The marathon was a whole lot of buildup. Though I only followed an 18 week training plan, my training through out the past year has been building towards running the marathon. I've pretty much decided that I will run the NYCM again next year assuming that I'm healthy. [Don't kill me hot sister] While I am incredibly proud of myself for finishing, I think that I have a better race in me. If at first you don't succeed, try again :-)
That said, I'd like to get a whole lot faster first. I think that there are three components to getting faster for me.
1. Get my weight under control. I'm 5'4" - I shouldn't be hanging out in the 140-145 lbs range. I should work a bit on my nutrition to move my weight closer to 125lbs or so. I'm sure that my spine would appreciate it. Ultimately having less of me to haul around would improve my speed a whole lot.
2. Actually do speed work. I was terrified of doing speed work this training cycle. I suffered a nasty ankle sprain in May 2014 and my ankle is sometimes still pissy when I push the pace. Thankfully it is much much stronger than it was and I think that it is time to up my game a bit and do some structured speed work.
3. Do some strength training. A speedy runner friend of mine has said "fix your butt". Now there's probably nothing wrong with my butt, but my ass hurt the most of any of my body parts a few days post marathon... so here's to some ass strengthening :-)
Looking toward these process goals I'm hoping to have some good outcomes. I'll be running a half in January that I hope to PR at. I'll also be running halves in March and May. I'm going to follow Ryan Hall's 10 week half marathon training plan because it has some nice structured speed work built in and the mileage is pretty appropriate for now. That plan will start next week for my half on January 24th. If I'm still not feeling recovered I may drop the very first week of speed work, but I should be doing it for sure in the second week of the plan.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Monday, November 2, 2015
My first marathon: a fantabulous race report =D
This is the race report that I'm posting to runningahead.
Training:
Modified Hal Higdon Intermediate 1 - dropped one of the 20 milers, moved some long runs around to fit my life, and pumped up the midweek mileage. I did all of my training runs at easy pace for the most part because I wanted to get to the starting line healthy and I was afraid of my ankle injury flaring up.
Goals:
A goal: sub 5 hours, McMillan predicts 4:46 (lol)
B goal: beat the sunset at 4:54 pm, I crossed the start line at 11:10 (so, I guess sub 5:44)
C goal: finish before they unplug the clock
Pre-Race:
The day before the race I was basically a nervous fucking mess. I felt bad because even though Adam was in town, and wanted to spend more time with him, I was too nervous to spend more time with him because when I am anxious I get antisocial.
I made tattoos for Runners United, I taped my name to my shirt, pinned my bib, and tried things on a million times. I gathered everything I thought I might need and put it on the dining room table (like my start bag) and packed a bag for my husband with instructions on what he should be giving me and the meeting points. We also worked out where he would be meeting me and at what times. Even though I was really prepared with all of my items, I was still super incredibly anxious. I had thai food as my prerace meal - I know you are supposed to avoid spicy food, but I find thai food comforting.
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| Flat Jill |
I fell asleep during the Mets game (around 10:30) and woke up at 2:30AM and looked out the window. With my new LASIK vision I could see all the cops towing the cars on the route. I laid there awake, drifting in and out of consciousness until 5AM, at which point I decided just to get up.
I ate my breakfast (Rice Krispies and a banana) and drank a single cup of instant coffee with almond milk (which is all my stomach can handle now … since I had The Troubles). I made it out the door by 7, as planned. I missed the 7 train by less than 30 seconds; when I got to Grand Central, the next 4/5 train didn’t come for 16 minutes. I barely got on the train because it was so stuffed with runners and running so infrequently. There were runners at Union Square that just couldn’t get on the train.
When I got to the Staten Island Ferry, I was supposed to meet the Runners United people, but apparently the ferries were running late. So even though I got there right around 8AM, I didn’t actually get on a ferry until after 8:30. It was a giant cluster fuck and apparently not the norm. I missed giving the tattoos to everyone because the ferry was just such a mess. On the ferry I met Wendy, another Runners United girl. She used to live in NYC but moved to Richmond. She has a 7pm flight to catch tonight back to Richmond; she was in Wave 3 that started at 10:30. She considered moving back to Wave 4 but I told her she was crazy because those 20 minutes could have made her miss her flight. I got to Staten Island around 9. I tried to wait for Kristin, but we were told that the last buses were leaving at 9:30, so I waited until 9:30 and left.
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| Staten Island Ferry -- such a long wait |
I got on the bus from the ferry terminal to Fort Wadsworth, and got to Fort Wadsworth around 10:15. When I got to Fort Wadsworth I was incredibly hungry, since I had eaten breakfast at around 6:00. I talked to some girls about how hungry I was, and was hoping for bagels, and they gave me a banana! Apparently they had brought a whole bunch of bananas for this reason. I was worried about eating a bagel because one time I had ran with hubby after eating a bagel and had crazy abdominal cramping. So I was very happy that they gave me a banana.
I probably peed around 3 times at Fort Wadsworth within 45 minutes. I didn’t have to pee - I was just so nervous I had to pee two or three drops over and over again. It was nervous peeing, not peeing because of any actual pee buildup.
I met with Alexie and Danixa in the corral. Dani was also going for a 5 hour time so I decided to run with her at the start of the race. The woman I’d intended to start with deferred the day before the race.
The details of the race:
Miles 1-6 (12:30, 11:12, 11:28, 11:50, 11:56, 11:33):
We went up the bridge really slowly as I planned - I didn’t want to go out too fast and risk blowing up. We were basically the last people in Wave 4; I was one of the last people to leave Wave 4 Blue. I think maybe 20 people started behind me in Wave 4 Blue so I didn’t have people racing up behind me to encourage me to push the pace.
Once we got into Brooklyn, I saw the nanny of one of my students, who had told me she would be cheering for me. It was really cool because I wasn’t really expecting it. Then I saw Jess and Dasha at 4th Ave and 69th. I was kind of a bitch because Jess held out her hand and asked me to high five her after I had passed. That wasn't happening because A: I'm a germophobe and B: only forward progress! The crowd support in the early miles of Brooklyn was really great.
Around this point I started getting weird abdominal cramps (side stitches). They were less severe than what I had during my 18 mile training run, though, so I just ran through them and trusted that they would eventually pass. They did subside after awhile. At some point Danixa ran into another friend who was running much slower than we were. I kept on going trusting that either she’d catch up to make the time goal or that she’d run with the girl she’d bumped into.
Miles 7-12 (11:38, 11:45, 12:00, 11:32, 11:54, 11:47):
I saw Leslie at 4th Ave and 9th and she had a cool sign. I got really frustrated in Brooklyn. There’s tape set up that are supposed to fence off the spectators, but they had encroached way past the tape and were on the route. That meant that the route was super congested even though it didn’t have to be, and if the spectators had just respected the blue tape it would have been a much better running experience.
The only quiet part in all of Brooklyn where the boundaries were respected was South Williamsburg aka Orthodox Jew central. There were a few random gentrifiers there, but otherwise the area was completely quiet and kind of creepy. I didn’t have my headphones in so it was extra weird.
Around mile 10 is when everything started hurting. My left hip, left knee felt tight, sore, and didn’t feel right. I messaged my husband and told him to bring me Icy Hot when he was meeting me for the first time at mile 13.5.
Around mile 11 I saw Rob and Kristi. They had meant to surprise me, but when I opened my phone to send my husband the message I saw where he would be waiting. I think Rob was brewing or something, because he showed up with a huge pot and a lid that he was banging together. I kept on trucking even though I was in pain. I thought that I just needed to get to the IcyHot and I’d have a fighting chance at my goal.
Miles 13-15 (14:20 - potty, 12:45, 12:13):
I felt comfortable running through green point because I run there very frequently. Even though I was comforted by my surroundings I was in a lot of pain from my hip.
