Days 27 & 28: Home sweet home!

On Saturday I did a 6.2 mile run at a decent pace.  It was nice to be back in NYC where I am used to my running routes.  Near the end of it I stopped by a playground with a mister and oh baby was in amazing :-)  I was a little bit tired from the flight but nothing too serious.

Hello Mister :-)

Today I went out for my 13 mile long run at 6 am.  I felt pretty good in the AM, I ate some grapes and had my usual two cups of coffee with almond milk.  I felt ready to go, but it was a really tough run and I only got to 12.7 miles.  I'd gone over by a total of .3 miles this week so I still go to my weekly mileage.  The run started out okay and I went out at an easy pace.  Around mile 3 I stopped to refill my water but the fountain wouldn't work.  I stood there an stretched for a minute while I contemplated where to get water.  Someone walked over and the fountain worked for them -- then I realized that for some reason this water fountain had a functional button and a broken one.  I'd tried to use the broken one. 

I continued on my run but the Williamsburg bridge was a challenge.  I started feeling numbness in my right foot so I stopped and did some back stretches and loosened my shoe.  I sometimes get a bit of sciatica because of a herniated disc in my lumbar spine, but my spine doctor says if I can tolerate the pain I can run through it.  The stretching (and/or shoe loosening) alleviated the pain/numbness.  I generally experience the symptoms the worst while running uphill for some reason.  

My view while stretching out my terrible back.

From the Williamsburg bridge I continued over to the east river park and bike/running trail.  East river park is much nicer than I remember from biking near there years ago.

At east river park, with the queensboro bridge in the background.

I ran uptown to the queensboro bridge and was generally maintaining a decent pace.  At some point I lost my sunglasses which made me sad.  Starting around mile 9 I was feeling the need to take walk breaks - it was heating up and I just wasn't feeling great.  I made it over the queensboro bridge and stopped at queensbridge park to use the rest room and refill my bottles.  I was feeling very nauseated at this point and my abdominal muscles were spazzing out on me.  I called DH and told him to meet me with our dog.  He met me at mile 12.5 and honestly I walked those last .2 miles home.  

When I got home, I very briefly foam rolled and then collapsed in the shower.  DH gave me a banana with orders to eat while in the shower.  I took a bite to humor him.  The few hours after the run I still felt pretty crappy but continued to eat/rehydrate.  Now that it is the evening I am feeling mostly recovered, but my legs are more sore than I can remember them feeling in recent history.  I'm very thankful that tomorrow is a rest day.

I think I learned an important lesson: for summer runs bring more electrolytes and/or fuel for long runs.  I generally train with only water for my long runs during half training, but I don't run as far or in as much heat.  I'll also not go out to dinner and have half of a bottle of wine next weekend right before my long run.  The transatlantic flight from Paris may have meant that my body was still a bit wacky.

Week 4 Summary:
Miles: 39
Pace: 12:24 min/mile, mostly so slow because of all of the walking during my LR
Stayed on Plan: For the most part, yes, but I really do need to do my core work and strength training for the sake of my back.

Days 16-26: Marathon Training in France

This is just going to be a large summary post because honestly the combination of marathon training + doing touristy things meant that I didn't have very much energy to aggregate my thoughts during the trip.

Day 16 (July 14): We arrived in Paris around 11am Paris time.  After a transatlantic flight it felt like a rest day was in order.  We walked to see the Notre Dame and walked around the Latin Quarter.  In the evening DH and I went to the Champ de Mars to watch the Bastille Day fireworks were absolutely amazing.

Bastille day fireworks - they literally shoot them out of the Eiffel Tower as well :-)

Day 17 (July 15):  My first run in Paris!  It was pretty hot outside by the time I managed to get outdoors and start my run - lucky me - I went to Paris during a rare summer heat wave. I was trying to find my way along the Seine and wound up getting blocked by a big shipyard that blocked the south bank of the Seine near where we were staying.  I had spotted a public toilet the day prior near the Notre Dame (about 3ish miles from the apartment we stayed at) but it was closed when I ran.  I ran 7.4 miles on this day, which was above my planned 7, but such is what happens when you get a bit lost in Paris.

