I’m tempted to post a .gif of tumbleweed blowing by for my taper weeks, but I did get some nice runs in. I also got the sniffles (I can’t say I definitively got sick as it only lasted a couple days and seems to be more like seasonal allergies). But now I’m only 3 days away from running my first marathon and the excitement has finally washed over and replaced my minor anxieties about aches and pains.
Week 14:
The sniffles were real and I didn’t want to develop a full-blown cold, so I only did a weekday run then my first taper run in DC. I had planned a perfect 12 mile loop but got lost trying to get down to East Potomac Park, then couldn’t get onto 14th St.as planned and had to cut over onto the Mall further East than expected. I ended at Starbucks for a much needed soy toffee nut latte, courtesy of my free drink. I got to see some friends and have Nando’s for dinner, as we still don’t have one in NYC.
Week 15:
Mile High Run Club The Distance with Elizabeth Corkum. I hadn’t been to MHRC in months but I loved it and plan to take Corky’s class again when I reactivate my ClassPass. I managed to keep my paces consistent throughout the different interval speeds and saw some very fast Level 4 speed. I got 5.6 miles in, which is a huge improvement from 4.8 miles back in May. I also manged to keep my easy pace very easy overall.
Then on Saturday the 29th, I did the last 10 miles run with PPTC. My watch never picked up satellites because it was probably still on DC from the week before, so I decided to just run with the 11:00 min/mile pace group. We ended up at a closer to 10:30 pace for some of the miles, which was ideal for me since I hope to keep my marathon pace closer to that. I felt really good and was talking the whole way. Had a Gu around mile 6 and discovered I also love the Salted Caramel flavor.
Week 16:
Just some quick regular runs on Wednesday and Friday mornings.
I hit up the Expo on Thursday night and it wasn’t too crowded. I got my bib, said hi to some friends volunteering, took some photos with said bib, then did some shopping. Things I bought that I needed: margarita ShotBlocks and extra Gu. I also split a good deal on wool socks from Darn Tough with a friend. I’m not going to try out new socks on race day, but these are pretty darn nice from what I can tell on my test run. Most importantly, I got the jacket below in gray and I love it. Pretty sure it’s bad luck to wear it or the long-sleeve before I actually run the marathon, though.
I decided I didn’t need much more stuff. I have so many race shirts and running clothing overall that my collection should be complete once I acquire some more winter running clothes and accessories. Don’t hold me to that statement, please.
Anyway, I am obviously wildly excited for Sunday and love knowing that I have friends and family cheering for me in many locations and 3 of the 5 boroughs.
This was the dreaded 20 miler week and I survived. Except that I didn’t quite hit 20 miles on Saturday as planned. But, eh, close enough. I hope.
Monday 10/10: Still in Chicago, so 6 lakefront miles with Carla. I only really ‘needed’ 4 but am glad we did the extra. We picked up the pace on the way back after breaking for photos with a nice skyline view. I foolishly wore my shorter shorts and forgot to wear Body Glide and after a mile or so it was Chafe City, population me. I also had a finicky left calf during and afterward. You can imagine how nervous this made me at the start of peak week (even if this run felt more like a week 12 because of the location). I foam rolled and used her Tiger Tail, then wore my Birks to brunch at Ann Sather for the best cinnamon rolls of my life. I later explored some of the major tourist area with my friend who ran the marathon, took the architectural boat tour, and had cocktails on the 96th floor of the Hancock Building.
Boat tour from Lake Michigan
Pausing during our 6-miler for some cityscapes
Tuesday 10/11: Early flight back to NYC wearing my compression socks. I was hoping to do a short run but the calf still felt tweaked, so I laid off.
Wednesday 10/12: First day back at work and had a long ride home from a meeting in the Bronx, and the calf was still a smidge sore, so I took the day off.
Thursday 10/13: I skipped a morning run so brought all of my gear to work, including my GPS watch but also with my lock in case I wanted to try the treadmill at the gym. Despite the cool weather, I was feeling the treadmill option more, especially so I could easily pull off in case of my calf still feeling tight. I wore shorter shorts and stupidly forgot Body Glide again. Chafe City, I’m coming back! I did a warmup mile at my long run pace, then an 800 at threshold pace, 3.5 miles of the hill workout, 800 mile moving from threshold pace to 5K pace, then a cooldown for 6 miles total.