Right before mile 13 I stopped and stretched because I was in so much pain. That’s also where I stopped to use a restroom because it was the first portapotty without a line. Even though I didn’t really have to go I thought I should use it anyway, so that I wouldn’t need to use a toilet later and have to wait in line. I also used this chance to put in my eyedrops since I was supposed to be on top of that - LASIK 10 days before a marathon might not be the best idea.
I crossed the Pulaski - this is a bridge that I cross on most of my training runs so I knew exactly what to expect. It isn’t really a terrible bridge, but people around me were starting to get tired. At least some people here were starting to give up because there were a lot of walkers. I’m not quite sure if I also walked; maybe a little bit because my hip was in so much pain. One woman asked if it was the last bridge… I chuckled and informed her of the upcoming torture.
When I got off the bridge I saw my husband, who gave me Icy Hot which was absolutely amazing. With no concern for modesty I pulled down my skirt a bit and rubbed it all over my hip. He had brought the Stick, but I didn’t use it because he didn’t have it out. He also gave me a Nuun bottle and more Shot bloks.
As I started running again, the Icy Hot started to burn and I thought to myself, “Wow, I might have burn marks from this.” It just burned for around 30 minutes. After the burn, my hip started feeling slightly better.
Miles 16-19 (13:57, 13:27, 12:32, 13:12):
The Queensboro Bridge was psychologically devastating. With my hip pain I knew that my A goal was completely out the window. And on the Queensboro so many people were walking, sometimes five abreast (which was a bit annoying). On the Queensboro I finally put on headphones and music because I needed the psychological boost. I also stopped and stretched and honestly walked a lot more than I should have.
After I got off the Queensboro I did a real asshole move. I saw the medical tent, and my side boob/arm fat was chafing, so I ran across the course, bumping people, to get to the Vaseline. “MUST. GET. VASELINE.” If someone else had done that I would have thought they were a fucking retarded asshole, but I was the fucking retard asshole there because I really needed the Vaseline.
I kept going. I knew that Z and her parents would be waiting for me at 72nd (mile 16.8), so that kept me going mentally. After I saw them, I kept going at a reasonable pace for another two blocks until they were out of sight, before I slowed down and gave myself a little walk break.
At Mile 17, they handed out wet sponges which felt amazing. But then everyone drops their sponge on the ground, and I was not about to run over thousands of sponges. So I walked through the Land of Sponges for a solid three-four blocks because I didn’t want to trip or slip on a sponge.
At Mile 18, I was supposed to see John from my mileage game, but I didn’t stop and say hi because I was so distracted with the pain and the sponges. I didn’t realize until after I had passed the water station, and I felt terrible, but there was no way I was walking backwards. Only forward progress (and mild stopping for stretching) was allowed.
Then I made a psychological deal with myself that I would jog until I saw my husband at 116th; conveniently it ended up being right near a water station which was pretty congested and slow. Some sticking may have occurred; I’m not quite sure. My hamstrings were so tight at that point that it was hard to maintain any semblance of a normal running stride.
Miles 20-23 (14:20, 13:32, 14:49, 15:34):
After I saw my husband I trucked it to the Bronx. I made myself run/jog/wog/locomote myself at a pace faster than walking to the bridge. On the bridge, I stopped, stretched because my hammies were insanely tight and seizing up. I remember making it to 20 miles on the bridge, or maybe after the bridge, in 4:08. I had expected to hit 20 miles under 4 hours so I was a bit disappointed. The Willis Avenue Bridge into the Bronx was like the bridge of shattered dreams. People were actively stopping to stretch and tearing off their pace bands.
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| The bridge of shattered dreams and torn up pace bands |
The Bronx wasn’t very memorable. There wasn’t much crowd support; more than the Orthodox Jew section of Brooklyn, but just barely. At least they were cheering, unlike the Orthodox Jews that just glared at you. There was supposed to be a Runners United NYC Aid Station there, with bandaids and Halloween candy, but I didn’t see it and didn’t stop. This was pretty much the height of my delirium. I slowly felt my B goal slipping from my grasp, and I was starting to think maybe I should just try to finish under 6 hours and was doing tons of math in my head to figure out what I needed to run to achieve at least that goal. It might have been better that I didn’t stop, because if I had I might have ended up in the medical tent. These miles were the slowest of my race.
After the Bronx I was supposed to see Susan, who I had planned to start with. I never ended up seeing her; she said later she had chased me for 15 blocks on the tracker without seeing me.
I saw my husband at 116th, just after mile 22. He gave me a pep talk, telling me that after I hit mile 23 it was just a 5K after that, which really helped. I walked with him for a while, holding his hand, and then sticked myself really well. He also gave me another Nuun bottle, which helped with my cramps a lot. It was pretty hot, and I’m a really sweaty runner so I was gross by this point. I made him walk with me for a solid two blocks before I continued on.
Miles 24-26.2 (12:56, 12:25, 12:23, 2:42):
My husband's pep talk really helped, and I started picking up the pace. I realized that I’d done countless 5k races before and that’s about all I had left to do. Everyone else was walking, and I was just passing so many people at this point. Because of my hip pain I hadn’t exerted myself cardiovascularly, so I was not bonking in the same way as everyone else. Especially once I got into the park, I just turned on the jets and basically no one passed me, while I was passing tons of people. I was running ~12min miles, once I realized I could make it and beat the sunset, I dropped the hammer (as much as one could reasonably drop a hammer having run 23 miles with hip pain) and went for it. I didn’t really walk in the park except to just eat a shot blok, and did so while ascending a hill. I said hello to the cat, and there was a lady under it who was really confused when I waved to the cat. There’s a cat statue at the top of cat hill. I said “Hi Kitty!” The lady was so confused and thought I was talking to her. Then I pointed to the cat, she turned, saw, and nodded at me.
I made sure around mile 25 to take off my race sunglasses since I didn’t want my race pictures to have me in sunglasses. Hopefully my race pictures will come out OK.
When I turned onto Central Park South, I had confidence I would finish and hit my B goal. Definitely at some points there were severe doubts I could hit my B goal; which I thought was really reasonable and should have had 80% chance of finishing but the time in the Bronx had left me doubtful. Thankfully the pep talk really helped, reframing the end of the race as just a 5k. Suck it up. I saw a sign: Pain is Temporary; Internet Race Results Are Forever. I was thinking about the people on my running forum, and that I had posted my goals to Facebook early in the morning along with the race tracker. I am pretty goal oriented and didn’t want to totally punk out on everyone. If I could have reached my B goal, I would have felt like I accomplished something. If I didn’t reach my B goal I would have felt really defeated, and in the Bronx I really didn’t think I could hit that B goal.
Finally I turned right back into the park and approached the finish line. There was a tiny little hill at the end, which everyone says isn’t going to bother you because you can see the finish line. I had felt that hill before, during the 10 M run, but this time it didn’t matter at all. I blew right past it! I stopped my watch and it said 5:32:11. I had done it and beat sunset. The results online said 5:32:07. I am a marathoner!
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| I am a marathoner, hell yes! |
I took a selfie, got a medal, space blanket, huge bag of shit with a lot of non-vegan stuff, and it was so heavy and I was so tired. I grabbed my poncho at 77 and had to walk down to 72. My husband wanted me to talk to him on the phone but it took too much energy to just hold up the phone. Finally I met with him, put on flip flops, and that was amazing. We had made plans to go to Peacefood Café but I just went straight home and into the shower/bath.
I actually narrated this race report to my husband from the warmth of the epsom salt bath. Oh baby. Minor editing was done on Monday, mostly to tone down the cursing =D
Way too fucking long, didn't read: ran my first marathon, finished meeting my b goal with a time of 5:32:07
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Week 18: The end of training and tapering
This will talk about the last training efforts, Monday through Saturday. The race report will be another post.
Day 120 (October 26): Monday I did 1.2 miles really easy on the treadmill. I didn't want to tax my body too much because I was supposed to be tapering.
Day 121 (October 27): Tuesday I did 4.1 miles easy outside. I ran with Mish in central park and we saw the guys putting up the finish line. Mish is running as a guide for Achilles which I think is super cool!
