Another wacky week

By | October 28, 2018

Another week where I knew I’d need to play let’s move the workout. That only intensified as the weather forecast for the weekend worsened. I knew I’d be out of town but the plan was to find somewhere to run near mom (trail is closed due to bridge construction) or borrow a car to go to the Lake. And then we got a n’oreaster forecast on the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. What is it with the end of October storms?

I’m really loving playing with the Garmin, although it hasn’t quite learned my stride for indoor runs yet. The data is fascinating. The transition to a lack of music in the watch has mostly been a non-issue. Outdoors I’m fine, indoors I put a couple of podcasts and some music on my phone. I’ll need to figure out a better system, i.e. actually carrying my tablet with me if I plan to go to the gym.

I’m actually contemplating NYRR’s training plan for Lebow. It starts November 11 so I have some time, but it’s appealing. I recently dropped RunkeeperGo as the training plans were the only aspect I used, and I found they weren’t working well (technical, not practical). I’ve regularly adapted Higdon, but I feel like I might be ready to stick with something a little more formal. Any recommendations that you’ve used? 

Can’t believe we’re nearly to the final home stretch of 2018. I’m already thinking ahead to 2019 goals, running and otherwise. I runfess that I had the best intentions of joining Runfessions and Tuesday on the Run this week, but life got in the way of both.

[bctt tweet=”Don’t go chasing waterfalls, PRs are much more fun #RunTheYear” username=”travellingcari”]

Weekly Wrap with Holly and Wendy:

but first, a rewind to last week to pick up Friday. I theoretically left the office in time to get a couple of miles in at the gym. Theoretically. Ended up about a mile and a bit due to some tech issues, namely forgetting to start the Garmin. So short, but quality with trying to go as fast as I could. Baby steps and better than nothing.

  • Monday: I knew this was going to be another challenging week due to after work events and being out of town for the weekend. I planned to take the morning off work when I returned from Rochester as I had some personal errands, including Peapod delivery and hoped I’d get in a long-for-a-weekday run. What did I do after a 6:45 grocery delivery? Go back to bed. It was needed. I got in a couple miles on the reconstructed esplanade. I don’t love the stairs to and from it, but they’re good practice. Felt nice to be outside on blustery fall morning. After work I had an event across from my gym and went for a good stretch & strengthen to go with kettlebells since I didn’t plan to run Tuesday.

all the colors! Matching, what’s matching?

  • Tuesday: no formal exercise, but ton of steps due to walkable meetings.
  • Wednesday: a very weird day. Originally thought I couldn’t run due to after work event, but then that event was rescheduled. Plan then was to run in the Park after work, but it was chillier than I expected and once I finished at work it was too dark. After arguing with myself about whether I wanted to go to the gym or just go home, I went to the gym knowing I’d regret it more if I didn’t since it was looking increasingly likely I wouldn’t be able to run over the weekend. It was easy to get my choice of treadmills and while not sure exactly of my planned workout, I quickly got into a groove. After a quarter mile warmup at 5.5 mph (yes, it’s really time to increase that, but I never remember when I’m on the treadmill!) I went to 6.2 and decided to see how far I could go in 20 minutes. BAM. Stuck out 6.2 for 1.75 miles and a total of 2.03 overall. That was certainly unexpected and it’s probably time to see if I can do 5K at that speed. I think I can at least in the controlled environment of a treadmill. Was super happy with this run.
  • Thursday: speaking of happy. Office run group soldiers on with two of us and we have a fairly steady 5K ish (3.3 mile) loop that we enjoy. I was thrilled at 10:09 for the first mile and even the Cat Hill pace wasn’t a wreck. At one point during mile three our leader mentioned that we were running a 9:30 pace. I didn’t notice him speeding us up but I had mentioned earlier that I’d done the speed work the night before and my surprise at being able to hold a sub 10 mile for so long. This is what I love about an experienced runner, increasing pace without it being super noticeable. I was also personally happy that I wasn’t struggling to breathe on a cold night. Glad last year’s issue hasn’t recurred. I mentioned what my 5K PR was and that I thought it was in sight when we hit mile three. We came close, but not exactly for 3.25 at 33:32. It’s about four seconds/mile off my PR. I’m still really happy with this run as Cat Hill is no joke and I was trying to carry on a conversation too. The leaves in Central Park are starting to turn and I’m bummed I missed the photos, but didn’t want to fish phone out. I do miss my fall photos though.
  • Friday: Quick stop at the gym before heading upstate. I tried to run but had no focus. The free rower was broken so I went to the LateralX for a strong, solid mile.

Holy avocado toast

  • Saturday: we had a n’oreaster and a delicious lunch. There were no steps, never mind exercise. This was delicious and I don’t regret a single bite.

hello fall!

  • Sunday: the storm blew out overnight and morning dawned cool and partially sunny. With the trail closed I decided to head toward the Hook as it’s relatively flat and minimal traffic once the sidewalks end. As has come to be my normal, miles one and two were awful. I wanted to turn back, but I talked myself into going as far as the elementary school and by then the Hook was less than a mile away. Baby steps. Takeaways from a mostly great five mile run: suburban road runners super friendly, fall is popping just 30 miles north (my phone died or I’d have more), fall air is good for the soul.

Overall a solid if not perfect week.

Plan for the Week:

Definitely trying to keep this on the calendar as work gets crazy leading up to the gala.