Friday 10/14: Day off running and a quiet night in with a box of Annie’s white cheddar macaroni and cheese to myself.
Saturday 10/15: Saturday was “the” 20 miler day. I can probably put that into quotes too. I signed up for a supported 30K in Flushing Meadows Park, which included 4 laps of the 4.something mile loop. 30 kilometers is 18.6 miles, so I planned to do a mile before and 0.4 after. I took the train (well, a couple of trains) there and was fine on time until I realized I didn’t know exactly where the race start was. I knew we were running around the Unisphere at some point but the course map link was on the registration page and that was closed day of. I found a low-res image that included the map and started running that way while still in my sweats and jacket. Not my ideal warmup. I veered toward a table setting up water, but they were there for a 5K and had no idea where my event table was. Based on Google’s assumptions of how far I was from the start, my warmup was just about 1 mile and extremely stressful. They delayed the start a bit since dozens of us were in line for the bathroom.
View from the start
I stuffed my pockets (Lululemon Sculpt short, the perfect length with plenty of pocket space) with gels (3 salted watermelon, 1 caramel macchiato flavor) and a Shotblock (salty margarita flavor) and put my phone as well with earbuds. I don’t usually run with music and don’t plan to race with it, but do plan to have my phone to better facilitate any post-marathon meetings or mishaps, plus get those last-minute texts about which corner people will be standing on to cheer, so it was good to practice how heavy or not it was in my pocket. I cued up the Hamilton soundtrack, did a last-minute swap of my regular glasses for my prescription sunglasses, and we were off.
I took the first 2 miles way too fast. I plan to have a marathon race pace between 10:15-10:45 minute miles, so I’m not sure what happened that made me go under that. I think my legs were just young, fresh, and hungry. I took my first gel after the first loop, second gel after the second, two shot block chews halfway through the third loop, the more caffeinated coffee-flavored gel after the third, and two more shot block chews during the fourth (pausing off-course at a water fountain, contributing to my slowest loop at mile 13). I could have used a couple more water stations for sure.
Looking at my Strava map, I now see why the course was short for me; I went the correct way around a the NY State Pavillion and the fountain only the first time but the incorrect way the next 3 loops, which must have shaved off 0.2 each time. You can see it as the farthest left red line out around the Fountain of the Continents (did not know that was its name). Weirdly, the organizers were waving us through at the turn points, so I’m not sure why this happened. I’m looking at the Strava map of someone else who ran it and she did the same thing. I think they might have diverted us because of a 5K also happening in the park that day. I tacked on another 0.6 miles to make it 18.2 (not 18.1, Strava. Rude!) before I had to thrown in the towel and stop the watch. Counting my 1 mile warmup then my 2 portapotty shuffles as cooldown, I hit 19.6 miles. 19.6 miles is not 20 miles. I think the “shortened” course threw me for a loop (haha get it?) and was weirdly discouraging when it came time afterward to tack on more mileage.
I was hoping to have a solo finish photo but she and I had been passing each other for all of the last loop and she wanted to catch up. Then they tried to hand me a medal and I said “I need more mileage!”
Sunday 10/16: I wanted to do a recovery run but instead had a very productive morning of dropping off donated goods to Housing Works and getting my favorite bagels, then seeing Girl on the Train. I had read the book, so twists and turns were not surprising, but it was still well done. I ate a lot of candy and sweets both during the movie and after with a stop at Maison Kayser for their amazing cookies.
Total: 31.6 miles out of a recommended 32-35. Harumph. That being said, I don’t feel ready to taper! So many more miles I wish I had run! This should have been Peak Week but was actually a little less than 2 weeks ago! I’m freaking out! Taper time!
Once again, I’m finding that my cutback weeks (coincidentally those where I am traveling for the long run and what should be run #3 or #4 of the week) are the hardest. I tend to have some cumulative fatigue from the previous week’s long run and speed work and am also very distracted by packing and the act of travel. So this week was another short one where I only got out twice. Yes, twice. I had the sniffles after my Cancun trip but still managed to attack my second-highest mileage week, so this feels kind of weak.