Day 122 (October 28): I did 3 miles super easy on the treadmill before my 1 week LASIK followup. It turns out that my eyes improved immensely and my vision is perfect. 20/15 left eye, 20/20 right eye
Day 123 (October 29): Rest day! I went to the expo and met up with a lot of people. I impulse bought a super expensive jacket and started to get psyched.
Day 124 (October 30): Rest day! I had Chinese class in the evening which meant I missed the opening ceremony, but that's okay.
Day 125 (October 31): Halloween! I did my 1.2 mile shakeout run with hubby and prepped race stuff. More details to follow in the race report.
Sorry this is so short and sweet, but the week was short and sweet :-)
Day 120 (October 26): Monday I did 1.2 miles really easy on the treadmill. I didn't want to tax my body too much because I was supposed to be tapering.
Day 121 (October 27): Tuesday I did 4.1 miles easy outside. I ran with Mish in central park and we saw the guys putting up the finish line. Mish is running as a guide for Achilles which I think is super cool!
Day 122 (October 28): I did 3 miles super easy on the treadmill before my 1 week LASIK followup. It turns out that my eyes improved immensely and my vision is perfect. 20/15 left eye, 20/20 right eye
Day 123 (October 29): Rest day! I went to the expo and met up with a lot of people. I impulse bought a super expensive jacket and started to get psyched.
Day 124 (October 30): Rest day! I had Chinese class in the evening which meant I missed the opening ceremony, but that's okay.
Day 125 (October 31): Halloween! I did my 1.2 mile shakeout run with hubby and prepped race stuff. More details to follow in the race report.
Sorry this is so short and sweet, but the week was short and sweet :-)
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Week 17: Bring it on Taper Time
After completing my 20 miler and the 13 miler last week, taper time was about to start. So of course I decided to complicate things by getting elective surgery during the week.
Day 113 (October 19): 5.2 miles on the treadmill. Nothing much to say about this, I really should post better workout comments :-) I was just trying to get some mileage in because I know that surgery would probably derail my running.
Day 114 (October 20): Holy crap thinking about LASIK was nerve wracking. I reread all of the documentation like a million times, so I only managed to get 3.2 miles done before surgery. I was so nervous for the surgery and they didn't offer me a Valium. I also didn't get to talk to the surgeon before being in the surgery room. That really wasn't good for me. The pain afterwards was out of this world and I also felt a bit of pain during the procedure itself. When I go to the dentist it always takes extra shots to get me numb. Maybe I don't react well to those meds? I'm pretty sure that I moved my right eye during the procedure and it was just.. ugh. Anyway...
After the surgery I went home and slept and just kinda was in tons of pain and didn't want to open my eyes. This was to be expected.
Day 115 (October 21): I had my followup appointment for LASIK. My eyes still hurt and are very dry and I look like a battered woman with all of the bruising. I have to tutor G and Z after the appointment too, so it was a long day. I took it as a rest day from running even though the doctor said I could run. There was just too much eye pain. As I feared my right eye is not so good. It is only 20/50 at the followup appointment and I'll have to see if it improves. Otherwise I'll be going under the LASER again.
Day 116 (October 22): I ran 6.1 miles on my usual route down to Williamsburg. It was warm out! It was my first post LASIK run. I wore both sunglasses and visor, the sun bothered me a tiny bit. I brought drops and stopped around mile 4 to use them. On the way back I got stuck on Pulaski Bridge because the draw bridge was up. Overall not a bad run, just a bit hot and I was worried about sweat getting into my eyes.
Day 117 (October 23): Friday was a rest day. It was too windy for me to run outside comfortably because my eyes were still really pissed off from the LASIK. I could have run on the TM but it was sunny and I didn't want to wear sunglasses on the treadmill.
Day 118 (October 24): I did my last longish run of training. It was the "Last 10 run" with Nike. It was a clusterfuck at the start because they'd budgeted for 300 runners but something like 700 runners showed up. I wasn't meeting anyone specific at this run. They had bag check which was nice so that I could have a change of clothes and wear warm clothes to the start. It was cool which I really liked. Miles 5 and 6 were slow because I was running without water and really started to feel it at that point. Luckily there was a water stop near the end of mile 6 so then I could speed up. I talked to two really nice girls, Lauren and Erika who are also running the marathon. I was proud of my speed overall and felt really good during the run. I really am a much better cool weather runner. I did drops at miles 4 and 8. I am hopeful that by the marathon my eyes will have healed enough to not need to do drops too many times.
At the finish I bumped into some Runners United folks and it was nice to say hi to them.
Day 119 (October 25): I did 4.1 miles on the treadmill next to hubby. He stopped after 2 miles, but I was glad that he ran. There are lots of thoughts floating through my head related to the marathon.
Week 17 Summary:
Miles: 28.7
Pace: 11:29 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: Close enough
Day 113 (October 19): 5.2 miles on the treadmill. Nothing much to say about this, I really should post better workout comments :-) I was just trying to get some mileage in because I know that surgery would probably derail my running.
Day 114 (October 20): Holy crap thinking about LASIK was nerve wracking. I reread all of the documentation like a million times, so I only managed to get 3.2 miles done before surgery. I was so nervous for the surgery and they didn't offer me a Valium. I also didn't get to talk to the surgeon before being in the surgery room. That really wasn't good for me. The pain afterwards was out of this world and I also felt a bit of pain during the procedure itself. When I go to the dentist it always takes extra shots to get me numb. Maybe I don't react well to those meds? I'm pretty sure that I moved my right eye during the procedure and it was just.. ugh. Anyway...
After the surgery I went home and slept and just kinda was in tons of pain and didn't want to open my eyes. This was to be expected.
Day 115 (October 21): I had my followup appointment for LASIK. My eyes still hurt and are very dry and I look like a battered woman with all of the bruising. I have to tutor G and Z after the appointment too, so it was a long day. I took it as a rest day from running even though the doctor said I could run. There was just too much eye pain. As I feared my right eye is not so good. It is only 20/50 at the followup appointment and I'll have to see if it improves. Otherwise I'll be going under the LASER again.
Day 116 (October 22): I ran 6.1 miles on my usual route down to Williamsburg. It was warm out! It was my first post LASIK run. I wore both sunglasses and visor, the sun bothered me a tiny bit. I brought drops and stopped around mile 4 to use them. On the way back I got stuck on Pulaski Bridge because the draw bridge was up. Overall not a bad run, just a bit hot and I was worried about sweat getting into my eyes.
Day 117 (October 23): Friday was a rest day. It was too windy for me to run outside comfortably because my eyes were still really pissed off from the LASIK. I could have run on the TM but it was sunny and I didn't want to wear sunglasses on the treadmill.
Day 118 (October 24): I did my last longish run of training. It was the "Last 10 run" with Nike. It was a clusterfuck at the start because they'd budgeted for 300 runners but something like 700 runners showed up. I wasn't meeting anyone specific at this run. They had bag check which was nice so that I could have a change of clothes and wear warm clothes to the start. It was cool which I really liked. Miles 5 and 6 were slow because I was running without water and really started to feel it at that point. Luckily there was a water stop near the end of mile 6 so then I could speed up. I talked to two really nice girls, Lauren and Erika who are also running the marathon. I was proud of my speed overall and felt really good during the run. I really am a much better cool weather runner. I did drops at miles 4 and 8. I am hopeful that by the marathon my eyes will have healed enough to not need to do drops too many times.
At the finish I bumped into some Runners United folks and it was nice to say hi to them.
Day 119 (October 25): I did 4.1 miles on the treadmill next to hubby. He stopped after 2 miles, but I was glad that he ran. There are lots of thoughts floating through my head related to the marathon.
Week 17 Summary:
Miles: 28.7
Pace: 11:29 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: Close enough
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Week 16: Peak training week, only a week later than planned
After my week of the niggles, I still wanted to get in a 20 mile long run, if only for the mental reassurance that I could go the distance. I figured that doing the 20 mile long run 2 days later than planned wouldn't be terrible.
