NYRR Virtual Trainer – East Coast Appetite

2018 NYC Marathon Race Recap

November 20, 2018November 19, 2018Posted in New York City Marathon 2018, nycm, Race Recaps, RunningTagged 2018 NYC Marathon, marathon, Marathon Training, NYC Marathon, nyrr, NYRR Virtual Trainer3 Comments

Ouch. No, I’m just kidding. It’s been 2 weeks and I’ve had a lost of rest and recovery (and a massage), so I’m going to try and write this up so I can reflect on it later.

The Nights Before: I stayed out way too late on Halloween night (the 31st) but went to bed early on the 1st and 2nd, then by 10pm on the 3rd.

Start Village: Back in 2016, I took the Staten Island ferry to the buses and barely made it into my wave and corral in time. This time around, I wisely wore enough throwaway clothes and packed some snacks and handwarmers for the 3+ hour wait in the start village after taking a direct bus from Brooklyn with my teammates. It was a lot of fun to catch up with people and compare our training and race plans.

I used the portapotties 3 times, pet a therapy dog, and got a photo in the corral with a teammate.

Splits:

Thoughts and feelings recap:

Miles 1-4: I was smart for exactly one mile and took it easy on the Verrazzano (formerly the Verrazano but they finally changed the name to actually be spelled correctly). Us green corral folks had a slightly different loop through Bay Ridge than the orange & blue runners, then messily converged with them. I didn’t realize it, but I was flying here.

Miles 5-9: My brain’s main thought was “THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!” I saw a lot of people here on 4th Avenue, beginning in the 20’s, through the PPTC cheer spot at 3rd, and some friends at Union St. and then on Lafayette Ave. I was having such a good time, as you can tell from this succession of photos.

Miles 10-14: Oh hmm, it sure got quiet. I slowed the pace a tiny bit in efforts to conserve energy, but felt good after doing a systems check. I hit the half in 2:07, which was on pace for a PR.

Miles 15-19: This segment finally presented me with thoughts of “Oh no, this isn’t going the way I wanted it to at all”. I felt fine approaching the Queensboro Bridge but slowed considerably running up 1st Avenue in Manhattan. I started walking through fluid stations then running again.

Mile 18 2018 NYCM — My friend Eric caught me fighting for it around Mile 18

Miles 20-23: The Bronx sucked for me and I knew it was going to be a struggle until I got back into Central Park. I saw a very well-placed friend at 129th St and my boyfriend at 116th who gave me the best “I can tell you’re hurting” grimace.

Miles 24-26: I got to finally enter Central Park and vowed to not walk again, then promptly broke that vow. I ran into a teammate who was also having a rough race, so we tried to stick together for the final mile. She sent me on ahead for a while. I checked my heart rate during this portion and 20-23 and it was really high. Like 85-90% of max. I used the walking breaks to lower it, but was definitely concerned.

Mile 24 4 — Embarrassed that Eric caught me walking around Mile 24

The final 0.2: I got a side stitch right at the 26 mile marker! While frustrating, I was relieved that it didn’t happen sooner. My teammate caught up to me so our finish photos are together, which is pretty cool. It was so nice to have a sounding board for the long walk to get our ponchos and exit the park. I headed to my team’s meetup spot where my boyfriend was waiting with a cold brew coffee. We then went to Sushi of Gari for a pretty nice post-race feast.

Phew. While only 10 minutes slower than my marathon PR, it was a poorly executed race. I have since compared training data and realized that despite the mileage PR, it wasn’t as far and away a monster training cycle as I had wanted. I keep vacillating between wanting to do another marathon in 2019 with more mileage under my belt and just waiting until I exact my revenge on the NYCM course in 2020. More to come!

Week 16 of 2018 NYC Marathon Training

November 8, 2018November 7, 2018Posted in New York City Marathon 2018, nycm, Running, TrainingTagged distance running, marathon, Marathon Training, NYC Marathon, nycm, nyrr, NYRR Virtual Trainer, Races, Running, TrainingLeave a comment

10/29: Rest Day. Went to Patavini and tried all the gnocchi. The blue one has spirulina and was really good! The truffle, saffron, and squid ink were my favorites.

10/30: 4.3 mile shakeout run @ 11 minute mile pace. I’d been running faster than my usual pace during the taper in part because of cooler temperatures and of course due to excitement.

10/31: Rest day and Halloween. Had street meat combo over rice for dinner near the Village Halloween Parade, 2.5 beers, then late-night pepperoni pizza. I went as a bat again.