On another note, HOLY CRAP OMG I can’t believe I’m 12 weeks into this! And it’s going so well! I am uninjured (knock on wood, some aches and pains but nothing lingering), got a 5K and half marathon PRs during this training cycle, and have run 18 miles at a time, a solid 4.9 than ever before I began this journey. A little bit of reflection and a lot of navel gazing (shout out to Elle) has led me to be pleasantly surprised at a lot of training. It has been less time overall than I originally supposed, but I was preparing for the worst and am also on a pretty conservative plan. I haven’t taken to the track like I thought I might, but am planning on speed classes post-marathon to rectify that. I have eaten too much, constantly, most of the time, but at other times am full sooner than expected. I have maybe cumulatively lost 2 pounds during this process then negated it in Vegas, Cancun, and Chicago. Despite my proclaimed love for cross-training of all kinds, I have largely neglected it. I put my ClassPass on hold, even after dropping down to the 5 a month plan then failing to make any of those classes. I now make the “if someone is training for a marathon, you’ll know about it” types of jokes but actually do find myself telling everyone about it.
I’m in Chicago (will have just touched down back in NYC when this is published) for a combo work conference/sightseeing/visiting my friend Carla and cheering on the Chicago Marathon. The trip was supposedly to only involve the last two but then I got invited to speak at a big conference in my field. The combination of trip of purposes made it really hard to pack but I managed.
Monday 10/3: I was feeling less sore from my half and dragged myself up some stairs for a run club meeting. There was a panel all about the NYC Marathon and I took down some tips from the veterans. Also, I had baked some marble cupcakes the night before for a coworker’s birthday and hit peak cupcake consumption. 2 Sunday night, 1 for breakfast Monday, 1 as a snack at work, then 2 very small ones for dessert.
Tuesday 10/4: So I didn’t make 6am speed training this week, which left me doing miles after work. I tried out a partial run-commute along the G line for 4 miles then showered off before celebrating National Taco Day at the brick and mortar location of Tacos El Bronco. Forgot to take any photos but they were amazing. Had 4 tacos for 4 miles, I guess. Tried their tres leches cake but didn’t love it.
Wednesday 10/5: I didn’t run, but I did have All You Can Eat Hotpot and more taiyaki ice cream.
Thursday 10/6: It was raining in Chicago when I arrived, so I strolled along the river for a bit and killed time before I checked in to my hotel. I was hoping to squeeze in a quick run before I headed to the Art Institute, but time was tight so I opted for a nap instead. Then I explored with Carla for a few hours, including a Museum Hack tour. I’ve been wanting to see Seurat’s La Grand Jatte for over a decade, since I took art history in London and kinda fell in love with pointillism.
Marina City
Friday 10/7: Long Run along the Lakefront Trail. 13 miles even. Chicago is pretty flat, so at every small ramp or hill, I told myself “this is it, the tallest hill in Chicago.” At least one of them probably was. It was cool but almost a little unnerving being so close to the water but great being protected from the cars. Cyclists were super respectful with space as well.
Saturday 10/8: Conference day with Lou Malnati’s takeout at the end.
Sunday 10/9: Marathon cheering day and marathon conference day. Saw so many people at mile 9.5 (and they loved the BROOKLYN WE GO HARD poster that Gabby originally made for last year’s Brooklyn Marathon). It was all very inspirational.
Total: 17.1 out of recommended 24-27. I ended up doing 6 Monday that ended up feeling more like Week 12 than 13 due to location, but the fact still stands that I went 22% under recommended minimum. Eek.
Monday 9/26: I got back from Cancun on Sunday the 25th and had smartly taken the day off on Monday. Since I didn’t do a run Sunday (or Thursday), my legs were a little eager to go. I slept in (until 8am) but lazed around all morning and didn’t get going until after noon. 4.3 total, slightly faster than I needed to go and slightly warmer than I expected.
Tuesday 9/27: 6 miles even (1 mile to the park, 3.5 miles tempo, .3 miles to friend’s place to get throwaway clothes, then 1.2 miles home) but my watch died at 4.8.
Wednesday 9/28: Taco Run with PPTC. Ran to the park and meeting place for 2 miles, then most of a loop and down to the Tacos El Bronco truck. Got lengua, al pastor, and chorizo tacos ($1.75 each) plus a pineapple Jarritos. I was so hungry I didn’t even take a picture. 6.7 miles at a conversational pace.