Day 106 (October 12): 5.1 miles easy, outdoors. Overall this was a pretty nice run, though I did get increasingly hot as the run went on because of the abundant sunshine. I'm really hoping for cool weather for the marathon because I'm not a very good warm weather runner.
Day 107 (October 13): 20 miles at once is hard! After getting hubby off to work I headed to Central Park. I ran up to the boathouse, where I met with Jess. I ran with Jess from mile 0.8 to about 5 miles into the run. While running with Jess I took a couple of stretch breaks because Jess is just getting back into running after a summer of laziness. I think that she needed the break. She was beating me in races all spring, but I guess a couple months off of training took its toll :P
I ran another small loop of the park before heading to the south east corner of the park to meet Mish. From about miles 8-12 of my run I ran with her. She runs central park very often on her lunch breaks to balance being a mom with marathon training. It was a short run for her, just 4 miles, but she had run a half on Sunday and was doing it at recovery pace. We ran two of the lower loops of the park together. It was really enjoyable to run with her because during long runs I think that a distraction is helpful.
After Mish went back to work, I was all alone (with the hundreds of other runners in central park of course). I probably took too many rest breaks in which I paused my watched and stretched out various body parts and ate shot bloks but I really just wanted to not pressure myself during this run. The route was just silliness, but that's okay. The good thing about central park is there are lots of different routes to run. At around mile 17 I was passed by an entire all boys high school gym class. Normally I would have tried to race them a bit, but I figured that it really wasn't worth it.
Did this contribute meaningfully to my marathon training? I don't know... let's see how I'm feeling in a few days. I certainly learned that I need to be more thorough in my use of body glide. It was a bit warm and humid and I've got the chafing to prove it.
Day 108 (October 14): Rest day is the best day! I figured I should give my legs a break after the 20 mile long run, because long runs are hard.
Day 109 (October 15): I did something a little bit silly on Thursday. I went for a LASIK consultation which involed getting my eyes dilated. That made seeing things a bit tough for the rest of the day. I grabbed lunch with Jess and walked around for a bit. When I got home I cleaned the apartment a bunch and then did 3 miles on the treadmill. I didn't want to run outside with my eyes still dilated. The result of the LASIK consult is that I am a good candidate for LASIK and the doctor says I'll be able to run the day after surgery. Because of this, I'll be getting LASIK on Tuesday the 20th. Yes, I am a bit impulsive...
Day 110 (October 16): I am trying to get Jess back into running, so I convinced her to come to LIC to run with me :-) She came over in the afternoon and I said I wanted to do 4-5 miles, she said "how about 3?" =P So I took her on a route where she could rest for a bit halfway while I ran a bit extra. She will get back into running. I'll have more ability to drag her out once marathon training is done. I wound up with 4.1 miles, I think she wound up with 3 miles.
Day 111 (October 17): 5.1 miles easy outside. I had to get this run done relatively early because my in-laws were coming in for a family birthday lunch. Yay for listening to lots of people speaking rapid fire mandarin. I still haven't let my in-laws know that I'm learning Chinese so they didn't really expect me to speak at all, which was nice.
Day 112 (October 18): On Sunday I did my last long run of marathon training. Through Runners United I met a girl (Tas) who is also training for the marathon. She told me about a group run hosted by the hellgate club which was open for people to join. It was a really chilly morning. I put on tights, a tshirt, a light jacket, and gloves. I also put on my flip belt in case I decided to tie my jacket around my waist. I'd much rather have my phone in my flip belt that bouncing back and forth in my jacket. I facebook chatted with Tas in the morning she seemed to want to skip the run because of the cold weather. I eventually convinced her to come.
However, Tas arrived 15 minutes past the starting time. I waited for her and tried to convince the bag check van to wait for her but they had to set up the water station. She was upset that the van had left, but honestly runners tend to be pretty punctual people so the van didn't budget any extra time for stragglers. That left her running with her backpack on. While I felt bad for her, if she knew she was running late she should have hopped in a cab or left the bag at home. It was still fun running with her. She is relatively new to running, but has run something like 6 full marathons since her first a year ago. I don't think that this serial marathoning bug will hit me. We ran over the Queensboro bridge and up 1st avenue. We missed the water stop because they had broken it down by the time we got there, which was perhaps to be expected because (a) I'm a slower runner and (b) I left over 15 minutes after the main group. It was okay though because there are water fountains at most parks in the city.
At some point we met up with friends of Tas. She lagged behind with her running coach friend while I ran with Katerina. Katerina is someone I'd never met before, but she is an inner city school guidance counselor so we immediately bonded over teacher stuff. It made the miles go by much faster to have someone to talk to about random life topics :-) We got a little lost in the Bronx but made it back to fifth avenue eventually. I don't think that I have to worry about getting lost during the marathon itself =P
Once back in Manhattan we buckled down. I stopped at a water fountain to refill my bottle and we kept on trucking. When we got to the park it was a sign that we were almost done. Of course the perimeter of central park is lined with cobble stones, so we decided to run in the bus lane instead. With headphones out and high visibility clothing on, I wasn't too worried. We ran into the other two girls again, who were now ahead of us because of our little Bronx detour.
Getting into the park itself was interesting. There was some sort of breast cancer walk going on and it was just terrible. There were barricades setup but the walkers didn't care and spread the entire width of the road. Weaving around them was a bit infuriating. Katerina hadn't studied the marathon route and wanted to continue on the main loop, but I remembered that the marathon route and thought we needed to keep heading south. She convinced me I was wrong (I wasn't) so we headed back again where we met with the other two girls again. We eventually made it to the south edge of the park and ran. We didn't run all the way to the finish because we were both above our planned mileage for the day. We hopped on the subway back to Queens and that was the end of my last long run =D Overall I ran 13.2 miles on this run.
Week 16 Summary:
Miles: 50.5
Pace: 11:42 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: Nope, not at all. I was way above planned mileage because I pushed my long run back by two days.
Day 106 (October 12): 5.1 miles easy, outdoors. Overall this was a pretty nice run, though I did get increasingly hot as the run went on because of the abundant sunshine. I'm really hoping for cool weather for the marathon because I'm not a very good warm weather runner.
Day 107 (October 13): 20 miles at once is hard! After getting hubby off to work I headed to Central Park. I ran up to the boathouse, where I met with Jess. I ran with Jess from mile 0.8 to about 5 miles into the run. While running with Jess I took a couple of stretch breaks because Jess is just getting back into running after a summer of laziness. I think that she needed the break. She was beating me in races all spring, but I guess a couple months off of training took its toll :P
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| Jess and I at the boathouse. Note my nerd style glasses -- getting a LASIK consult on Thursday and can't wear contacts. |
I ran another small loop of the park before heading to the south east corner of the park to meet Mish. From about miles 8-12 of my run I ran with her. She runs central park very often on her lunch breaks to balance being a mom with marathon training. It was a short run for her, just 4 miles, but she had run a half on Sunday and was doing it at recovery pace. We ran two of the lower loops of the park together. It was really enjoyable to run with her because during long runs I think that a distraction is helpful.
After Mish went back to work, I was all alone (with the hundreds of other runners in central park of course). I probably took too many rest breaks in which I paused my watched and stretched out various body parts and ate shot bloks but I really just wanted to not pressure myself during this run. The route was just silliness, but that's okay. The good thing about central park is there are lots of different routes to run. At around mile 17 I was passed by an entire all boys high school gym class. Normally I would have tried to race them a bit, but I figured that it really wasn't worth it.
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| Right around where the high school boys passed me. |
Did this contribute meaningfully to my marathon training? I don't know... let's see how I'm feeling in a few days. I certainly learned that I need to be more thorough in my use of body glide. It was a bit warm and humid and I've got the chafing to prove it.
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| Boom! 20 miles done! |
Day 108 (October 14): Rest day is the best day! I figured I should give my legs a break after the 20 mile long run, because long runs are hard.