Mmmmm sexy sweat.  Notice the lovely Eiffel Tower in the background.

Day 18 (July 16): Another hot day!  6.3 miles which included running from my apartment and to and around the Tullerie gardens.  It was quite beautiful, but again I had issues with finding an open (and free) bathroom.  Normally I don't feel the need to use the bathroom during my shorter weekday runs, but travelling meant different eating habits than I usually have in NYC.

The Louvre in the background. I need to master the art of the during run selfie.

Mmmm.... water. These wonderful water stations were located all around the river.

Day 19 (July 17):  Cross training - DH and I went to Versailles and walked so much!  My step count for the day was 34,257 steps, which according to my watch is the equivalent of 13.3 miles of walking.  We were going to rent bikes but failed on the front.

Day 20 (July 18): 5.1 mile run with DH.  I took him to the Tullerie gardens because they are beautiful.  He took a break in the gardens while I ran around them.

Action shot in the gardens, taken by DH.

Day 21 (July 19): 7.5 miles which included going around the Champ de Mars.  This was a pretty enjoyable run :-)

Week 3 Summary:
Miles: 31.3
Pace: 12:15 min/mile
Stayed on Plan: I completely failed to do any core work or strength training in France, but I did get my planned mileage done with some days swapped around.


Day 22 (July 20): Unscheduled rest day.  DH and I traveled to Strasbourg and were unable to check into our hotel early in the morning.  By the time we checked into the hotel it was really hot, the fitness center at the gym was not air-conditioned and had a single treadmill.

Day 23 (July 21): 6 miles - 2 in the AM in hot, hard to breathe Strasbourg, 4 in the PM in the park near the Eiffel Tower.  DH hung out and picnicked while I ran, and then I joined him afterwards.  Yay for 11pm dinners.

Day 24 (July 22): Cross training!  DH and I did a 40km bike tour of the Loire Valley and visited a couple of really beautiful Chateaus.

In the Loire Valley

Day 25 (July 23): 8 miles in the morning!  This was a pretty difficult run and my GPS signal kept dropping out :-(

Day 26 (July 24): Last day in Paris - I did a 6.2 mile run in the morning running laps of the Champ de Mars.  I rolled my ankle about 1 mile into the run (ouch!) but I managed to finish the run.  Our flight from Paris left at 4:30pm so we got lunch before we flew out.

General notes on training while traveling:  I think that being flexible but committed to meeting my mileage goals was key.  I definitely swapped days around and was a bit fuzzy with hitting the exact mileage, but I at least made my weekly mileage meet the goal total.  Eating strange foods and drinking alcohol almost everyday probably made training a bit harder on me because I certainly wasn't getting optimal nutrition, but I did try to eat reasonably other than the whole dessert with almost every meal plan that I seemed to follow.  I didn't count or log calories because I don't have international data on my phone and getting to MFP to estimate calories while eating didn't seem worthy of my time.  I am glad to be home and back to my normal routes but I am definitely still acclimating to running in the heat.  We also had a washing machine in the apartment that we rented, which meant that we could travel with carryon only for a 10 day trip including all of my running clothes.

Day 15: 5 on the treadmill and packing mania

Today we left the Hamptons at the buttcrack of dawn to get home and pack for Paris.  After a quick nap hubby and I managed to pack everything we need (or so I hope).  I ran 5 miles on the treadmill because it was hot outside while hubby booked some last minute trip things.

We rented an apartment for the time we're in Paris so that we can do laundry and I can eat reasonably during training.  I'm sure that we'll still eat out a bunch, but having the option to cook is always important on vacation :-)

We are heading out the door to JFK now, and tomorrow is a scheduled rest day.  I should be partying hard for Bastille day tomorrow!

Day 14: 5 miles and 5 hours of dancing

Today it was super hot in the morning.  I even ran on the shady side of the street which I usually avoid because it means running literally next to the housing projects and that can be a bit scary.  I didn't actually quite get to 5 miles -- I did 4.8 because of the overage from yesterday's long run.  I got the run done at a decent pace considering my tiredness from the day before.