I came home and finally tried to sign up for the Bay Ridge Half, a race I had been thinking about doing for weeks (months?). I knew I’d have either an 18 mile long run or a half to race this weekend and figured the flat course here would be nicer than Grete’s Gallop the next day if I was going for a PR. So of course the link was no longer active! Fortunately they corrected it within the hour so I was able to sign up.
Thursday 9/29: Off day. Packet pickup for the Bay Ridge Half after I inhaled some goat curry roti from the Bronx, then beer and nachos at a friend’s birthday.
Friday: Personal Day off work and off day from activity unless you count traipsing around the Met Breuer and (regular) Met. It was raining outside all day, so I’m glad I skipped what would have been a nasty shakeout run. This was an amazing food day, with Pastrami Queen for lunch and Korean fried chicken and cheese ddukkbokki for dinner. I also had a single pumpkin beer at a friend’s birthday before dinner. I walked several miles this day in my Frye boots and tights and they began to rub against a tender spot near my left ankle.
Saturday: Race day.
Pre-race teammate post
My plan was to aim for straight 9:30s and see how I felt at mile 10. I hadn’t actually raced a half since Brooklyn 2015 (since I was super injured for Nike Women SF) and I went back to look at those splits (pre-Garmin 220). I had trouble with the rain and maintaining my pace back then, so I wanted to do better here. Ideally, my A+ goal would be to go sub-2 but I knew that 9:10 even splits were just not possible at this point in the game.
I did a nice, easy warm-up mile since NYRR Virtual Trainer said I should hit 14 miles total for the day.
I stayed pretty consistent, though definitely got too excited at mile 4, then too slow for some reason at mile 7. I took a caffeinated PowerGel slowly from miles 6-8, then a couple Honey Stinger chews at mile 10. They had blue Gatorade but I just sipped my own water then took some of theirs when I was running low.
I knew I was going to hit my sub-2:04 goal, so I felt amazing coming in. I was flagging a bit the last 2 miles but got my kicks the last 0.5 miles by passing a ton of people and hitting that sub-9 mile.
Final time of 2:02:11 and a smile on my face. I input my time into Virtual Trainer, knowing it was faster than the predicted range and my expected marathon time range shot up by 10 minutes. Easy there slugger, you might say to me. I’m trying to keep my full NYCM expectations in check. With just 5 weeks to go, I am still just delighted my training has gone so well, but I still want to make sure to respect the distance.
I made it to the Grub Street Food Festival and chowed down on fried mac & cheese bites, a chicken and bacon cheddar waffle sandwich, and Taiwanese/Japanese wheel cakes.
Sunday 10/2: Recovery run shuffle. The plan was 1 mile each to JackRabbit and back because I needed compression socks and a new non-handheld water bottle. I was halfway to JackRabbit when I realized they might not be open yet. Stopped to check Yelp and sure enough, they wouldn’t open for another 30 minutes. Rather than scrap the run, I added on extra mileage to and just into the park, then when it was 10:54, I scrambled around the surrounding blocks. I then watched football (HTTR, phew) and drank 3 different pumpkin beers. 3.7 miles total.
Total: 34.8 miles out of a recommended 34. It felt weird not doing 18 miles as my log run, so I’m glad I did the recovery the day after.
Another cutback week, which was well-timed with vacation. I booked a trip to Cancun with coworker friends a few months back and we were originally considering the weekend of September 16-18th, but a small part of me was thinking “Nooooo, that’s the 18 Mile Tune Up!”, so I was very relieved when we ended up booking it for the 22nd-25th. A treadmill run on “only” a 12 miler didn’t sound so bad, especially after doing 10 in Vegas as a non-cutback run.
Monday 9/19: Rest day, which was sorely (haha) needed after the Tune Up. I was hobbling around work quite a bit. I got a pedicure at pH7, my favorite ethical nail salon and opted for the extra 10 minutes of foot massage. She scraped off significant calluses then I fell into a state of relaxation during the massage and hot stones. I still had tight calves after, but at least my feet felt good (and looked moderately cuter for the upcoming beach times).