11/1: Unintentional rest day. I was going to do a Saucony shakeout run (with Molly Huddle) but work was long and it was raining, so I bailed. I really should have done some treadmill miles at least.

11/2: Tracksmith popup in the morning, work, then Marathon Expo at night. I tried to get in and out quickly and spend less time on my feet. I picked up my official jacket then went to a friend’s birthday dinner at a Korean-Brazilian spot and turned down a lot of good wine. I went home right at 9 and got a solid 8 hours of sleep.

11/3: I thought about doing a shakeout but figured less time on my feet was a better idea after such a loose taper the last two weeks. I got Shanghainese for dinner: scallion pancake, soup dumplings, fried dumplings, rice cakes, noodles, and eggplant. I decided to skip a dessert with dairy just in case.

11/4: NYC Marathon Day. Race recap to come (hmm, I never wrote up one for the Bay Ridge Half). It was not my best marathon, but not my worst (it was my third). 4:31:40 and a huge positive split but I had a good time doing it.

Total: 30.4 miles out of a prescribed 37.

Week 15 of 2018 NYC Marathon Training

October 30, 2018October 28, 2018Posted in New York City Marathon 2018, nycm, Running, TrainingTagged 2018 NYC Marathon, distance running, Marathon Training, NYC Marathon, NYRR Virtual Trainer, Training2 Comments

Week 2 of a 3-week taper. Not a whole lot going on in runs or eats to be honest.

10/22: Rest Day. I went to bed at 9pm after an early wakeup and long work day.

10/23: 5.7 miles on the Woodway treadmills at Mile High Run Club, doing intervals. I compared my paces to the past few months and I’ve gotten faster! But now to take it easy for a few weeks.

10/24: Rest Day. I was planning to go on a group run but wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed after cooking and meal prepping, so that is what I did.

10/25: Rest Day

10/26: 5.1 miles during an easy loop of the park, where I once again sped up as I went. The weather was cool with only 55% humidity and the leaves have started to change colors. This was one of those runs where I felt appreciative of being able to run and getting to do it in this city.

10/27: I had planned to do the Last 10 Mile of the Marathon course with my club, but decided against it due to the Nor’easter weather. I still went up to the park and ran some errands and saw hot wet and cold everyone was and was glad I passed on it.

10/28: I got home late from a friend’s birthday, so I slept in until 8am and got a few miles in before meeting up with the group run for a 6 mile jaunt to some Swedish candy stores. Swedes love gummys (same) in many flavors but they also enjoy licorice and especially salty black licorice more than I do. I got a nice sampling of gummy candies and chocolates, then my whole face puckered in disgust when I tried a salty licorice.

Total of 9.9 miles but it might have been a little less; I forgot to unpause my watch for around half a mile then used Strava’s feature to correct GPS inconsistencies and it shot from 9.2 to 9.9 and I think the truth is somewhere in the middle after looking at everyone else’s Stravas (but forgetting if I had 3.3 before meeting up with them). We got Ben’s Pizza for lunch and I was so hungry that I forgot to take a picture of my Buffalo chicken slice.

Total: “20.9” out of a prescribed 26 miles. The Virtual Trainer yelled at me for being 20% under my goal, but the second week of taper seems like a perfectly fine time to do that. I’m still trying to plan how many short runs to do marathon week.

Week 13 of NYC Marathon Training

October 18, 2018October 17, 2018Posted in New York City Marathon 2018, nycm, Running, TrainingTagged distance running, marathon, Marathon Training, NYC, NYC Marathon, NYRR Virtual Trainer, Running1 Comment

This was a weird week. It was supposed to have my longest long run at 21 miles, but only 4 other days of running and all at 3-4 miles tops, as well as fewer overall miles than my peak week 2 weeks ago. But my work schedule prohibited the higher frequency of runs, so I once again tried to get it all done in only 3 runs total.

10/8: Rest Day. Still feeling a little beat up from racing a half marathon Saturday.

10/9: 7 miles in Central Park after work. It became an accidental progression run because I was feeling really good. Korean fried chicken and seafood pancake with kimchi coleslaw for dinner after.

10/10: Rest Day. Had an amazing dinner at the Michelin-starred Aldea that included a port tasting.

10/11: Tried and failed to psych myself up for a run but work was long and exhausting.

10/12: Hit snooze on the 5am alarm and got to snooze until 6am before another longer work day. Booked 30 minutes in air compression boots to loosen up my legs before the 20 miler.

