying to take my easy days easy and my hard days hard. AM 4.6 mile tempo run, then PM lower body lifting at the gym. So hard. I was exhausted and crawled into bed by 9pm and missed the women’s 400m hurdle final.

Pre-gym selfie

Wednesday 8/4: Active recovery – 30 minute Peloton ride at the gym (Spice Girls class!). I took it super easy, adjusting both cadence and resistance down as needed.

Thursday 8/5: Normal run at what I hope is a normal speed. 5.6 miles (yay) around a park. Went to Target and got a lot of snacks and ate too many of them before this. Needed a late (4pm nap) and some tea to finally get my rear in gear at 6pm.

Target Snack Haul

Friday 8/6: 3.4 Easy treadmill miles in apartment gym.

Saturday 8/7: Long run cut short. I had hoped for double digits and was going to take my COVID work call on the run (well, on a park bench since I have to write down some of the numbers) but I couldn’t log into Zoom on my personal phone and didn’t have the login details. So I ended up sprinting for home after 7 miles. I thought about adding another 3-5 miles after the call but decided to just take the rest.

I got out of the house at 7:30am which was a win (watched the women’s 10M Olympic final first). But the run was definitely a struggle fest. The heat was normal but humidity was on its way back and my heart rate was shooting up the first few miles, so I took a few walk breaks as needed. I got Summer Streets FOMO and wished I was in the city for this and to hit double digits. Onward and upward to the next one.

Sunday 8/8: I did a 4.4 mile Hike to Mount Beacon and the fire tower with a friend and my pup. My legs were pretty tired after the initial steep ascent. I put Herbie in the backpack for some of the ascent but she held her own on the rest.

Casino Ruins

Total: 23.7 running miles, not counting the hike. I wanted to hit 27 but I think I will get it next week. Only did two strength workouts but they were good ones!

Week 4 of NYC Marathon 2021 Training

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The Olympics are in full swing! I’m obsessed with men’s volleyball and women’s rugby for their TikTok presence alone, but I also love watching gymnastics and of course Track & Field.

Monday 7/26: Rest day for running. 20 minute Peloton ride, then 40 minutes of core/lower body strength from the Hardcore on the floor calendar. My glutes and hamstrings were on fire from all the lunges.

Tuesday 7/27: Easy 3 miles outside early AM. Difficult upper body workout at the gym after (seated cable rows, bicep curls, lat pull-downs, etc)

Wednesday 7/28: Rest day. So sore from the previous two days/cumulative fatigue of all the miles. I took Herbie to a friend’s farm and she got to herd the chickens a bit.

Herbie and the barn

Thursday 7/29: 4.3 mile run in the rain. I timed the storms a bit after my meetings and thought I might be able to run back home and hop on the treadmill if I saw the rain coming my way. The next big wave of the cell hit about 1.3 miles in and I decided to just keep going with my planned loop. I ended up completely soaked but felt really great (once I was sure there was enough visibility for drivers to see me at crossings).

Friday 7/30: I didn’t run in the AM because I was watching Track & Field at the Olympics (finally!), so I did 3 easy miles on the apartment gym treadmill in the afternoon to some rolling hills. Anything over 5% grade was rough for me, but good practice for NYCM.

Saturday 7/31: I had a friend over and squandered my AM workout time by watching the Olympics then was too full/tired in the evening to work out. It’s a shame I missed such a cool morning, weather-wise. But we walked around town and went to the Farmers Market and got boba.

Herbie and a new friend at the farmers market

Sunday 8/1: Sunday long run due to necessity. I did 9 miles just under a 12 minute mile pace. I got lucky again with the weather since I waited until 9am to start (live Olympics coverage again) and chose a new-to-me route. I just had some UCAN in my water bottle but will bring Gu chews to anything longer than 2 hours (this was an hour and 40 minutes). This run made me feel more confident about my training overall, so I’m trying to write about it and bring that positive energy around. Perhaps I will try some tempo runs or speedwork in the coming weeks? I’ll also report back about the increase in long runs.

Total: 19.4 miles; slight dip from last week since I only ran 4 days and did shorter miles for a couple of those.

Week 3 of of NYC Marathon 2021 Training

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Monday 7/19: 3.1 miles outside, easyish in the morning (pre-8am).

Tuesday 7/20: 3.2 miles late morning with the terrible air quality. It was pretty bad but I caught myself not able or wanting to slow down.

Wednesday 7/21: I skipped a run because the smog was still gross. Upper body and core workouts at the gym from the Peloton hardCORE on the floor calendar’s recommended stack.

Thursday 7/22: 4.3 miles outside late morning – I wish I had gone out earlier before the sun really came up. I tried a new route but stupidly went uphill on the sunny side of the street. That was rough. I need to commit to doing these daily runs at an easy pace so that my weekend long runs don’t kill me. I keep not wanting to slow down into my Zone 2 or even 3.

Friday 7/23: Rest day. Went to the gym in the afternoon and did my squats and hex bar deadlift routine as well as hip adduction and abduction machines.

Saturday 7/24: Treadmill long run of 6+ miles (my Apple watch Stryd screen and Garmin connected . I did a progressionish one again where I sped up the last 1.5 miles because I was getting bored. I was watching The Olympics (USA mens volleyball and women’s water polo) and listened to three different Peloton tread workouts.

Sunday 7/25: 4.5 mile recovery run. It was ridiculously humid (got a few rain drops) then the sun came out at the very end. I still have to work on slowing down my runs.

Total: 21.1 miles, which is my highest weekly mileage since January if not last year.

I went back and looked at where my mileage was this time back in 2016, 2017, and 2018 (the years I’ve previously run full marathons in the fall) and I’m not that far behind. I’m definitely slower than I was but I’m doing ok!