Tuesday 9/20: Speedwork day with my running club at 6am. Yes, I think the previous week’s motivational interviewing helped me get up in the morning. I did 2 warmup miles, then 4 1-mile repeats at ~10K pace with 5 minutes rest in between. It ended up being quicker than my actual 10K pace, and closer to my dream 10K pace (9ish and sub-9), then did 2 miles cooldown for 8 total.
Wednesday 9/21: Rest day. I had a great dinner at Shanghai Asian Manor, then tried a new spot, Taiyaki for ice cream. I had the green tea swirled with black sesame with custard in the bottom, then topped with mochi and a wafer. It was amazing! Since we missed the Play J Ice Cream Truck this year, this was a new amazing vehicle for ice cream and crunchy vessel.
Thursday 9/22: Travel day with a 4AM wake up call. I was hoping to do a little shakeout run after the flight, but beach time and margaritas took precedence.
Friday 9/23: Tour day. We opted for a few stops mainly in the Tulum area to see the ruins and cenotes, but this also included some lagoon snorkeling, then we chose an add-on to snorkel near sea turtles. Still waiting on the video footage our tour guide took, but it was an amazing day. At least I got some swimming in.
Tulum (National Park around the ruins)
Dos Ojos Cenote
We went to the ruins first, then to the Dos Ojos cenote, then to Akumal for the sea turtles. We stopped for lunch then went into the Yal-Ku lagoon.
Sea Turtle Watching in Akumal
Saturday 9/24: Long Run Day on the treadmill. I contemplated running outside and had brought my handstrap Nathan water bottle, but did not bring my GPS watch and wasn’t feeling amped about the route. I didn’t want to be stranded far from the resort low on water and without enough pesos for a cab/bus ride back. I hopped on the treadmill and was the only person in the gym for the first hour. Due to not having run on Thursday, this was my first run in my new Brooks Ghost shoes. Not my brightest idea to bring them and break them in like this. But it worked out overall, as I took my run slowly. NYRR Virtual Trainer said to aim for 2:05 overall time and that it was ok to not hit a perfect 12 miles. Well, the gym started getting crowded right when my shoes were feeling a bit tight, so I cut it off at 1:40. Then I had 3 full plates of food at the breakfast buffet as well as melon juice, chocolate milk, and coffee. This was too much of a cutback for my liking overall.
Then we went shopping. I was saving my souvenirs for the duty free shop, but I did meet Cookie Monster and tried Starbucks (no cold brew, so iced americano for this americana). Then back to the beach. We were going to go out out to a club but failed after dinner and a few glasses of wine.
Sunday 9/25: Rest day aka packing and final trip to the beach. I wish I had done a little run to shake out my legs early in the day (6pm flight). I added to my snorkeling butt sunburn with a little side nap thigh burn action (I’m ok, Mom!).
Total: 17.1 out of recommended 24-27 miles. Um..err..haven’t gotten this far from the minimum since Week 3 or so. Shruggie.
This week was quieter overall but with the mileage back up to the 30’s. I only ran 3 times instead of 4 because one of those was the NYRR 18 Mile Tune Up. My actual NYRR Virtual Trainer plan had me doing only 15 miles as my long run this week, but with the caveat that I could add on a couple more if necessary. I figured this was a good time to tackle the distance at a slower pace than my usual long runs, closer to the top of my recommended range.
Monday 9/12: Off Day. Running club meeting where I scarfed down some pizza then went to the bar to watch football. Had 1 beer and 5 Buffalo wings and stayed until the end of the first Monday Night Football game (oh Washington team, you almost never fail to disappoint me).
Tuesday 9/13: Shocker, I hit snooze on the 5:20AM alarm and again at 6:20AM. At work, we had a motivational interviewing training session and part of the examples and role play/real play for affirmations & summarizing allowed me the chance to talk about my issues getting up for runs (particularly on Tuesdays). My partner in the role play had to listen to me talk about it for 2 minutes than summarize what I had said while adding some nice affirmations about the good behaviors I was exhibiting. Honestly, it was so helpful to hear about my problem from someone else. It gave me a little kick in the pants to do better and stick to my plans.
Wednesday 9/14: I was able to get up at my regular time (7:20am) and still get 6(.1 but my Garmin then corrected it to 6?) miles in because of later work meetings. The weather was pleasant with low humidity and I felt great. I did the PP loop counterclockwise and it felt really good overall. Since it was a later start, I only saw one teammate in the park, but I tackled the hill head-on.