10/13: After 9 hours of sleep, I decided to push off the very long run until Sunday. I enjoyed a lazy rainy morning before doing 8 miles around Prospect Heights and Crown Heights. I only had to stop for lights several times and got to see a lot of beautiful brownstones and gardens and duck into a small park.

10/14: 20.5 miles done, almost all with teammates. Thanks to Lillian for joining me on the last few and talking me up the hill. No idea what happened on the first mile or two other than forgetting to pause? Ah well. I’m fine with the pace on the others. Taper town, here I come!

Total: 35.5 out of a prescribed 37. That’ll do, Pig.

Week 10 of 2018 NYC Marathon Training

September 26, 2018September 25, 2018Posted in New York City Marathon 2018, nycm, Running, TrainingTagged marathon, Marathon Training, NYC, NYC Marathon, NYRR Virtual Trainer, Running, TrainingLeave a comment

Another cutback week.

9/17: Rest Day

9/18: 6.9 mile RunCommute home (well, to Whole Foods). It rained all day from the remnants of Hurricane Florence but stopped just in time for me to do this humid run. It was neat to run along the East River path again, as it’s been quite a while. I noticed that the track is open again! I’m excited to have another option for speedwork soon.

9/19: Tempo run with Brooklyn Beer Runners. 1 mile warmup, 3 @ half marathon goal pace, 1 mile cool down. It felt good to see stuff in the 8’s again for this long. Had my first pumpkin beer of the season after!

9/20: Unintentional Rest Day but the bf and I ended up at Gramcery Tavern for dinner and ate until it hurt.

9/21: Rest Day

9/22: 12.2 mile long run. Started too late to catch the 8am group run and finally left my place after 10am. This went pretty well (I was hitting low 10’s) until the last few miles when I stopped to chat with people in the park. Three times (I was already paused getting water two of those times).

9/23: 2.1 mile recovery run. Cut short for time but felt great with cooler temperatures. Then we headed to Governor’s Island to check out the lobster roll at Island Oyster before some very fast tandem bike riding, and ending with some serious hammock time.

Total: 26 out of 28 miles.

Weeks 8 and 9 of 2018 NYC Marathon Training

September 18, 2018September 17, 2018Posted in New England, New York City Marathon 2018, nycm, Running, TrainingTagged Marathon Training, Mile, NYC Marathon, NYRR Open Run, NYRR Virtual TrainerLeave a comment

Week 8

9/3: Last day in New England. 6.2 miles around Conway, NH. Then we drove to Maine and ate more lobster.

9/4: 6am flight back to NYC and went straight into work. Much needed rest day.

9/5: 3 miles at night in Morningside Park in the final throes of the city’s gross heat and humidity. Korean fried chicken and ddukbokki (and beer) for dinner.

Korean Fried Chicken, kimchi coleslaw, and calamari ddukbokki

9/6: Unintentional rest day. Finally back in the throes of meal prepping and healthier post-vacation eating.

9/7: Hit snooze on my AM run, then was supposed to be going to Fast Braid Friday with Colleen Quigley at the NYRR RunCenter. But they changed the location last-minute and I didn’t get the memo. I showed up at the RunCenter and was wondering where everyone was. By the time I figured it out, it would have been tight for time and going back to the UES (which is where I had just come from and didn’t want to backtrack). I decided to go home and cook dinner and not run (the event was going to have a 1.7 mile shakeout run but I couldn’t fit all my running stuff in my work bag).

9/8: Remember last week how I slipped in that I signed up for a 5K? Yeah, that would be the TEAL 5K in Prospect Park. I’m over a year out from my 5K PR (though to be fair have only raced one since) and was hoping that I could use my higher recent volume and last week + of lower mileage as a taper. The course was my usual route in the park but the first mile was downhill, second mile was flat, and third mile had the big hill. I was able to get close to 5K PR pace on the first mile, then slowed to 10K pace on the second, then the wheels fell off on the third. I wasn’t even at half marathon pace, but closer to goal marathon pace. But my friend Chun who was doing his long run got me to push through the last quarter mile and I hit a 7:13 pace for the final 0.1 of it. I guess this is why I actually did speedwork and 5K-specific workouts last year before my PR. I grabbed the swag bag and banana then did a cooldown jog home with a teammate. Total of 6.1 miles for the day.

Saw The Nun with friends then tried out the Detroit style pizza at Lions Tigers and Squares before getting a Butterfinger blizzard at Dairy Queen.