Day 109 (October 15): I did something a little bit silly on Thursday. I went for a LASIK consultation which involed getting my eyes dilated. That made seeing things a bit tough for the rest of the day. I grabbed lunch with Jess and walked around for a bit. When I got home I cleaned the apartment a bunch and then did 3 miles on the treadmill. I didn't want to run outside with my eyes still dilated. The result of the LASIK consult is that I am a good candidate for LASIK and the doctor says I'll be able to run the day after surgery. Because of this, I'll be getting LASIK on Tuesday the 20th. Yes, I am a bit impulsive...
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| Fuel? Post LASIK consult lunch. |
Day 110 (October 16): I am trying to get Jess back into running, so I convinced her to come to LIC to run with me :-) She came over in the afternoon and I said I wanted to do 4-5 miles, she said "how about 3?" =P So I took her on a route where she could rest for a bit halfway while I ran a bit extra. She will get back into running. I'll have more ability to drag her out once marathon training is done. I wound up with 4.1 miles, I think she wound up with 3 miles.
Day 111 (October 17): 5.1 miles easy outside. I had to get this run done relatively early because my in-laws were coming in for a family birthday lunch. Yay for listening to lots of people speaking rapid fire mandarin. I still haven't let my in-laws know that I'm learning Chinese so they didn't really expect me to speak at all, which was nice.
Day 112 (October 18): On Sunday I did my last long run of marathon training. Through Runners United I met a girl (Tas) who is also training for the marathon. She told me about a group run hosted by the hellgate club which was open for people to join. It was a really chilly morning. I put on tights, a tshirt, a light jacket, and gloves. I also put on my flip belt in case I decided to tie my jacket around my waist. I'd much rather have my phone in my flip belt that bouncing back and forth in my jacket. I facebook chatted with Tas in the morning she seemed to want to skip the run because of the cold weather. I eventually convinced her to come.
However, Tas arrived 15 minutes past the starting time. I waited for her and tried to convince the bag check van to wait for her but they had to set up the water station. She was upset that the van had left, but honestly runners tend to be pretty punctual people so the van didn't budget any extra time for stragglers. That left her running with her backpack on. While I felt bad for her, if she knew she was running late she should have hopped in a cab or left the bag at home. It was still fun running with her. She is relatively new to running, but has run something like 6 full marathons since her first a year ago. I don't think that this serial marathoning bug will hit me. We ran over the Queensboro bridge and up 1st avenue. We missed the water stop because they had broken it down by the time we got there, which was perhaps to be expected because (a) I'm a slower runner and (b) I left over 15 minutes after the main group. It was okay though because there are water fountains at most parks in the city.
At some point we met up with friends of Tas. She lagged behind with her running coach friend while I ran with Katerina. Katerina is someone I'd never met before, but she is an inner city school guidance counselor so we immediately bonded over teacher stuff. It made the miles go by much faster to have someone to talk to about random life topics :-) We got a little lost in the Bronx but made it back to fifth avenue eventually. I don't think that I have to worry about getting lost during the marathon itself =P
Once back in Manhattan we buckled down. I stopped at a water fountain to refill my bottle and we kept on trucking. When we got to the park it was a sign that we were almost done. Of course the perimeter of central park is lined with cobble stones, so we decided to run in the bus lane instead. With headphones out and high visibility clothing on, I wasn't too worried. We ran into the other two girls again, who were now ahead of us because of our little Bronx detour.
Getting into the park itself was interesting. There was some sort of breast cancer walk going on and it was just terrible. There were barricades setup but the walkers didn't care and spread the entire width of the road. Weaving around them was a bit infuriating. Katerina hadn't studied the marathon route and wanted to continue on the main loop, but I remembered that the marathon route and thought we needed to keep heading south. She convinced me I was wrong (I wasn't) so we headed back again where we met with the other two girls again. We eventually made it to the south edge of the park and ran. We didn't run all the way to the finish because we were both above our planned mileage for the day. We hopped on the subway back to Queens and that was the end of my last long run =D Overall I ran 13.2 miles on this run.
Week 16 Summary:
Miles: 50.5
Pace: 11:42 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: Nope, not at all. I was way above planned mileage because I pushed my long run back by two days.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Week 15: and... we've got a case of the niggles!
After PRing the half on Sunday I really thought that week 15 of training would be epic. It was epic in some sense - maybe that of EPIC FAIL. Week 15 was supposed to be my peak week of training, and well, that just didn't happen.
Day 99 (October 5): I've got 99 problems and being pain free ain't one. PRing the half left me sore. Nothing felt injured but everything felt sore. I was so tired, but I was determined to continue my streak. So I churned out an easy peasy 1.4 miles on the treadmill to bring some fresh blood to my tired legs.
Day 100 (October 6): My legs are really still feeling dead at this point. There's no pop to them and I decide to just do what I can. There are 7 miles on the plan and I manage 5.6 miles and call it a day. Maybe I could have pushed more, but so many people I know are injured and it just doesn't seem worth it.
Day 101 (October 7): My legs are still not happy with me, but they are happy enough to run. I go out and do 6.4 miles, in the last mile or so my left knee started feeling strange. It wasn't acute pain, but it just didn't feel right. After my run I showered and headed to work. I walked about 45 minutes in my course of working/going between clients. My legs felt pretty good after my last student, so I decided to bike home using citibike from my last client.
Day 102 (October 8): The niggles. I wake up and literally everything in my body feels bad/tight/sore. Okay maybe not everything, but I have left foot pain, my right hip and lower back feel bad and everything is just not right. I decide that it is time to break my streak and at least take a couple of rest days. I feel like my body is crying out "don't mess with me or I'll give you an overuse injury" and "enough is enough".
Day 103 (October 9): Friday morning things feel a bit better but still off. I'm definitely not feeling 100% so I decide another rest day is required.
Day 104 (October 10): I get fed up with myself for taking too many rest days. I decide to at least churn out a mile on the treadmill if only for my mental sanity. Hubby runs beside me on another treadmill and after a mile I'm done. I felt mostly okay but my right knee felt a bit stiff/sore. At least I did something.
Day 105 (October 11): This was supposed to be my peak long run day of training... I was supposed to get to 20 miles. Instead I did 5.8 miles. I knew going into the run that I wasn't going to do my long run because I want to go into that long run confident and mostly pain free. This was not that day.
Moving forward, where does that leave me? In week 16 I'll try to get my 20 miler done on Tuesday. It is only two fewer days of taper, and hopefully I'll be able to crush the 20 miler and everything will be wonderful.
Week 15 Summary:
Miles: 20.2
Pace: 11:36
Stuck to Plan: Nope, not even in my wildest fantasy dreams could I call that sticking to plan.
Day 99 (October 5): I've got 99 problems and being pain free ain't one. PRing the half left me sore. Nothing felt injured but everything felt sore. I was so tired, but I was determined to continue my streak. So I churned out an easy peasy 1.4 miles on the treadmill to bring some fresh blood to my tired legs.
Day 100 (October 6): My legs are really still feeling dead at this point. There's no pop to them and I decide to just do what I can. There are 7 miles on the plan and I manage 5.6 miles and call it a day. Maybe I could have pushed more, but so many people I know are injured and it just doesn't seem worth it.
Day 101 (October 7): My legs are still not happy with me, but they are happy enough to run. I go out and do 6.4 miles, in the last mile or so my left knee started feeling strange. It wasn't acute pain, but it just didn't feel right. After my run I showered and headed to work. I walked about 45 minutes in my course of working/going between clients. My legs felt pretty good after my last student, so I decided to bike home using citibike from my last client.
Day 102 (October 8): The niggles. I wake up and literally everything in my body feels bad/tight/sore. Okay maybe not everything, but I have left foot pain, my right hip and lower back feel bad and everything is just not right. I decide that it is time to break my streak and at least take a couple of rest days. I feel like my body is crying out "don't mess with me or I'll give you an overuse injury" and "enough is enough".
Day 103 (October 9): Friday morning things feel a bit better but still off. I'm definitely not feeling 100% so I decide another rest day is required.