Thursday 9/15: Rest day and I actually opted out of rock climbing in favor of sleeping in.
Friday 9/16: Almost the same 6.1 miler as Wednesday but I surprised myself by doing it a little faster. I took the PP loop clockwise and thought the more graduated hill would suck on the way up and out, but it went well. So well that I sped up more for the next 1.5 miles to keep it going. Also, I actually got up at 6:20AM with a renewed resolve for morning workouts. I think the motivational interviewing session on Tuesday really helped (funny that I’m learning MI to be on the giving end, not the receiving end, but whatever works).
Saturday 9/17: Rest day other than < 2 hours of slow bicycling around Governor’s Island after dim sum.
Brooklyn from the Governor’s Island ferry
Sunday 9/18: 18 miles on the 18th. I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to complete the distance for whatever reasons but also knew that once I hit 15, it would be easiest to do the full 18. I planned to run with the roughly 11-minute mile pacer but ended up doing the first loop between the 10:52 and the 11:03 pacer. My NYRR Virtual Trainer has me shooting for a 4:37-4:45 and while I would be thrilled to get lower in the 4:30s, I’m not confident about that yet. A teammate who started late caught up to me and we ran miles 2-8 with each other, saying hi to other teammates we saw as we went. I stuck it out through the 2nd part of Harlem Hill then peeled off around 8 miles to use the bathroom. When I came out, I was right on target with the 11:03 pacer. She was super energetic and had a countdown of “3..2…1…GO!” after water stops. I loved running with her and that group and made a bit of small talk with others, feeling pretty relaxed overall. Then for some reason at mile 12, right before the final 3rd loop of Central Park, I passed the pace group and kept going in the 10:40s. I’m still not sure what happened (the salted watermelon Gu gel I ate kicking in? caffeine from the Shot Blocks?) but I was feeling pretty good. I saw a teammate on my last lap around mile 13 who high fived me and told me I was looking strong, which was such a confidence boost.
At mile 14, I did a little cheer to celebrate my new longest run ever distance, then kept right on running. I saw my teammate from the first loop ahead of me and decided to try and reel her in by mile 16. She stopped for water and I surprised her with my appearance, then we ran the last 2 together at a quicker pace. My feet were kind of tired and my shoes were tight, but I felt fine aerobically. I think it’s time for compression socks, as my calves felt like Jell-O right after. We grabbed lots of Gatorade, banana halves, and pretzels (my mouth was too dry to eat more than one) before meeting up with teammates. I’m so glad that I was able to run the whole thing and pull off a negative split for that 3rd loop. This was a huge confidence boost for my overall training and I feel better about that future 20-miler coming up. This is the 2nd long run that I’ve gone longer than the virtual trainer recommended. My overall pace as per the NYRR result was 10:51 min/mile, which I am very ok with, given that I ascended Harlem Hill and Cat Hill three times.
Some of the group after; I joked that I wouldn’t be able to get up again after sitting down/squatting
After a really amazing Week 7, Week 8 was still pretty decent. It was a major cutback, from 34+ miles to 25.
Monday 9/5: Rest day.
Tuesday 9/6: Skipped the 6am training group (and the accompanying 5:20am wake up call) and did 3 miles around my neighborhood. Went to the same turf field area as usual but didn’t do laps because I wanted a longer speed workout later in the week. Faster overall, but it was only 3 miles and I knew it would be a shorter one. Rock climbing at night with coworkers. I’m still new to belaying and accidentally shredded my hand a bit. I mainly did 5.6 and 5.7s.
Wednesday 9/7: Rest day. I usually do a Wednesday night run with a group, but it was Gabby’s going away party so we toasted to her in the Lower East Side.
Thursday 9/8: Solo speedwork night. I was debating between Prospect Park and Red Hook Track, but went where I would know the fast route home since it’s getting dark so early now. I did 4 mile repeats (along with a warmup mile and 1.6+ cooldown). The first 2 were great but the net downhill was working for me. Once I made it onto flat land and was a bit fatigued from the 8:50ish pace, the 3rd was really hard. The humidity was nasty. Some friends raced the Superfund Super Run but that thing starts at 10pm, which let’s be real, is my bedtime these days.