Pepperoni and Vodka Pies at Lions, Tigers, and Squares

9/9: Since I skipped out on my long run last week, I wanted to get back up to normal (14-16 mile range) this week even though it was supposed to be a cutback long run and week overall (11 miles and 28 miles). I woke up ‘late’ at 7 to go cheer for the 5th Avenue Mile after deciding not to run up there. I cheered for a few hours then headed home and napped before my long run. Then I just didn’t do it? The rain continued and I just could not bring myself to run. I thought about pushing it to Monday night, which I did last year with some success.

Total: 15.3 miles and no long run. Eep.

Week 9

9/10: Weather was still leaning toward the very rainy, so I did 3 treadmill miles at easy pace after deciding not to make up my long run.

9/11: I laced up my new Saucony Freedoms and ran to and from NYRR Open Run in Brooklyn Bridge Park. I did that as sort of a fartlek, alternating in the 8’s and 9’s. The gnats were out of control and I had to pull one out of my mouth, then found one in my bra later. Cool. 7.4 miles total.

9/12: Easy loop with the Brooklyn Beer Runners for 4.6 miles. Ended with a beer then got tamales at Maya Taqueria.

9/13: Track Mile! I ran from work to Icahn Stadium where they open the track to the public every Thursday night. Coach Honerkamp puts on a timed mile series once a month that I’ve seen some friends do, and I thought I should use it as a fitness test after my abysmal 5K. I ran 2 miles to get there, did a warm-up mile with a friend, then race the mile in 7:24, 5 seconds off from my PR. I definitely think it’s time to bring back more aggressive speedwork intervals in and will be trying to throw down next month. Short cooldown jog off-watch so 4 miles total officially.

9/14: Rest day.

9/15: Long run. NYRR Virtual Trainer prescribed 17 miles. Last year, I did it as the Bronx 10 Miler then a miserable, sunny, hot 7 miles after that I cut a little short. This year, I planned it with another PPTC member who wanted similar pace and distance, so we set out together at 7am. We definitely took several water breaks as the sun peaked out of the clouds and it warmed up a bit and we paused to fuel. I had only hit 15.5 as I neared my Juice Press destination, so I finished it with a slog up the stairs in Fort Greene Park, where I ran into a friend. I practically rolled down the hill for my final bit after pausing to chat. Happy to hit 16.2 miles total.

9/16: I stopped off at Chip in Gansevoort Market to try out their strawberry shortcake cookies. Holy moly. Much later, I did a Recovery run with Chaya around Prospect Park in the PM (moved from a planned early run in Morningside Park). Warm but breezy! 6.1 miles total and it felt great.

Total: 41.5 miles, a new weekly high. Feeling good and back on track.

Week 7 of 2018 NYC Marathon Training

September 5, 2018September 6, 2018Posted in New England, New York City Marathon 2018, nycm, Running, TrainingTagged Marathon Training, NYC Marathon, NYRR Virtual TrainerLeave a comment

This was supposed to be my highest mileage week (well, first of 3) for this training cycle. I was headed to New England on vacation Thursday night and needed to frontload my mileage a bit, but also scheduled a platelet donation Tuesday night and fantasy football draft Wednesday night. Then I actually went on vacation and remembered that I don’t like running on highway shoulders. C’est la vie.

8/27: 8.3 miles on the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges. Stuck to an easy pace and went by effort on the bridges.

8/28: 4 miles easy on the treadmill. Well, 3 miles very easy and 1 mile at goal marathon pace. Donated platelets after work. I’m planning to donate blood again right after the marathon.

8/29: Rest day. Did some restorative yoga and had my fantasy football draft. There was beer, there was pizza, and I drafted some strong picks. More importantly, the yoga stretches felt so good. I should be doing this weekly.

8/30: 4 progressive treadmill miles before work, then flight to New England. 2 at easy pace, 1 at goal marathon pace (9:30s but would be happy with anything under 10minute miles), then a mix for the final mile between easy and goal half marathon pace (08:50s currently).

8/31: Walked all over Portland, Maine. Ate all the lobster, plus some oysters.

9/1: 4 miles with my friend, then we drove up the Mount Washington Auto Road. We had planned to do a moderate mileage hike, but the fog and cold at the top were too much. Went back into town and explored North Conway after.

9/2: Long run fail. I was all prepped and ready for 15 miles but it didn’t happen. Mentally, I wasn’t there and didn’t feel safe running by cars on the Kancamagus Highway. I headed up Bear Mountain a bit and ran along a ski trail but my energy was kind of zapped. Threw in the towel, then later we floated down the Saco River slowly in inner tubes with some blueberry cider.

