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Vermont and other mischief

July finished with 84.79 miles. 84! That is, by far, a personal best. And yes, that missing .21 miles bothers me just a little because round numbers. But only a little because I’m really proud of this mileage increase that, touch wood, has been without injury.

On nutrition:

as I mentioned on twitter, I finally got to try the Science in Sport gels at a group workout and I’m a fan. Not as thick or overly sweet as some of the others and, touch wood, good on my stomach even in the heat. Know a number of you have these already via BibPro, but if anyone wants to try, this code should get you 20% off.

Instant lemonade slush

I also tried the powder mix on the 8/10 long run and at half strength and frozen it was a perfect lemonade slushy for the first mile or so.

Oh right, grape Nuun isn’t purple!

As soon as I dropped in the tablet I remembered someone’s post — grape Nuun looks so weird. Even though grapes are green and wine can be white, I so expected it to be purple. Judy was that one of yours I’m thinking of? Used it for cross training, but definitely a fan.

One thing I still need to find/buy is an insulated water bottle as even freezing them isn’t keeping them cold on summer long runs. I saw one reviewed when I was catching up on the last of my print Runners World, but I want to look around some more. I tried this Nathan one, but it splashes and I don’t like having a wet hand. Do you have a favorite?  After that I am done spending. Feel like money is running out of my wallet these days even if it’s (mostly) necessities. I am not going to buy a Sarah Marie Design Studio NYC shirt. No, I am not. Not at all. And the 11th commandment, thou shalt avoid the Gap Factory sale.

Two week Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah:

Week of 7.29

  • Monday: it was too hot to breathe outside. I tried the treadmill but was having a wardrobe malfunction and instead landed on the rower. Had been a while since I rowed 5K. Felt good, as it subsequent PT exercises.
  • Tuesday: another aborted run turned cross train. Decided to listen to what my body was telling me.
  • Wednesday: Rogue training. The prescribed workout:

The workout: Lumberjack Twist

What? Runners will do a combination of short hill sprints of 60-80 meters in distance, combining with 20 minutes of steady effort work, followed by more hills.

Runners will start on the hills with marathoners doing 5-6 hill sprints. Then, runners will take a 1 minute break before rolling into 20 minutes continuous at steady effort. Then, runners will take another 1 minute rest followed by another 5-6 hill sprints to finish up their work. The hill sprints should be at a hard effort, short and fast, with easy running back down. The steady section is intended to be comfortably hard and should fall somewhere between half marathon and marathon effort, likely erring more on the marathon side of that given the summer conditions.

Why? This workout is all about working to improve aerobic threshold on tired legs. The early hills are designed to introduce fatigue so that runners have to work a little bit harder in the middle section, sustaining a comfortably hard rhythm after working those sprints.

  • the reality: not exactly. But not because of weather or fitness. The hill repeats were on the ramp above Pier I and my Achilles just wasn’t having it. I did five of the six in the first set and then managed two in the second. I called that a smart decision. Yes, the NYC course is hilly, but not hill repeats hilly and not breaking is my priority.
  • Thursday: off due to moved long run.
  • Friday: Fourteen solo morning miles. Well really, 14.35 and 3h10m running. Whoa. No more “longest training run” and more “longest run ever” territory. I had a couple of route plans but ended up with the simplest due to time, an out and back down to the Seaport area. It was gorgeous and not too hot. My knees were really sore the rest of the day, but otherwise felt OK.
  • Saturday: 3m shakeout before my road trip. It was humid and I was so sore from Friday but it meant negative splits as I did ten! laps of a .3 mile trail segment near mom to get in three miles. I wanted the cushion of a trail, but the longer segment is still closed due to construction, so a crazy back and forth it was. Luckily there was a work crew with a water jug in their truck as the water fountain was shut due to construction.

 

 

row row row your view!
  • Sunday: cross train with a gorgeous view.