Day 104 (October 10): I get fed up with myself for taking too many rest days. I decide to at least churn out a mile on the treadmill if only for my mental sanity. Hubby runs beside me on another treadmill and after a mile I'm done. I felt mostly okay but my right knee felt a bit stiff/sore. At least I did something.
Day 105 (October 11): This was supposed to be my peak long run day of training... I was supposed to get to 20 miles. Instead I did 5.8 miles. I knew going into the run that I wasn't going to do my long run because I want to go into that long run confident and mostly pain free. This was not that day.
Moving forward, where does that leave me? In week 16 I'll try to get my 20 miler done on Tuesday. It is only two fewer days of taper, and hopefully I'll be able to crush the 20 miler and everything will be wonderful.
Week 15 Summary:
Miles: 20.2
Pace: 11:36
Stuck to Plan: Nope, not even in my wildest fantasy dreams could I call that sticking to plan.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Week 14: More Miles & a Half Marathon Tuneup Race
Week 14 finally brought some speed to marathon training. Since I knew that I was running a half marathon at the end of the week, I did a few intervals while running on the treadmill to get my legs used to turning over at more than a complete turtle speed. I ran a lower mileage than the previous week. I definitely didn't taper in the true sense of the word, but I used this week as a cutback week.
Day 92 (September 28): Easy day! I did a 1.3 mile streak run on the treadmill along with some recovery yoga. I wanted an active recovery day from the long run on Sunday.
Day 93 (September 29): 7 miles on the treadmill. I kept my speed on the treadmill set at 5.2 miles per hour, but did 6 x .5 miles at 5.5 miles per hour. I think that doing intervals on the treadmill keeps me entertained and makes the workouts much less boring. I've also started hitting the lap button on my watch at the end of every mile. I had just been using my watch as a fancy stopwatch, which is helpful if I hop off of the treadmill or when the damn thing stops on me after an hour.
Day 94 (September 30): 7.5 miles on the treadmill. I make this run easier than the previous one by running at 5.2 miles per hour and then bumping it to 5.3 or 5.4 during the commercial breaks on hulu.
Day 95 (October 1): 6.2 miles outside. I wore my new running clothes to test them out. It was super windy and blustery out and I overdressed a bit for the temperature, but I just shed my top layer after the first mile and felt good to go.
Day 96 (October 2): 4.3 miles on the treadmill - mostly at 5.2 miles per hours with jumps up to 5.7 miles per hour during the commercial breaks. It felt good to move my legs a little faster.
Day 97 (October 3): 1.2 miles on the treadmill, just a very quick streak/shakeout run.
Day 98 (October 4): The big event: Grete's Great Gallop Half Marathon. When I set up my training plan I decided that this would be my main tuneup run and help me get a good idea of my fitness. I have mostly been logging all easy miles during training because I am terrified of injuring myself and not getting to the marathon starting line. That said, I still needed some measurement of my fitness. My half marathon PR going into this race was 2:18:58. This was definitely a tougher course than my marathon PR course, but I thought my fitness was better. I guessed that I was probably in 2:15 shape, so I made a custom pace band for 2:16. I didn't want to risk blowing up during the race or injuring myself.
Before the race I met up with the Runners United group outside of the band shell.
I had facebook chatted with Vince before the race and he agreed to run with me, which was very kind of him because I'm much slower runner than he is :-) I told him my plan was to go out at about a 10:30 pace and see what happened.
Day 92 (September 28): Easy day! I did a 1.3 mile streak run on the treadmill along with some recovery yoga. I wanted an active recovery day from the long run on Sunday.
Day 93 (September 29): 7 miles on the treadmill. I kept my speed on the treadmill set at 5.2 miles per hour, but did 6 x .5 miles at 5.5 miles per hour. I think that doing intervals on the treadmill keeps me entertained and makes the workouts much less boring. I've also started hitting the lap button on my watch at the end of every mile. I had just been using my watch as a fancy stopwatch, which is helpful if I hop off of the treadmill or when the damn thing stops on me after an hour.
Day 94 (September 30): 7.5 miles on the treadmill. I make this run easier than the previous one by running at 5.2 miles per hour and then bumping it to 5.3 or 5.4 during the commercial breaks on hulu.
Day 95 (October 1): 6.2 miles outside. I wore my new running clothes to test them out. It was super windy and blustery out and I overdressed a bit for the temperature, but I just shed my top layer after the first mile and felt good to go.
Day 96 (October 2): 4.3 miles on the treadmill - mostly at 5.2 miles per hours with jumps up to 5.7 miles per hour during the commercial breaks. It felt good to move my legs a little faster.
Day 97 (October 3): 1.2 miles on the treadmill, just a very quick streak/shakeout run.
Day 98 (October 4): The big event: Grete's Great Gallop Half Marathon. When I set up my training plan I decided that this would be my main tuneup run and help me get a good idea of my fitness. I have mostly been logging all easy miles during training because I am terrified of injuring myself and not getting to the marathon starting line. That said, I still needed some measurement of my fitness. My half marathon PR going into this race was 2:18:58. This was definitely a tougher course than my marathon PR course, but I thought my fitness was better. I guessed that I was probably in 2:15 shape, so I made a custom pace band for 2:16. I didn't want to risk blowing up during the race or injuring myself.
Before the race I met up with the Runners United group outside of the band shell.
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| The Runners United Group before the race. |
While I chatted with the Runners United crew I made sure to use my inhaler and eat my first two shot bloks. I had bundled up for the start, and waited until the last minute to take off my outer layers and drop my bag. I hit the nice bathrooms right before the start, jogged an easy half mile or so, and then got to my corral and stood next to the 2:15 pacer so that Vince could find me. The race started and I took off my final stripper layer, one of Ed's old button down work shirts. The 2:15 pacer set out at a fast clip and I decided it wasn't worth it to keep up with him.
The Grete's Gallop course is two loops full loops of the park starting on the west side at 64th street and ending after getting back to the east side on the 72nd street traverse. I hit the first mile marker in 10:34, which according to my watch was at a 10:19 pace at 1.02 miles into the race. That makes sense given the weaving. The second mile included cat hill and I hit mile 2 at 21:05 (10:31) and was settling in nicely and starting to warm up. I took a shot blok here and drank some water. The third mile felt pretty good because I was finally warmed up and not fighting so many hills and I hit the mile marker at 31:14 (10:08). I knew that the dreaded Harlem hill was coming up and I'd slow down substantially but I got to mile 4 at 42:04 (10:50). The really annoying thing about Harlem hill is that it is then followed by some rollers on the west side of the park, so I hit mile 5 at 52:27 (10:23). I took my second shot blok right around the 5 mile mark. After the rollers, however, it is a nice flat/speedy slightly downhill portion. Still, I was shocked when I hit the mile 6 marker at 1:01:35 (9:07) because there's no way that I ran a 9:07 mile. Indeed, looking at my watch later it definitely was placed early. But at least the first loop was done!
Moving onto the second loop, I had to keep in mind that the mile 6 marker was placed early and as a result, I didn't hit the mile 7 marker until 1:12:56 (11:21). It wasn't me running an inconsistent pace, it was NYRR placing the mile markers at the incorrect places! I'm glad that I sort of knew this. I mentioned it to Vince and he agreed that the mile markers were off. During mile 8 I started wearing down a bit and knew that I had to buckle down and focus, I took another shot blok and hit the mile 8 marker at 1:23:18 (10:22). Mile 9 was the nice downhill before the dreaded Harlem Hill for the second time, and we hit the marker at 1:33:17 (9:58). Going up Harlem hill again in mile 10 was just hellish and I slowed down a lot but I didn't walk, we hit the mile 10 marker at 1:44:13 (10:56) and at this point I was pretty certain that I would PR. I had thought that mentally as long as I made it to 10 miles by 1:45 then I had over 33 minutes to run a 5k, which I was confident that I could do. I wanted to take my final shot blok but there wasn't another water station until nearly the mile 11 maker. Vince kept cheering me on and encouraging me to keep it up. In dealing with the west side rollers, tiredness, and looking for the water station my 11th mile was slow and I didn't hit the marker until 1:55:14 (11:01). After mile 11 it was time to drop the hammer and just go for it! I hit the mile 12 marker at 2:04:50 (9:35) and then just had to hold on! I hit mile 13 at 2:15:04 (10:14), and wound up with a final time of 2:16:05. Result: a new PR by over two minutes. This is a 10:24 average pace, and makes McMillan think that I can run a 4:46:xx marathon :-)
I feel really happy with how I performed during this race. I was able to maintain my focus and keep just about the pace that I wanted. I think that overall I negative split. I probably could have run it a minute or two faster, but my ultimate goal for this training cycle is the NYC Marathon. I proved to myself that lots of really easy miles do indeed improve fitness. Doing several runs longer than half marathon distance have also made it much less daunting to get to the half marathon distance.
