Happy

HALLOWEEN!

Pink Legs

is what I had today, and what I saw today while out on my (last) long run. Why? The running gods were gracious enough to grant me identical race day weather this morning so I could try out my final selection on gear and gauge how I will feel race morning (40's and breezy). I essentially have zero tolerance for chilly weather when it comes to running...I don running tights when it dips below 50. Pitiful, I know. But I was thankful for the dress rehearsal. 

Conveniently  my husband has run the NYC marathon 3 times, so he knows what the weather is like and reassured me that this morning's run was a really good comparison (I was cold of course!). But I think the gear I've chosen will be perfect. I was amused though that all of the other runners I passed this morning (that weren't wearing tights) had pink legs too. Oh, I'm so hard core...

Anyway. The run was 'eh'. I was mentally tapped from a long two weeks, just couldn't stay focused. But physically, the run felt easy. This is a good thing. I relaxed my pace and ended up running 12 miles at a 9:32 pace. I ran down to Canal St. on the Hudson River Greenway, my typical out and back, but on the way back I cut over on 59th St. to enter the park at Columbus Circle. The last .2 miles of the marathon. Of course it was nearly noon, on a Saturday, at the tourist end of Central Park, and they were shooting a movie...so I was criss-crossing around a barrage of obstacles, all of which were impeding my ability to visualize running through the finish line, but it was still cool to be on the route and see what has been set up thus far. 

Only one long run left. THE long run. I know the work has been done at this point. I have been training since July and nothing I do in the next week is going to improve my fitness at this point. I'm most excited to share this experience my my husband. He has been invaluable throughout my training, and now that the training is complete I'm ready for just a few easy maintenance runs next week, and then the big day. 

Ditto

Today (and last night) were a carbon copy of yesterday...so was my running. Nada. Work is killing me. Thank goodness 99% of my training is complete, but still...

Zzzzzzzz

I was up past midnight working and back up at 5:15am to get ready for my class...8 hours on my feet teaching and increasing fatigue = no run (or bike) today.

Didn't Happen

I have had a great deal of work to do this week, which is seriously impending my last few workouts! Boo!

5 Miles Easy

I was scheduled for an easy 5 miles today, even got my running clothes on ready to walk out the door...but you know how it goes. Life happens. No worries, though, I always have my trainer. I biked a solid 50 minutes at 9pm tonight. I have a tempo run scheduled for tomorrow, which I would really like to accomplish outdoors. Roll the dice...

Monday, Monday

Why are you so quick to arrive? I am s.o.r.e from the long run yesterday. In retrospect, yesterday's run was the first time my leg did not hurt at all, I think it has finally healed! All the time off and icing and motrin has done the trick. Take that, Monday. Now I just have to hang on for 2 more weeks...

High-Fiving Gingerbread Men

Only in New York can you be out running a long training run and suddenly find yourself in the midst of half a dozen gingerbread men, arms raised high beckoning for a high five! Swat! I was out running my 15 miler on the Hudson River Greenway this morning and encountered exactly that. Nice pick me up. 

Today's run was good. Although I was scheduled for 15, I ran a solid 13.75 (subsequently mapped) and eased up for a cool down for the last 1 1/4 after a hard effort . Overall pace for the hard effort was a 9:04, and I had a negative split for the out and back course. Sweet. I woudn't claim that it was easy, but the pace felt very doable. True, 15 miles is NOT the same as a marathon, but I was encouraged that I was still up for this pace after last week's beating. Two good long runs in a row. Can you say 'Ready'?

Hike

I moved my long run to tomorrow, as my husband and I decided to take our son and dogs on a hike today...it is the perfect weather and peak foliage time. Who could resist? Hiking is cross training right? (wink, wink)

Long Day at Work + Date Night =

NO RUNNING!

PS - I am quite sore from last night's workout, which gives me even more confidence that I achieved a good workout on the bike...go lactic acid.

Bike Tempo

I had a grueling day of teaching for 8 hours straight and being on my feet all day, but I had to squeeze in a workout today. I originally wanted to run a 4 mile tempo with 1 mile warm up and cool down, so 6 total. By the time I got home, fed the kiddo and got him to bed, it was after 8pm and Central Park was long dark. Bike Time.

I warmed up for 10 minutes, then rode as hard as I could for a solid 30 minutes, then rode a 10 minute cool down. Wow, what a workout. Normally my "rides" are just consistent efforts to mimic running, but tonight I cranked up the resistance and tried to keep by cadence above 100. I feel comfortable saying I achieved a tempo workout. Time to get ready for another 8 hour day tomorrow...

Off

...again...feeling okay but lots of work to accomplish this week...paycheck before running today

OFF

F

I decided to give my legs a test today to see how I am recovering from Saturday. I flunked. Miserably. I hobble-jogged half a mile and quickly determined today was meant to be a bike day. I ended up biking 40 minutes, so with the 1/2 mile hobble I logged 4.5 for the day.