Total: 21.5 miles. Surprise cutback week! I still feel really good about Week 6 and have signed up for my first race since April (a 5K, still looking for possible tuneup 10K and half).

Week 6 of 2018 NYC Marathon Training

August 28, 2018August 26, 2018Posted in New York City Marathon 2018, nycm, Running, TrainingTagged NYC Marathon, nycm, nyrr, NYRR Virtual Trainer, Shalane Flanagan, Training3 Comments

Special Note: This is my 100th blog post here! I know it’s been erratic at times, but I’m glad I’m writing this all down somewhere. I think (and talk) a lot about creation vs. consumption of content. I journal semi-regularly (off and on since I was 8). My Twitter and Instagram are private. Yet I find myself leaving detailed race recommendations, travel guides, favorite food spots across many platforms (namely Facebook Groups, Reddit, Strava comments and run notes, and Yelp Collections). I wish there was some perfectly organized way to harness everything I write and share all across the internet without necessarily linking it or turning profiles public.

Week 5 was kind of a bust and not the 34-mile week I had intended. I hadn’t cracked 30 miles yet this cycle and was concerned. Cooler temps prevailed this week and I finally got up for a pre-work morning run. Twice, even. Progress!

8/20: One of those regular run park loops where everything feels good. I was able to make it a tiny bit progressive and fought my way up the hill, then was flying on the way home. The lower humidity weather really helped, but this is exactly what I needed after a tough Saturday long run and a skipped Sunday recovery run. First mile was 11, last mile was 9:49. 5.1 miles total.

8/21: Easy 3 miles on the gym treadmill @ an 11:00 mile pace in the AM.

8/22: Intentional rest day. I went to the NYRR RunCenter and got a copy of Run Fast Cook Fast Eat Slow and got to meet Shalane and Elyse! They signed my book and Shalane asked what I was training for and I got so awkward. I said “NYC. Og my god, so are you! That’s right! I’ll be starting two hours after you. But I’ll add you to my tracker so I know when you’re done!”. I was cheering for friends last year during her victory and didn’t get to see her cruising in the park, but I am so excited that she’s going for it again.

8/23: I did another double at Mile High Run Club by taking The Build (primarily kettlebell and bodyweight strength with some short running intervals) at 6pm then The Distance at 7pm. I “ran through” the two classes and got 7.5 Miles overall. I haven’t had a good midweek medium long run in some time! I felt pretty destroyed after.

8/24: Easy AM recovery run on the treadmill listening to Who? Weekly podcast; 3 miles @ 11:00 minute mile pace. Made a berry protein smoothie after but still got a bagel once at work at 10am.

8/25: Long run. I kept it in Brooklyn because I was meeting some coworkers who are training for a half. I did 4 miles to and around Fort Greene Park, 7 with them in Prospect Park, then went further south into Park Slope and through tiny JJ Byrne Park for the final 3. It went much better than last week’s long run overall (better weather with lower dew point certainly helped) and it was fun to see so many PPTC folks. 14 miles @ 10:52 pace total.

Went to Red Rooster for dinner, finally. Had a bourbon negroni, cornbread, and shared this seafood jambalaya for 2. Spoiler alert: we ate all the fried soft shell crabs and most of the lobster but still had a couple pounds of leftovers.

8/26: Recovery run; 4.5 miles in Central Park. Easy, peasy, a little sunny. I love coming here near-weekly for a change of scenery and since the final miles of the marathon are in this park.

Total: 37.1 miles, my highest weekly mileage since the first week of January (actually higher but my non-Monday to Friday mileage there was 39.5).

Week 5 of 2018 NYC Marathon Training

August 21, 2018August 20, 2018Posted in Food, New York City Marathon 2018, nycm, Running, TrainingTagged marathon, NYC Marathon, NYRR Virtual Trainer, SummerStreets, Training2 Comments

8/13: Unintentional rest day. I was waiting for a thunderstorm to pass over, then ate dinner. It was 9:30 by the time I was less full, and I figured early bedtime should beat trying to squeeze in a few miles.

8/14: After-work Central Park loop once the 5pm thunderstorm blew through. I had forgotten my watch at home so started Strava on my phone and put it in my shorts pocket and only pulled it out when changing podcasts. The hills were hard but doable at this pace. Not sure what happened on the last mile except dodging pedestrians and waiting for cyclists to pass.