Now onward to the last week of hard training before taper time.
Week 14 Summary:
Miles: 41.4
Average Pace: 11:04 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: Sure, for the most part. I even squeezed in yoga at least once. ;-)
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Week 13: Grinding away at the training
Week 13 of marathon training has come and gone. The good news is that I achieved a "beer week" in my mileage game and hit the highest mileage week to date. The better news is that I'm still not injured (knock on wood!).
Day 85 (September 21): Rest day! After my 18.6 miles on Sunday I was crazy tired and really couldn't motivate myself to do anything. It seems that the day after my long run is when I experience the most tiredness and hunger and general "meh"ness.
Day 86 (September 22): 7 miles in the great outdoors. I ran down to Williamsburg and back. I felt reasonably good for the first few miles but started to slow down in mile 6. I think that I need to get my runs done when it is less hot/sunny out. I felt so crappy after this run that I actually made a doctor's appointment to make sure that everything is okay with my body. I wanted to get some basic blood work done to make sure that I'm not iron deficient or anemic because I follow a mostly vegan diet and don't really use supplements in the way that I probably should. The doctor also did a EKG and everything was a-okay on that front. I've never had any cardiac issues before so I wasn't expecting any problems. I guess his approach is "better safe than sorry".
Day 87 (September 23): 10 mile "hill" run in which I ran from my apartment, over the Williamsburg bridge into Manhattan and back. My GPS always goes wacky on the Williamsburg bridge which frustrates me a bit. I guess I need to get used to it because I'm sure that my GPS will crap out on the Queensboro bridge as well. I need to get into the habit of manually hitting the lap button at each mile so that I can have somewhat accurate splits. The last mile of this run was really not very pleasant.
Day 88 (September 24): Back to the trusty treadmill for 7.2 miles. Honestly I used to hate running on the treadmill with a passion, but it has grown on me over the course of marathon training. I think that the ability to zone out and not worry about the climate, the need for potty breaks, and the danger of cars is kind of nice. The treadmill also pounds my fragile joints a bit less than the pavement and potholes that come along with running in NYC.
Day 89 (September 25): 2 mile streak run in my new Saucony Kinvara 5s. These shoes felt really nice and I wore them without my inserts. They are so much less klunky than the Ride 6s but I think that I'll probably still stick with the Ride 6s for the marathon because I've trained more in them and I am used to them by now.
Day 90 (September 26): 7 miles on the treadmill. I put off getting out for my run for too long because I was really exhausted and kind of grumpy in the morning. Ed had his friend over in the evening, so running on the treadmill allowed me to escape the boy nerdery.
Day 91 (September 27): Long run! Outdoors in the oh so wonderful Central Park. Ed dropped me off at the subway with the dog who seemed confused that I was the one leaving her at the station :-) I made it to the park around 10am and went for my run. The weather was beautiful and I was motivated by all of the other runners in the park. I saw many people running back from the Bronx 10 mile race and it was just a very enjoyable run. I listened to This American Life, a Runner's Connect Podcast, a Running Academy podcast, and some music. I did 14.8 miles and then Ed met me at one of my favorite vegan restaurants with a change of clothes :-) I got to eat some of my favorite vegan foods and then get the weekly Trader Joe's shopping trip out of the way.
Also, I realized I really should take some more pictures during my training. I see a lot of cool things on my run and usually have my phone on me, so I resolve to take some more pictures.
There are only two more weeks of hard training left until taper time. I'm starting to get really anxious about all of this!
Week 13 Summary:
Miles: 48
Pace: 11:37 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: For the most part, yes :-) My long run could have been longer but I'm trying to listen to my body and not overdo it. My primary goal is to get to the start (and finish) healthy!
Day 85 (September 21): Rest day! After my 18.6 miles on Sunday I was crazy tired and really couldn't motivate myself to do anything. It seems that the day after my long run is when I experience the most tiredness and hunger and general "meh"ness.
Day 86 (September 22): 7 miles in the great outdoors. I ran down to Williamsburg and back. I felt reasonably good for the first few miles but started to slow down in mile 6. I think that I need to get my runs done when it is less hot/sunny out. I felt so crappy after this run that I actually made a doctor's appointment to make sure that everything is okay with my body. I wanted to get some basic blood work done to make sure that I'm not iron deficient or anemic because I follow a mostly vegan diet and don't really use supplements in the way that I probably should. The doctor also did a EKG and everything was a-okay on that front. I've never had any cardiac issues before so I wasn't expecting any problems. I guess his approach is "better safe than sorry".
Day 87 (September 23): 10 mile "hill" run in which I ran from my apartment, over the Williamsburg bridge into Manhattan and back. My GPS always goes wacky on the Williamsburg bridge which frustrates me a bit. I guess I need to get used to it because I'm sure that my GPS will crap out on the Queensboro bridge as well. I need to get into the habit of manually hitting the lap button at each mile so that I can have somewhat accurate splits. The last mile of this run was really not very pleasant.
Day 88 (September 24): Back to the trusty treadmill for 7.2 miles. Honestly I used to hate running on the treadmill with a passion, but it has grown on me over the course of marathon training. I think that the ability to zone out and not worry about the climate, the need for potty breaks, and the danger of cars is kind of nice. The treadmill also pounds my fragile joints a bit less than the pavement and potholes that come along with running in NYC.
Day 89 (September 25): 2 mile streak run in my new Saucony Kinvara 5s. These shoes felt really nice and I wore them without my inserts. They are so much less klunky than the Ride 6s but I think that I'll probably still stick with the Ride 6s for the marathon because I've trained more in them and I am used to them by now.
Day 90 (September 26): 7 miles on the treadmill. I put off getting out for my run for too long because I was really exhausted and kind of grumpy in the morning. Ed had his friend over in the evening, so running on the treadmill allowed me to escape the boy nerdery.
Day 91 (September 27): Long run! Outdoors in the oh so wonderful Central Park. Ed dropped me off at the subway with the dog who seemed confused that I was the one leaving her at the station :-) I made it to the park around 10am and went for my run. The weather was beautiful and I was motivated by all of the other runners in the park. I saw many people running back from the Bronx 10 mile race and it was just a very enjoyable run. I listened to This American Life, a Runner's Connect Podcast, a Running Academy podcast, and some music. I did 14.8 miles and then Ed met me at one of my favorite vegan restaurants with a change of clothes :-) I got to eat some of my favorite vegan foods and then get the weekly Trader Joe's shopping trip out of the way.
Also, I realized I really should take some more pictures during my training. I see a lot of cool things on my run and usually have my phone on me, so I resolve to take some more pictures.
There are only two more weeks of hard training left until taper time. I'm starting to get really anxious about all of this!
Week 13 Summary:
Miles: 48
Pace: 11:37 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: For the most part, yes :-) My long run could have been longer but I'm trying to listen to my body and not overdo it. My primary goal is to get to the start (and finish) healthy!
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Weeks 11 & 12: Update your blog... but I am le tired
I think that this will be my shortest update of all time... because I am le tired ;-)
Anyway, week 11 was about me getting back on track, which I did for the most part.