Brisk Recovery

This blog title is completely misleading. The truth is I am hobbling around today and was only able to accomplish a 3 mile brisk walk...no running, no biking. I did start to loosen up by the end of it, but stairs are a challenge! Three. More. Weeks.

*Toots Her Own Horn*

I knew before I woke up this morning that today's run would be difficult and therefore already lowered my expectations. My goal was purely to get in 22 miles entirely and forget about my time. Why? New York City has been blessed with a Nor'Easter bringing 40-50 mph winds and temperatures in the mid 50's. Quite possibly the worst running weather, unless you add rain to the mix. I would rather run in snow and 20 degrees than gusty winds. Think I am being pessimistic? Even my stellar runner husband, who completed his 22 mile run before 8am this morning, remarked as he came in battered from the weather "forget about your time today, just get in your 22 miles". I took his advice to heart.

I am fortunate that I in fact have this supportive husband who, on these recent longer runs, has biked along my route with my son for frequent power gel and water stops. It is so encouraging to see my son's smiling face and hear my husband's cheers...plus my son gets a really cool ride and a plethora of play places along the way. Everybody wins. Especially me. Today was no different, we had planned out my route (carefully this time!), bundled up the kiddo, and packed all the supplies. Expectations in check, I embarked on my longest run of the season.

Things started out well, it was indeed windy but the sun was shining. The hubs and kiddo went ahead of me to play at a dog park while I ran my first 4 miles. I felt good and the wind was not too bothersome. I was in Central Park for this portion, but the remainder would be run on the Hudson River Greenway (yes, right by the Hudson River where invariably the winds will be worse). I didn't have clear mile marks, but I knew in general how far I was, and by the time I reached the support crew I was definitely at a 9:30 pace or better (I don't take the time to do the math in my head as I run, I just memorize splits). Unbeknown to me, I said farewell to the "feel good" miles and headed into what can only be described as what felt like the worst run I have ever done. Brutal, frustrating, infuriating. Pure hell.

I hit the Greenway around mile 4 and immediately was struck by the whipping wind. Never have I felt so assaulted on a run. I knew immediately that we would be forced to resort to a yet to be determined Plan B. My son could not be out in this weather, but I had no way to carry water or gels. I decided to run less than half way out than originally planned, get a last pit stop with the crew, then send in my son and finish the run solo. 

I fought the wind and chilly temperatures the whole way down to the turnaround point. Little did I know this was how it felt with the wind at my back...it was about to get worse. Much worse. I grabbed a gel and some water, kissed my two favorite people and headed back uptown to finish my run.

As soon as I turned around it felt like somebody punched me in the face. I am a pretty petite person and was literally having trouble running a straight line. My nostrils were burning the wind was so brutal. I felt incredibly vulnerable as I was pummeled with nowhere to go or hide. The Hudson River was white-capping, the sail boats were rocking and clanging at the Boat Basin, and when I looked up in the sky, the clouds were skipping overhead as if in fast forward; I just had to keep running.

I didn't know what to think about my pace. I was using so much energy just to propel myself forward that I could not gauge my pace, and of course I was unsure of my mileage as well since I had to turn around early. One thing I was sure of, I was furious. Really, on the day of one of the most important runs of the season this is what I have to deal with, really?! Everything in me was screaming to quit and go home, this isn't worth it. I was tired of fighting. Truly, I have never had to literally fight my way through a run.

Finally, Mother Nature gave me a bit of a reprieve when I left the Greenway to head back to Central Park to finish up my last 6 miles; the weather was still ridiculous, but slightly more manageable. I tried my hardest to push through, envisioning race day, fighting for every step. I used my fury to fuel my pace. All I kept thinking about was that this was my last chance to achieve gains in my training, it's all about maintenance from here on out. My scale of perceived exertion was all out of whack, but I needed to finish this run. And I did, all 22 miles in 3:25:00.

What do you know? Despite the relentless assault, I was feeling...okay! Shouldn't I be crawling? Don't get me wrong, I was wiped out, but something felt good about that awful run. Maybe I felt like I had won against Mother Nature, or maybe it's because I knew I left it all out there. To my pleasant surprise, when I mapped out my Plan B course with my memorized splits, here is what I discovered I can do in the face of adversity:

CPW @ 90th St, 3 miles: 27:44 (9:14 pace)

Start Hudson River Greenway, 4.3 miles: 38:35 (8:58 pace)

HRG @ 34th St, 6.8 miles: 64:00 (9:24 pace)

HRG @ 17th St, 7.7 miles: 1:12:34 (9:25 pace)

HRG @ 34th St, 8.6 miles: 1:21:00 (9:25 pace)