Friday: Rest day. I was indoctrinated to the New York Steakhouse experience at Smith & Wollensky’s (ok, technically Wollensky’s Grill) then got a fancy cocktail and live jazz trio at Bemelman’s Bar, which I’ve been wanting to visit forever. I wish I had taken photos but the lighting was all wrong.
Saturday: Prime Rib, half a bottle of wine, and a negroni do not lend themselves easily to a zippy early morning run. I instead opted for a 4.4 mile (gotta offset the .6 from Thursday!) slogfest in the sun and humidity after 11am. I am a fool. I ran each mile on the fast side but has to take some long water breaks.
Sunday: Long run day; only 11 because it was my cutback week. It was a humid slogfest if we’re being honest, but I ran the majority of it with people who helped take my mind off of it. After 2+ park loops, I misread my watch on the way home as 9.03 when it was really 9.93 miles and had a momentary freak out. How could I do 2 more miles when I was already exhausted and drenched in sweat? Fortunately, my Garmin beeped at 10 miles pretty quickly after and I knew I could pull out that final one. I had already turned off early from the group to get home (and have a smoothie) instead of getting coffee further from home. This was definitely my worst long run of my training cycle so far, physically and mentally. I hope that cooler temperatures prevail and my mental fortitude gets back on track.
Total: 25 miles out of a recommended 23-27.
The heat and humidity last week lent themselves to a quicker than usual laundry cycle plus some tough runs. I’m planning to race a half marathon in early October and try to PR. More details to come because I still haven’t bit the bullet and registered. I have some exciting travels coming up, which will mean long runs in exotic locales (and lots of delicious food).
Mofongo, takoyaki, and a pandan coconut Twinkie from a mini food fest near work
We made flower crowns at my friend’s bridal brunch. Hill County BBQ platters behind me.
And a photo from last Saturday the 2nd when I tried really hard to get the best Honeycrisp apples. Yeah, I’m basically inside of the tree.
Tuesday 8/30: Queensboro Bridge repeat then getting a little lost around Long Island City to meet my friends for delicious desserts for 4.3 miles total. The bridge was an interesting experience. I was worried about the climb initially but it was fine (it’s a long one). The only issue was all the cyclists pedaling away in the pedestrian lane. I ran the way back on the side closer to the bikes and the fear made me run a full minute per mile faster. I met my friends at Sugarcube after and enjoyed their $10 special for a pastry (lemon choux for me, raspberry mousse for my friends) and gelato (strawberry Greek yogurt and rosewater flavors for me).
Wednesday 8/31: 7.2 miles total, which includes a warmup mile to the meeting spot, a loop of Prospect Park, 0.7 miles to the bar, then 1.5 miles home after 2 beers and a pimiento grilled cheese. One of the beers was free from a Pacifico bar rep, in my defense. The 1.5 mile shuffle home was shockingly quick and not queasy.
Thursday 9/1: Off day for running, but I did some top rope climbing (and failed bouldering) before work at Brooklyn Boulders. It was good to try another spot and some new routes. I’m still thinking about getting a harness and climbing shoes so I don’t have to keep renting equipment.
Friday 9/2: Fireworks group run to Coney Island. It was a little over 2.5 miles to the meeting spot, then a straight shot down Ocean Parkway to the boardwalk, then down a ways to the main spot near Ruby’s and Nathan’s Famous. 8.7 miles total, most of it with 2 other PPTC members at a conversational pace. We then stood in line for Nathan’s, watched the fireworks, and finally got our food close to 40 minutes after getting there. My chili cheese dog was amazing but the lemonade stole the show. We took the Q back and I did some foam rolling before bed.
Saturday 9/3: Off day from running. I drove a minivan full of friends up to Newburgh to our favorite Lawrence Farms Orchards for early season apple picking and produce shopping. Obviously I was most excited about apple cider donuts, but all of the other goodies were fun, too. I bought a fair amount of Honeycrisps and some eggplants. We went to a British pie shop for lunch, then I had Chinese delivery for dinner for carbing up.