Day 71 (September 7): The 7th was labor day. I did a nice easy streak run outdoors with the hubby. He always runs at easy pace so this worked out well.
Day 72 (September 8): 5 miles on the treadmill - avoiding the heat and humidity because I am a wimp. Also streaming things on hulu has made the treadmill much more bearable.
Day 73 (September 9): 9 miles on the treadmill - wimp mode again
Day 74 (September 10): 6.6 miles on the treadmill -- are you noticing a pattern here?
Day 75 (September 11): Super short streak run outdoors!
Day 76 (September 12): Hubby wanted to play frisbee with friends in Prospect Park and I needed to get my long run done. So I ran from my apartment to Prospect Park and then did three loops of it. I did a total of 17.3 miles at a decent pace given the super swampy humidity. Hubby brought me a clean pair of clothes in his bag which was 1000% necessary given the swampy conditions.
Day 77 (September 13): Mmmm... Sunday bagel days are the best. I ran to and from the bagel place again because... bagels. This time I opted for a mini bagel which is more like a normal sized bagel any place else in the world.
Week 11 Summary:
Miles: 46.6
Pace: 11:51 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: Close enough for government work? ;-)
Week 12 started out pretty well but I wound up ending my running streak and taking a rest day... because I was le tired ;-)
Day 78 (September 14): Easy as pie streak run.
Day 79 (September 15): 7.2 miles, out to Roosevelt Island and back.
Day 80 (September 16): 6.2 miles while the dog was getting groomed. This run was a terrible awful idea because it was really hot out. My dog was getting groomed at noon and so I had some time to kill. I decided to build in my run during this time and it was just awful. 84 degrees and sunny is not ideal running weather.
Day 81 (September 17): That run in the heat (and carrying my dog around the city) really took it out of me. I took an unscheduled rest day because I didn't really want to mess around with my back, my joints, etc. Honestly I was just so completely bummy this day. Sometimes I guess it just happens.
Day 82 (September 18): 5 miles on the treadmill because there was an air quality alert. To stay on plan I should have done more but I was feeling run down.
Day 83 (September 19): I woke up in the morning with my sinuses completely clogged. I felt like I was getting sick so I drank so emergen c and took Claritin. I decided to shorten my run because I wanted to make sure I'd be successful on my long run. I did 3 miles easy on the treadmill.
Day 84 (September 20): The 18 mile tuneup! The 18 mile race was tough on me. The course is three counter clockwise loops of central park starting near 102nd street. Going up both Harlem Hill and Cat Hill 3 times was brutal. When I got to the race the portapotty lines were insane, so I wound up starting the race late. It is chip timed so it really doesn't matter when you pass through the start as long as it is still up. The starts are generally left up for about 20 minutes during NYRR races. The leader of the race passed me when I was at about mile 3.5 - he was at mile 9.5 at that point. Granted I didn't pass the start line until 13 minutes after the gun, but still NYRR racers are really fast! I wound up running 18.6 miles because of urgent potty problems which required me to run to the bathrooms near the start of the course after I'd completed the first loop (which was probably .1-.2 miles away from the actual course route). After completing my second loop, I started getting stomach/side cramps around mile 12.5 which lasted until mile 17. Kristin caught up to me around mile 14 or so and we chatted for a bit before she stopped to use the portapotty. I kept on trucking because I think if I'd stopped at that point I'd have DNFed. I saw her again at the finish and we hung out as we relaxed and ate our bagels. Overall it was a hard long run, but I made it through it. I'm hopeful that I won't have such issues during the marathon itself because the start (for my wave) is so late that I should have dealt with all of the potty business beforehand.
After the tuneup I relaxed in the park for a bit before heading home. I wasn't too sore after the race. I was tired but couldn't sleep sadly :-(
Week 12 Summary:
Miles: 41
Pace: 11:57 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: Nope, but I was successful during my long run. Some minor joint issues and feeling a bit ill/rundown threw me off of the plan.
Anyway, week 11 was about me getting back on track, which I did for the most part.
Day 71 (September 7): The 7th was labor day. I did a nice easy streak run outdoors with the hubby. He always runs at easy pace so this worked out well.
Day 72 (September 8): 5 miles on the treadmill - avoiding the heat and humidity because I am a wimp. Also streaming things on hulu has made the treadmill much more bearable.
Day 73 (September 9): 9 miles on the treadmill - wimp mode again
Day 74 (September 10): 6.6 miles on the treadmill -- are you noticing a pattern here?
Day 75 (September 11): Super short streak run outdoors!
Day 76 (September 12): Hubby wanted to play frisbee with friends in Prospect Park and I needed to get my long run done. So I ran from my apartment to Prospect Park and then did three loops of it. I did a total of 17.3 miles at a decent pace given the super swampy humidity. Hubby brought me a clean pair of clothes in his bag which was 1000% necessary given the swampy conditions.
Day 77 (September 13): Mmmm... Sunday bagel days are the best. I ran to and from the bagel place again because... bagels. This time I opted for a mini bagel which is more like a normal sized bagel any place else in the world.
Week 11 Summary:
Miles: 46.6
Pace: 11:51 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: Close enough for government work? ;-)
Week 12 started out pretty well but I wound up ending my running streak and taking a rest day... because I was le tired ;-)
Day 78 (September 14): Easy as pie streak run.
Day 79 (September 15): 7.2 miles, out to Roosevelt Island and back.
Day 80 (September 16): 6.2 miles while the dog was getting groomed. This run was a terrible awful idea because it was really hot out. My dog was getting groomed at noon and so I had some time to kill. I decided to build in my run during this time and it was just awful. 84 degrees and sunny is not ideal running weather.
Day 81 (September 17): That run in the heat (and carrying my dog around the city) really took it out of me. I took an unscheduled rest day because I didn't really want to mess around with my back, my joints, etc. Honestly I was just so completely bummy this day. Sometimes I guess it just happens.
Day 82 (September 18): 5 miles on the treadmill because there was an air quality alert. To stay on plan I should have done more but I was feeling run down.
Day 83 (September 19): I woke up in the morning with my sinuses completely clogged. I felt like I was getting sick so I drank so emergen c and took Claritin. I decided to shorten my run because I wanted to make sure I'd be successful on my long run. I did 3 miles easy on the treadmill.
Day 84 (September 20): The 18 mile tuneup! The 18 mile race was tough on me. The course is three counter clockwise loops of central park starting near 102nd street. Going up both Harlem Hill and Cat Hill 3 times was brutal. When I got to the race the portapotty lines were insane, so I wound up starting the race late. It is chip timed so it really doesn't matter when you pass through the start as long as it is still up. The starts are generally left up for about 20 minutes during NYRR races. The leader of the race passed me when I was at about mile 3.5 - he was at mile 9.5 at that point. Granted I didn't pass the start line until 13 minutes after the gun, but still NYRR racers are really fast! I wound up running 18.6 miles because of urgent potty problems which required me to run to the bathrooms near the start of the course after I'd completed the first loop (which was probably .1-.2 miles away from the actual course route). After completing my second loop, I started getting stomach/side cramps around mile 12.5 which lasted until mile 17. Kristin caught up to me around mile 14 or so and we chatted for a bit before she stopped to use the portapotty. I kept on trucking because I think if I'd stopped at that point I'd have DNFed. I saw her again at the finish and we hung out as we relaxed and ate our bagels. Overall it was a hard long run, but I made it through it. I'm hopeful that I won't have such issues during the marathon itself because the start (for my wave) is so late that I should have dealt with all of the potty business beforehand.
After the tuneup I relaxed in the park for a bit before heading home. I wasn't too sore after the race. I was tired but couldn't sleep sadly :-(
 |
| With Kristin after the tuneup |
Week 12 Summary:
Miles: 41
Pace: 11:57 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: Nope, but I was successful during my long run. Some minor joint issues and feeling a bit ill/rundown threw me off of the plan.
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