Back to Start HRG, 11 miles: 1:44:22 (9:29 pace)

123rd St @ HRG, 13 miles: 2:03:00 (9:27 pace)

104th Exit HRG, 14.3 miles: 2:13:12 (9:18 pace)

CPW @ 90th St, 15.7 miles: 2:26:31 (9:20 pace)

90th St @ West Dr in Central Park, 18.7 miles: 2:55:01 (9:21 pace)

Engineer's Gate Central Park, 19.7 miles: 3:04:00 (9:20 pace)

102nd St @ West Dr, 21 miles: 3:13:18 (9:12 pace)

CPW @ 87th St, 22 miles: 3:25:00 (9:19 pace)


Toot, toot!!

Boring McSnoring

Normally I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my pants kind of gal, but I have worked too hard on my training, barely side-stepped an injury, and I'm not about to risk that now. My eye is on the prize, and I need this run tomorrow so I laid off again today. Go ahead. Call me boring. I'll see you on November 7th...

Caution

I had planned to work in a hard training run today, a tempo or something similar. That way after my long run Saturday I would still have 3 quality runs plus my bike sessions...but something just didn't feel right today with my leg. I have definitely seen marked improvement lately, but I don't want to push it this close to the marathon. I was playing on the playground with my son, running around, and even that seemed to aggravate my leg. I decided to ice it and forget the quality workout. Saturday waits...

50 Minute Bike

I managed a hard 50 minutes on the trainer today. I am still being cautious since I have one of my most important runs Saturday. Still not used to the seat, but was able to bike sans padding - ha! You'd think I never rode a road bike before; I rode this thing all the time back when I did a lot of triathlons...I guess the memory is either selective or forgetful. 

Off

Tempo Improv

What is a mother to do when she is training for a marathon, but needs to get her son out of the house so her herculean husband can accomplish some much needed projects around the apartment? She takes her son to the zoo amidst a quasi-tempo run, of course!

(pushing the running stroller) I warmed up for 1/2 mile, then ran all out for another 1/2  mile, then ran about 70% for the remaining 3/4 mile to the Central Park Zoo. Had a wonderful time with my son for an hour 20 minutes. I ran another 1/2 mile warm-up and accelerated to as fast as I could push my son for another 2 mile stretch, took a few minutes to catch my breath while jogging, then rounded out this frankenstein run with a fast finish for the last 1/4 mile. Total mileage = 4.5, in 42 minutes...yes this is only a 9:20 pace average, but 2 miles of the run where warm up pace or slightly faster (9:55'ish), so that means the tempo portions were roughly an 8:51 pace...pushing 40+ pounds mind you. My tempo pace is supposed to be an 8:30 (solo); not too shabby.

Off

My cold progressed to the point where I was unable to breath uninhibited and I felt completely wiped out. I had planned to either bike today or go out for an easy 4-5 miles. I took a nap instead. Stupid cold.

So Close

Leading up to this morning I was fully prepared to celebrate accomplishing a 20 miler today...can you hear the "but" lingering in the air? Forget that, let's start with the positive: today's was run was the best long run I have had in a while. I had great energy, my leg held up, I got to run along the Hudson river in gorgeous weather with my son and husband as my support team, stopping for water and gels as needed. I mean how can you complain about that? Really.

Here's the thing. I woke up with a sore throat and cold. Boo. Undaunted, I packed a handful of cough drops and headed out the door. I ended up sucking on cough drops nearly my entire run (bonus: this gave me an idea to suck on hard candy during the marathon because I really liked having my mouth moist...I will try that next week). How long was the "entire run" you ask? Regrettably only 17.8. The route was mis-mapped and I didn't realize it until I returned home and re-mapped the course, suspicious that I ran 20 miles in 2:55. Lesson learned (sighs). 

The good thing is that, in hindsight, I KNOW I could have run 20 miles today...if I had known while I was out there that I was going to be short, I would have kept running until I hit 20. In fact, I was feeling so good during the run that when I indeed did finish "early" there actually was a part of me that thought maybe I did run 20 miles in less than 3 hours. This is a beautiful thing to feel so good and so prepared, particularly in light of my recent set backs. 

Also, a few weeks ago I labored through an 18 mile run in 3:16 and barely could walk afterwards. This week revealed my fitness gains in that I ran (nearly) 18 in 2:55!

Clearly I did not have good mile markers and I didn't note many splits along the way, but I do know that I ran the second half faster than the first and was able to accomplish a fast finish. Next week, I WILL map out an accurate 22 mile course and hopefully I will be able to run it in its entirety. My longest run. My last. long. run.

Back in the Saddle

Rode the bike again today...more painful than Wednesday was (and yes I did add the aforementioned padding!)...only got another 45 minutes (4.5 miles) hammered out. I gotta get used to this thing...20 miler tomorrow...