After the run it was scrub down the apartment like a maniac mode because my mother was coming to dog sit Lily while hubby and I attended April's wedding.  We got everything cleaned up pretty nicely and took her out to brunch before the long drive out to the Hamptons.

There was a bit of traffic on the drive but not too much.  The wedding was great and it was nice to see all of my college buddies.  I dressed relatively conservatively, rewearing the dress I wore as a bridesmaid in my sister's wedding.  I have one super sexy dress that I sometimes wear to weddings, and hubby was cheering for it, but I just felt too bloated to wear that one.

Hubby and me, I think that we clean up pretty well :-)

I didn't quite get to 5 hours of dancing because I was tired from all of the running, but I was still rather social.  The wedding was followed by a bonfire on the beach which was super cool.  Walking around in the sand was really soothing to my feet and legs.  Maybe weekly beach days will become a part of post-Paris marathon training.

Week 2 Summary:
Miles: 36
Pace: 11:58 min/mile (a lot faster than last week, probably because of the air conditioned treadmill running)
Stayed on Plan: Yes, for the most part.  I still need to get more consistent with the strength/core work part of my plan.

Days 12 & 13: Cross training and 12.2 miles

On Friday I had my cross training day.  I was originally going to sign up for a spin package at the local studio, but decided to wait until after vacation for two reasons: 1. We get our rent increase offer (notice I don't call it lease renewal - they always jack up our rent) soon and if we decide to move that would happen the last weekend in September and 2. It is time limited so I don't want to sign up and then not use the classes for two weeks.  That left me with some elliptical for cross training and then taking a citibike ride down to Google on after Chinese class instead of lazily hopping on the subway.  I chipotled it up for Friday night dinner and it was yummy =D  (Yeah I just turned Chipotle into a verb...)

On Saturday morning, I realized that Chipotle is not the best night before long run meal.  Take home message: I will not be eating Chipotle the night before the marathon.  I switched my long run to Saturday this week from Sunday because I figured it was best not to do my long run the day I'm attending an evening wedding.  I really wanted to do the Nike Run Club "Run with Hart" which was a "5k" with Kevin Hart in Prospect Park.  My solution: run to Prostpect Park (~7 miles), run a bit around the park, and then do the 5k.  Part of the solution was also convincing hubby to bring me a change of clothes because I'm a very "swampy" runner.  He was happy to join me in the 5k fun run.  

Before the organized run, but post 8.3 miles :-)

The 5k was a really wonderful experience.  It was completely free, other than needing to create a (free) Nike Run Club account and signing up in advance.  It included free bag check, participation shirt, free pictures, and post race goodies.  It was noncompetitive, but there were pacers (really more like cheerleaders) to encourage us.  

Hubby and I during the run, the only picture I have of me "running" because I refuse to pay for race photos

The run was really amusing because I looked like death (well not really) at the race start since I'd already run 8.3 miles prior to the start.  By mile 1 the "cheerleaders" were saying "you look great, keep it up" probably because they couldn't fathom how someone could be so sweaty and nasty after just one mile :-)  The "5k" was actually 3.9 miles, so I'm glad it wasn't a timed event.  The group run really made me push hard at the finish of my long run, which lets me know that I can actually do "fast finish" long runs physically, but I just need encouragement.

The best feature: fresh towels post run to wipe all of the nasty sweat off of me.

Is that a wonderful post run towel and pop-sickle?  By golly, I think it is.

Also free: hippy juice.

After the organized run, I changed into my post run clothes - which was hard because portapotties in the summer = hell no, and I couldn't find real bathrooms.  So I took off my swampy shirt, put on my fresh shirt, took off swampy bra, and shimmied into a fresh bra behind a tree, but with a guy doing yoga totally watching me.  My swampy shorts were mostly dry and I didn't have a changing in public out of shorts while wearing no panties trick, so I swapped them out before I got a pedicure in the place's bathroom.  I baby wiped myself and headed into Manhattan to do girly shit: eyebrows and a pedicure.  I felt a little bad for the beauty technicians doing the girly stuff to me, but not bad enough to go home and shower first.  I didn't want to add an hour to my day to shower before doing girly stuff.  As always the pedicurist looked at me like I had three heads when she saw the state of my feet and when I told her that I'd like to keep my hard earned foot calluses ;-)

Now I have pretty toes and am ready to party hard at April's wedding tomorrow.