  • Monday: off. Not ideal as I probably can’t run Saturday, but hoping to be able to run Sunday.
  • Tuesday: run or cross train
  • Wednesday: run. This seems to be my speed work day. Not a huge Halloween person so I don’t mind “missing” the holiday.
  • Thursday: office run group
  • Friday: off, going to NYRR Night of Champions which I’m looking forward to.
  • Saturday: long run, hopefully the December 15K course
  • Sunday: marathon cheering. Let me know if you’re running so I can keep an eye out. I’ll either be at mile 17 and/or the grandstands at the finish line. So excited as I’ve never done the latter.

26 thoughts on “Another wacky week

  1. Wendy

    Looks like a solid week to me! I thought that you had done all the NYRR qualifying races for NYCM? Do you run it next year?

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I have my 9 for next year. The way they do autoqualification is it has to be done by 12/1 or earlier to qualify for the marathon the following year. I think they do it that way since registration for the marathon opens in February so no way to manage the 9+1s otherwise.

      Reply
  2. Coco

    Sounds like a crazy week of work and weather! Didn’t realize it was the anniversary of Sandy. Glad this weekend’s storm was mild in comparison. There’s a way to calibrate your garmin for indoor running – I think Garmin Connect will walk you through it (no pun intended!)

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Oh good to know re: Garmin. I figured there had to be a way, but hadn’t had a chance to look into it. Been traveling since I got it so no time to do homework with it. Thank you!
      Yes, I think Sandy might have actually been Friday but this weekend is still awful. We had a blizzard a few years prior and the storm that was behind the book/movie Perfect Storm hit New England right about now too

      Reply
  3. HoHo Runs

    Great job on your Wednesday TM workout. Years ago, I enjoyed doing speed work on a treadmill as the setting is so much more controlled and unwavering. I bet it’s so cool to spectate at the NYCM. I hope I will one day be chosen in the lottery, but I’m not holding my breath. I bet the trees in Central Park are so lovely right now. I have picture framed in my office of that very thing. They are all orange. Thanks for linking!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Yes. Way too easy to drop off the pace on the road
      Central Park had barely started to change last week & am afraid of what yesterday’s storm did. Will try to get some pics on Tuesday. The Mall in Central Park is one of my favorite places in all seasons.

      Reply
  4. Kimberly Hatting

    Great job on your increasing speed!! That’s great progress 😉 Our trees just started changing in the past 10 days or so…late this year, but our weather has been super wacky.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Same. And we had the same issue with cherry blossoms. They weren’t anywhere near peak at the time of Sakura Matsuri when some years it’s post peak

      Reply
  5. Chocolaterunsjudy

    You have been running so strong! And it almost always seems much easier when you’re running with someone.

    I’ve tried a few plans over the years, but what I really like is having a coach. 🙂 Obviously it’s more expensive. You seem to be doing a pretty good job! Consistency — not necessarily in miles or days running, but simply in keeping running – is one of the keys IMHO.

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Coaching is alas not in my budget, though I absolutely know who I’d use if it was. I’m hoping that my schedule works for NYRR group training in spring though as I think that would help with consistency

      Reply
  6. Deborah Brooks

    I tried to use my Garnin on a treadmill when I first got it and I also could not get it to calibrate. That’s great that you have a work running group -great way to blow off steam together

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      It really is, and a good way to get to know some new or relatively new colleagues. Good way to wind down the week

      Reply
  7. kookyrunner

    Awesome job on your workouts this week! My Garmin is still off when I use it for indoors runs. I can’t figure out why it never gives me the accurate number!

    I was glad that the weather was much better on Sunday because that Saturday weather was horrible!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Yes, and I was going stir crazy. My baseline normal steps are so high I go stir crazy when I can’t walk. I wanted to walk to or from lunch Saturday but I might have been blown away
      I think I’ll stick with manual until I figure out the calibration Coco mentioned above

      Reply
  8. Laurie

    Great training week. I have often started with a Higdon plan and modified as well. I think his plans are reasonable, at least for me. I used to do Runners’ World training plans, but now you have to pay for them. Grrr…

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Have to pay for RW and they’re bizarrely buggy. I don’t mind paying if they’re functional. That was my issue with Runkeeper too. If I said, for example, that Tuesday’s scheduled workout happened on Wednesday it would move the workout from Wednesday to Tuesday on the log which was just confusing

      Reply
  9. Lisa @ Mile by Mile

    Looks like a great week for you! I was glad to skip running on Saturday in the bad weather. There have been enough nice days lately that I try to get out and enjoy them when I can!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Yes. Part of why I was bummed yesterday to have to go indoors due to schedule

      Reply
  10. Marcia

    If you go with the NYRR plan I’ll be interested to hear what you think of it. I won a NYRR training plan when I ran NYCM and it’s one of the best plans I’ve ever trained with. I felt SO prepared for NYCM. Yikes on the nor ‘easter!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      Thanks! I won one too in a post-race giveaway but it was way too advanced for my ability at the time and it was before they had the ability to customize them for lower-mileage runners.

      Reply
  11. Liz Dexter

    A great week and well done on that speed! I was pleased with a few faster miles last week, too, must be the comfort of the autumn weather! Have fun supporting the marathon, not sure if anyone from club is going but you could always take your buff to wave just in case and you know the logo to look out for!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I think I can search by affiliation in the race tracker. Will do that.
      Go go speed racers! 🙂

      Reply
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