Shake Shack with the bf afterward. The blueberry pie concrete really hit the spot.

8/15: Taco Run with PPTC; 4.5 miles total down to the Tacos El Bronco truck. It was a little dark so I didn’t bother trying to take photos, but I got al pastor, suadero, and lengua tacos with a pineapple Jarritos.

8/16: My plan called for both intervals and hill repeats this week. I…did neither. East 5.2 miles that did not feel easy. A humid, sweaty slog.

8/17: Rest Day but I had a Field Day for work in Central Park. There was Tug of War, mountain climber/starburst jump Tabata sets, and a three-legged race that I took very aggressively.

Then Korean for dinner and seeing Crazy Rich Asians.

8/18: Long Run Day. 12 prescribed, but since I jumped up to 12 last week, I wanted to get 13 or 14. I just barely made it. I took the long way to SummerStreets instead of braving the crowds on the Brooklyn Bridge and got to conquer my old nemesis, the Williamsburg Bridge. Back when I lived on the Lower East Side and my runs were short (usually under 3 miles), I would sometimes run to Brooklyn and back. Things got hard once I was in Central Park (and a little before, honestly). You can see the drop from a 9 minute mile (??) to a 12 (up Cat Hill and including the search for water and a bathroom break at the Boathouse). This run led to Chafe City but I ended at Juice Press before the long C train ride back home. During my time underground, I apparently missed a downpour.

8/19: Bo’s Bagels in Harlem for breakfast, cortado from Shuteye Espresso then a massage. Ouch. I could have used more time spent on my legs, but my back certainly feels rolled out.

I should have gotten my 5-ish miles in pre-massage and was just feeling too beat up after. My sports bra chafing from Saturday was hurting, my left heel was feeling off, and my hips were screaming. 0 miles.

I had more food adventures with my friend Lori in Greenpoint in the afternoon. Pastries and sushi galore.

Total: 28.6 miles total out of a prescribed 34.

Week 4 of 2018 NYC Marathon Training

August 14, 2018August 14, 2018Posted in Food, New York City Marathon 2018, NYC, nycm, Running, TrainingTagged distance running, marathon, NYC Marathon, NYRR Open Run, NYRR Virtual Trainer2 Comments

This was supposed to be a down week with 2 full days off and only 27 miles. But I was feeling weird about my last week where I missed the goal by 7+ miles. The weather was topsy turvy (heat wave, thunderstorms and lightning, etc).

8/6: I took the Mile High Run Club The Distance class and was able to get in 5.5 miles of intervals in 57 minutes. I pushed my paces just a bit and am starting to feel ready for some speed again. I’m shooting for a 5K PR in September (race TBD) so any time spent running in the 7:xx range is good.

8/7: I was planning to do a full but slow ~6.5-7 miles (with a run to the NYRR Open Run Brooklyn Bridge Park course and back). But Open run got canceled due to lightning about halfway through! I was able to run and just make a bus and avoid the rain on the way home and ended up with 4 miles for the day.

8/8: I was able to volunteer at the Al Goldstein Summer Speed Series #6 due to work conflicts easing up, so I ran there. Then ran to a water station to help out. Then ran back to race HQ then out of the park with a teammate and to the bar to meet the Brooklyn Beer Runners group. 5.2 miles total at a very easy pace. So hot, so humid. It rained a little bit which felt great.

8/9: Off day

8/10: Unplanned rest day. Got home from work and didn’t feel like doing the 9 miles for the Fireworks Group Run. Thought about running to spectate Take the Bridge in Williamsburg, but enjoyed my quiet night in, elevating my feet.

8/11: I had again planned to do my long run as part of Summer Streets, but woke up to some pains in the middle of the night and wasn’t feeling 100% when I got up at 7. I watched the thunderstorms and rain blow in and eventually made it down to the treadmill for an easy 3 miles. I also did a strength workout (bent-over rows, shoulder press, kettlebell deadlifts). Then it was time for more food adventures with Lori. We hit up The Nugget Spot for their special fried chicken sandwich with hot honey ice cream and Flip Sigi for the special burrito (but also longanisa poutine and short rib wonton nachos).

8/12: 12 miles around Central Park. I ran with friends and was glad to run a 12:xx minute mile instead of pushing to my current 10:40 pace. The humidity was brutal but it was good to get time on my feet and with good company.

Total: 29.7 miles out of a prescribed 27. This makes me feel more prepared for the ~34 on tap next week and for all of my future long runs (some cutback weeks go down to 11 miles).