On tap for tomorrow: 5 miles of running and 5 hours of dancing!

Day 11: 8 miles in the mist

I had a very nice 8 mile run in the morning mist.  It was the first day this week that was suitable to running outside.  Honestly I probably could have run outdoors on Tuesday and Wednesday but I'm really not the best at dealing with the heat and humidity.  The next couple of weeks while travelling in Paris the treadmill will not be an option so I should get used to manning up and dealing with the heat rather than defaulting to the treadmill when it gets hot.

Since I've only recently switched to completely brace free running, I've found that the treadmill is much easier on my ankle than the roads.  A mix of treadmill and roads will probably keep my body in the least amount of ankle pain while still being relatively acclimated to the outdoors.  I listened to some more this american life this morning and then switched to music when I finished the podcast.

The park where I'd intended to top off my water was still locked when I passed it.  The benefit of living in a major city is that the next park was less than a mile away.

On tap for tomorrow: Cross training

Day 10: The Treadmill, my new BFF

Well today is yet another hot and muggy day.  Rather than face the elements outside I punked out and ran on the treadmill yet again today.  I wrote out a routine that would keep me changing up the pace every few minutes because otherwise I just get too bored to continue.  My very well thought out routine is below:

Today's plan to get me to 6 miles

The first mile or two were the hardest mentally but then I sort of got in the zone.  I was watching/listening to the biggest loser on Hulu.  I think the biggest loser is completely unrealistic and gives obese people a terrible model for how to be healthy and lose weight, but every so often they have shots of 300+ lb people huffing on the TM and when I see that it makes me stick with it.  If someone who weighs 300+ lbs doesn't quit on the treadmill, neither should I.  There's no reason that I have to be a quitter if they can tough it out.  

The last two miles however really sucked.  I wasn't actually tired during those last two miles, rather a woman who had taken a French bath took up residence next to me.  Honestly, there are 5 treadmills, all in working order, why do you have to go on the one next to me?  I wish that men and women would all get the damn message that you aren't at the gym to smell pretty and that excessive perfume and/or cologne just isn't necessary or welcome.  Next time an overly odored person gets next to me I think I'll ask them to move or just start blowing snot rockets at them.  ;-)  Perfumes are both a migraine and asthma trigger for me and honestly you are an INCONSIDERATE BITCH if you wear them to the gym.  People also wear them to races... just say NO and embrace the BO.

Post workout selfie (after I'd toweled off several times):

Bringing sexy back. Hell yes for my 5head!

On tap for tomorrow: 8 miles, hopefully outdoors.

Days 8 & 9: Rest Day and a date with the dreadmill

The trip back from the Catskills yesterday was pretty enjoyable - we got stuck in traffic on the Thruway but faced almost zero city traffic thanks to waze.  I've decided to mostly switch my rest days to Monday because I think that there's a spin class that is convenient on Fridays.  I'd like to take spin classes because I think that they will be more motivating than just using the stationary bike alone.

On Monday morning I did the weekly trek out to Trader Joe's for reasonably priced groceries.  I went for a short swim in the pool to loosen up my muscles.  I swam 500 yards in 9:51 and then waded around and floated my my back for a bit.  I think that swimming up to 1500 yards on a given day is fine and doesn't interfere with my body thinking of it as a "rest" day.  Then I picked up my dog (Lily) from my mom, she had puppy custody while I was in the Catskills because I was afraid of having her in an unfenced property on the fourth of July.  Lily is absolutely terrified of fireworks and more dogs go missing on the fourth of July than any other day of the year.  I am glad to have my fur baby back :-)

Today was quite muggy so I got my 5 done on the treadmill.  I wrote a workout that I kept up with for the first 30 minutes before realizing that my body just didn't want to run any faster.  My main goal is to hit my mileage without injury, so I improvised for the rest of the workout to get to 5 miles.  I really wish that I'd snapped a picture to show just how swampy I get just from running on the treadmill in the air conditioning.