Choosing eggplants
Sunflowers
Honeycrisps galore
Sunday 9/4: Long run day (or as Carla says, Church of the Sunday Long Run). My NYRR Virtual Trainer called for 13 miles but most other training plans would have me at 14 and I knew I would feel a lot more confident going longer. I left at 8am and did a warmup mile and loop around the park before meeting up with the group at 9am. Fortunately, the group was willing to go around 9-10 miles at my pace, so I kind of led the way across the Brooklyn Bridge, through lower Manhattan, back across the Manhattan Bridge, then a quick pit stop for water before ending at the new Park Slope Juice Press. I went just over 14 miles, so figured 14.1 would be better for inputting into my virtual trainer. Strava ended up giving me 14.5 miles total, but I assure everyone this was “just” 14.1 miles. Which makes it my longest run EVER. I’ve done 13.1 (really 13.3 because of not running tangents) in half marathons in 2015 but never further. These numbers made it feel real for me. I thanked everyone profusely for joining me on this momentous occasion (yes, really) and excitedly drank my free watermelon juice while strolling downhill.
I ate a Honeycrisp immediately, then downed some duck poutine and roast pork sandwich at Smorgasburg plus some apple cider donuts. Then I made good use of the Japanese and regular eggplants I bought with this miso roasted eggplant recipe I’ve been meaning to try forever.
Total: 34.3 miles out of recommended 30-34 miles. Yeah, that’s right, I achieved more than the minimum.
This post is late because I was attending a work training for 2 days. I now have a White Belt in Lean Six Sigma and actually have thought about how to apply some of my newfound process improvement skills toward marathon training (namely, morning runs). Look out, world!
Monday 8/15: Red-eye back from Vegas was rough, so I slept until 11am then napped in the afternoon. Meant to get a run in but didn’t. Still had some desert sand on me from the hike.
Tuesday 8/16: My usual snooze struggles were coupled with a touch of jet lag. I brought my running gear to the rock climbing gym but ended up just climbing for several hours. I completed my first 5.7 (and then my second) and tried a couple of 5.8s that I did not summit.
Wednesday: The final Al Goldstein Summer Speed Series 5K. I wanted to try for even splits of 8:20-8:30 but had some digestive unrest for the first mile, so hit 8:55 (this mile has the big hill, too), then sped up to 8:15 for the second (mostly downhill) mile and was feeling great. I saw some teammates ahead and hung back for a while before passing them in the last 250 meters then sprinted it in for a barely sub-8 final mile. I don’t think I’ve seen a sub-8 mile on my Garmin since I raced the Fifth Avenue Mile last year. The last 0.1 was sub-7, so I guess I have some untapped sprinting speed in me yet. I did a warm up and cool down mile as well to bring it to 5.3 miles for the day.
Thursday: Quick run-commute jaunt to book club, picking up some duck liver mousse and buffalo cheese on the way for tartines. 2.5 slow miles with my running backpack on. I contemplated running home but had some wine and a lot of tartines, so enjoyed a leisurely walk.
Friday: Off day.
Saturday: 8ish mile long run to celebrate Summer Streets. The last time I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge was on a run was last September and it was rough; my Achilles were acting up and I got water on the Manhattan side of the bridge then turned around to shuffle home. This time, I was loving life. Endorphins all over the place. We took a few moments to appreciate the views at the top, then paused at the start of Summer Streets for free coconut water. My Garmin got confused after the Brooklyn Bridge and gave me an extra mile (at a blistering pace). I peeled off the route at 59th St. and got a Sprinkles cupcake and some blue Gatorade before taking the subway home. I wish Summer Streets was every week (in the summer or otherwise) and Citibank replied to my Tweet about those sentiments.
Sunday: France Run 8K plus 2 miles warmup and 1 mile cooldown. I’m not giving either race this week the full race report because I’m trying to focus on the marathon. But I’m inclined to agree with whoever called this the France Swim. The rain began right as we were still in the corrals, then intensified in mile 1. I took my glasses off and put them in my pocket (yay for my Lululemon Speed Track shorts and their ample pocket space) and tried to take the Harlem hills as best I could. I stopped for water only after mile 4 because I had foolishly eschewed it before. Overall, my pace sped up just a touch from Team Champs 3 weeks prior.
I later visited the Museum of Ice Cream and mainly got my money’s worth in candy.
total: 23.8 out of 26-29 total recommended. Not bad but I do wish I had squeezed in a few more Thursday night or you know, made my Tuesday workout happen.
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.
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.
East Coast Appetite 