Tempo Attempt

My training is definitely out of whack, so when I studied my schedule today to try and figure out what my quality run should be, I was a bit perplexed. Technically I was supposed to do 10 miles with 8 miles at MP. Not happening with the lingering injury for 1, and secondly I decided a tempo run would be more beneficial than an MP run, particularly because I succeeded in racing at MP last Saturday. 

Yes, tempo run = most bang for my buck. I decided to try a 7 mile run with 4 miles at tempo pace (8:30)...of course using my leg as my litmus has become perfunctory at this point (sighs). I started out with a 1 mile warm up, and unfortunately my leg was throbbing already. Fabulous. Well, I thought, I'm already out here, let's see what I can do and for how long before I yield to the pain.

Turns out only for 2 miles. I began to change my gait my leg was hurting so bad, so I thought it best to bag the tempo and just run a few more easy miles. When I came home and mapped it out I was pleasantly surprised that although I only accomplished 2 miles at tempo pace, they were both sub 8's and I definitely felt like I was only running 8:30. This is good news. 

Mile 1 (warm up): 9:37

Mile 2 (tempo): 7:50

Mile 3 (tempo): 7:56

Miles 3-5.5 (easy): 10:30

I will probably bike again tomorrow and get ready for my 20 miler on Saturday. Hopefully I can make it to 60 minutes this time. Maybe I'll stuff a towel down my bike shorts. Just kidding. I think. 

Solid 45

I finally got on the bike today during my son's nap. True, it was not the same as coasting through the tree-lined hills of Central Park, but it is a great alternative to running when a) I am trying to stay off of my leg for non-quality workouts and b) being a full-time mom prohibits me from training. I put the resistance on pretty good and tried to keep my cadence above 90. I biked a solid 45 minutes, and truth be told I would have biked longer but my backside is not accustomed to the seat :). 

There is no quantifiable way for me to measure the running equivalent, but in discussing with my husband he estimates that with a consistent effort I probably bike one mile for every 10 minutes of riding. Sounds good to me, so I will log 4.5 miles for today.

Tease

I finally made it on the bike tonight, after a crazy, busy day...but not so fast. I only biked for maybe 5 minutes before I felt like I had to quit. This seemingly miraculous contraption is quite a bit higher on the decibel scale than I imagined, and I did not want a knock on my door from my downstairs neighbor at 11pm. Drats! I got all geared up in my goofy, padded bike shorts and everything. Tomorrow I will either try one of my quality runs, or try to bike again but at a more reasonable hour when hopefully my neighbor will not be home. Stay tuned... 

Disappointed

I had hoped to get a good ride in on my bike today, but I ended up needing to take my son to the doctor, which in NYC when it is windy and raining and you have to walk there is an all day affair by the time you get ready for the trek, go to the doctor (and wait a lot) and get back. To my credit I did run there and back (1.5 miles one way) but I would have rather been hammering it out on my new (still not used!) trainer. Perhaps tomorrow...

A Day of Rest

Literally and, well, literally. Back to it next week.

5 Days Off + 80% = SUCCESS

The weather this morning was perfect, I got good sleep last night, and I carb'd up and hydrated properly over the last 24 hours. This alone is a race preparation anomaly for the mother of a one-year old! My darling son awoke me at 5:30 this morning, so no need for an alarm clock either :). I was feeling cautiously optimistic about my race when I headed out the door at 8am to go meet some friends before the race. A 1.5 mile warm-up jog, bag drop, and port-a-potty stop later I was lined up in my corral. 

My strategy was to start off slow for the first lap (the race course was 2 laps around Central Park), then pick it up and "race" the last lap to mimic my strategy for the marathon where I plan to run a pedestrian 20 then race a 10k. Overall I wanted to run a 9:09 (MP) to see how it felt. Here's how it went down:

Mile 1: 9:32

Mile 2: 9:46

Mile 3: 9:08 (I saw my son & husband at mile 2.5, ha!)

Mile 4: 9:23

Mile 5: 9:34

Mile 6: 8.58 (oops)

Mile 7: 9:12 (pace at half way point about a 9:21; time to pick it up)

Mile 8: 9:02

Mile 9: 8:39 (saw my son & husband again)

Mile 10: 9:01

Mile 11: 9:18

Mile 12: 8:41

Mile 13: 8:42

Total 13.1: 1:59:46 (9:08 pace!! I did it)

Okay, so my splits are all over the place and I can not claim consistency in any way shape or form, BUT I was able to accomplish my MP while running at 80% to be cautious with my leg. Yessssssss.  

Arrival

I'm so excited that the trainer arrived today that I don't even care that I'm not out running. I hope to get on it tonight for a test spin before the big race tomorrow!