I've started reading A Race Like No Other by Liz Robbins to keep the inspiration level as high as the perspiration level ;-)

Day 7: 10 Miles and Week 1 Summary

I'm getting a bit behind on blogging my progress ...

On Sunday July 5th I did my first long run of marathon training - 10 miles.  Ten miles is a bit intimidating to me but not terribly so.  I've run the 10 mile distance more than 20 times since I've started running.  I wasn't afraid of being able to complete the distance, but I was a bit afraid of running in the Catskills - the elevation and hills are both things to which I am not accustomed.  

After I woke up, I took my miracle pill - Claritin D and waited for it to work its magic.  The pollen in the Catskills was way more intense than that in NYC.  I had a mini breakfast (half a bagel with almond butter) and went back to my room to download some podcasts.  That took incredibly long until I went back to the main building where the wifi was better.  I listened to two this american life podcasts: Captains Log and Abdi and the Golden Ticket.  I highly recommend the second of these podcasts.  

I decided to do an out and back route because the internet at the place we were staying was so terrible that I couldn't map a route.  I'm very thankful to my GPS watch because I can just run out for 5 miles and turn around without any pre-planning.  Since I didn't map out my route, I had no idea of parks or bathrooms along the way.

The route started with a large climb, which made me go super slowly.  I drank to thirst and was about halfway through my bottle at the 2 mile mark.  I spied a park across the street and found a water source, nothing fancy like a water fountain, just a faucet akin to what you'd put a hose onto.  I turned and thankfully it worked.  I topped off my bottle with water and continued on my way.  The route was quite scenic - I passed a couple of waterfalls and enjoyed the view.  At 5 miles I turned around.  Unfortunately I hadn't passed anymore water sources (other than streams) along the way.  I knew that I'd get water again at the 8 mile mark (yay for route symmetry).  Unfortunately, I'd almost completely finished my bottle by mile 6, so miles 6 and 7 were very slow going.  At mile 8 I refilled my water and sat by the lake for a minute or two just to take in the sights.  I don't usually get to run in such beautiful terrain.

Unfortunately, re-hydrating made the PM want to visit so I didn't enjoy the lake view for very long.  I ran the last two miles back to the hotel quite quickly.  In fact, the last mile of my long run was my fastest mile of the run ;-)  

Week 1 Summary:

Miles: 33

Pace: 12:32/mile (woo hoo penguin speed)

Stayed on Plan: Mostly - didn't get my MLR done but made up the missing mileage on my rest day.  I did my core and strength work Monday-Wednesday but fell off later in the week due to soreness and travel.

Days 5 & 6: A 5K and 5 miles

On Friday I organized a 5k for a group of friends.  We are having a huge group vacation in the Catskills organized by our good friend Adam who does this convention every summer.  It was a really enjoyable experience (for me) and a moderately enjoyable experience (for the participants).  When I measured the route on Thursday I did so by sticking my hand out the window with my GPS on while driving a car.  As a result I could create a route for the participants to loop around 4 times to get to the 5k distance.  When I verified the distance on Friday (by running) I realized that the hill in the route was a bit of a beast to run up ... oops :-)  I made sure to get to 2.4 miles while I ran around the course marking it with crime scene tape, but I didn't actually run the 5k myself.  Instead I was combination cheerleader, race photographer, and timer.  Three people actually did couch to 5k just to run in this super official 5k.  Yay for getting people to run!  Two of those participants didn't quite finish couch to 5k by the time of this race, but were motivated enough to sign up for another 5k with hubby and me on August 22.  I'm really proud of the new runners and also happy that hubby was able to complete the 5k without walking, albeit at a much slower pace than he was running before the Brooklyn Half.

Adam finishes the 5k and crosses through the crime scene tape

Today I ran 5 miles as part of my marathon training.  Running in the Catskills is a completely different beast from running along the waterfront in Queens.  First of all, there aren't parks every mile with functional water fountains and bathroom.  Secondly, there are some really fast cars on the road.  Thirdly, holy crap there are hills in the mountains.  Today's run is definitely getting categorized as a "hill" run in my training log.  I think that it was good for a change and my legs were feeling good throughout the run.  I should definitely incorporate more hills into my workouts while I am in the city so that the three bridges of the NYC marathon don't kill me.

Wildflowers along the road - so pretty :-)

The mountains that I'll be running tomorrow on my first long run of marathon training

On tap for tomorrow: 10 mountainous miles... dun, dun, dun.

Day 4: The good, the bad, and the ugly

The good: Yesterday I ran the 5k and set a new 5k PR.  The PR is still soft, but at least I put more effort into the race than I do a typical training run.  It was good to see friends and the race and I met one of my friend’s newborn (is 6 weeks old still a newborn?)

Jess and I before the 5k  - we wore matching Queens 10k shirts because we're cool like that :-)

The bad: My train was delayed getting there and so I only got to 4.6 miles total yesterday.  I think in the future I’ll just budget overly excessive amounts of time.  I can always hang out in the park for a bit before the race starts if I get my mileage done.

The ugly: I found out that trying to run at 6am on a day following an evening race is just not the best idea. I woke up and my calves were incredibly tight.  I walked around my apartment a bit and tried to get them to feel better. I was very sore when I headed out but I was determined to get my 8 miles in.  I took the first half of a mile really easy and started feeling better, but around mile 3.5 I experienced cramping and pain in my calves like never before.  I took a walking and stretching break and continued on.  Eventually at mile 4.5 I threw in the towel and did a super easy walk/jog home.  I got to 5.8 miles in an incredibly slow time.  Lesson learned: the morning after a race just take it easy, don’t run, and try to do the run in the evening instead.

I took an epsom salt bath and did a lot of stretching/recovery yoga to help myself feel better.  I also did a lot of easy walking to help slowly stretch out my calves.  They aren't nearly as tight as they were earlier in the day.

I’m in the Catskills now for a fourth of July weekend with friends.  I’m actually organizing a mini 5k for my couch to 5k type friends.  It should be fun :-)  Mapping out the route this afternoon involved quite a bit of walking but overall it was a good experience.  I’m still trying to manage to get my weekly mileage to where it is supposed to be.  I’m 2.4 miles behind where I should be.  Maybe I’ll do those as an easy jog tomorrow while my friends run the 5k - or more realistically I’ll double check the route to ensure that it is close (enough) to 3.1 miles.  For some of these people this will be their first time ever hitting the 5k distance while running.

Day 3: Flash Flood Warnings

Today according to my training plan I am scheduled to run 8 miles.  Alas, at 4:15 am I was awoken by a flash flood warning alert on my phone and a violent thunderstorm.  Between that and my wifely obligations of making sure my husband gets out the door to work on time, the 8 miles didn't happen this morning :-/ 

But that's okay because I'm just going to be flexible in my training.  I think that if I tried to rigidly follow my training plan to the letter I would not only fail to follow the plan, I'd become extremely frustrated with myself.  The prospect park track club puts on a 5k every other Wednesday evening in the summer.  I'm going to run 2 miles before it and turn today into my 5 mile run day.  It will be around 80 or 81 degrees at race time, so I'm not expecting magic, but I do expect to PR.  I've only run two previous 5ks: once in college when I didn't run consistently and once last summer right after coming back from a severe ankle sprain.  You could say that my 5k PR is just a bit soft ;-) 

Running the 5k tonight should be fun.  I have a couple of friends running it and I think that running should be a social activity at least sometimes.  Also, because my PR is so soft, I don't actually have to race to beat it - I just have to put in a reasonable effort.  A low pressure last minute race is what I'm all about.  Also, for $5 I can't really beat the price.

I have no turned off the national weather service alarms on my phone; this way the national weather service won't interrupt my sleep and mess with my marathon training again.  The weather itself is a whole other beast which I unfortunately can't change by swiping left on my phone.