Weekly mileage: 21.83

Week of 8.5

mom and I have A Thing for covered bridges. This has also become a running Thing
  • Never miss a Monday: and a beautiful one at that running past corn and cows in Stowe. I love this Stowe tradition of running into town for breakfast. We followed this up with a hike to the Von Trapp chapel, which was stunning.
perfection
  • Tuesday: cross train with a view because I didn’t want to run three days in a row. Trip up the Stowe gondola with a short hike before heading to the airport for three hour delays (on a 45m flight)
  • Wednesday: grumbling about Tuesday as it turned into an unplanned off day with run group rained out & postponed to Thursday. In truth, the off day was much needed as I could work late to catch up after a few days off.
another runner’s photo of the pre-storm sunset
  • Thursday: the planned workout:
The workout: 600s @5k pace/effort
 
What? All runners will do 4-8 x 600m at 5K pace (or effort) with 200m easy jog in between each. Add warm-up and cool down to get the necessary mileage in for the day. The pace should feel hard but controlled. Runners will want to find a strong rhythm and start conservative, progressing as they go through each repeat.
Why? This is a down week, and as you know we like to work on speed during most down weeks.
These 600s at 5K pace are a VO2 Max workout. The workout’s aim is to improve the amount of oxygen the body can deliver to the muscle cells (used to produce energy) by stressing the maximum of the heart, lungs and circulatory system (your VO2 Max).
  • The Reality: pretty close. The benefit of doing this on the Great Lawn was that it equated to essentially 3/4 of a lap for the 600 element and the final 1/4 for the recovery. I went out too quickly and as a result, my pace suffered toward the end, but I was happy overall. Still had enough in the tank for coach to pace me the last lap. When a wind gust spun up, we had a feeling we were in for an unexpected storm. We were just taking a cooldown when we saw lightning and the cooldown turned into a fast “sprint”. I learned what running at a pace I couldn’t talk meant! I was OK, save for the side stitch which passed when we took a breather to cross the street. I have to say, this was definitely the most fun workout of the training cycle. I still love rain runs.
Mismatched tree

Friday: I was tight as a rubber band so after work I went to the gym for some PT and yoga. This was probably due to a lot of sitting around at the airport on Tuesday and not properly stretching after the rain. I can always count on Romance and my first NYRR Retro shirt to keep me from matching.

it’s too damn early face
a rarely-seen view of Mr. Vanderbilt. Thanks SummerStreets!
I’m strong to the finish cause I eat my spinach err sushi!
you can pry my treat food from my cold, dead hands

 

  • Saturday: what did I say about not matching? Daybreak is another wonderful one in that effort. Aggressive non-matching is my favorite sport. The weather was gorgeous and this down-week run was perfection. I missed last week’s Summer Streets run and didn’t realize how much water was available on the course so I over packed water. Oh well. We ran across 59th St. and down Park Avenue to the Brooklyn Bridge and back up, with a little smidgen of Central Park to get to ten miles. I ran the whole thing with someone else from the run group! I’ve never done that over a long run (full disclosure, she stuck with me- I did not keep up with her). Considering we stopped at two Nuun stations (strawberry lemonade, lemon lime), took a couple of photos and got stuck behind people walking four abreast in the last mile, our pace was pretty good. Slightly faster than the Cherry Blossom 10m (all the photos!) and slower than the Bronx. Much better than recent long runs, thanks to the weather. Run buddy called for the “wonder woman/popeye” shot, but it also felt fitting after a conversation Renee and I were having on twitter. People, and by people I mostly mean women, are the worst sometimes. Went to the gym after for a solid foam roll and some more yoga before treating myself to sushi and a sunset read.
  • Sunday: probably off. I had some vague plans of a morning shakeout or beach trip, but after sleeping in (9!) I woke with a sinus headache and with a busy week/weekend coming up I decided to chill with coffee and catch up on email, blogs and what not. I will go out as it’s a gorgeous day, but will be a low key one.

Weekly mileage: 19.79 Yeah, not really an overall down week for me since I am not reaching the plan’s mileage (deliberate choice)

Overall this cycle: 153.1 I’m really, really proud of that.

Plan for the week:

  • Monday: run
  • Tuesday: walk with Darlene?
  • Wednesday: Rogue training
  • Thursday: run with Darlene?
  • Friday: off, Giants game
  • Saturday: 16!!
  • Sunday: TBD/Yankee game

Go The Dist August:

I touched on the run mileage to start the post, but it was an overall strong month:

  • 537, 348 steps
  • 84.79 miles run
  • 240.91 miles run/walked.

WOW. I beat my best ever month by 4K without even walking all around London. Marathon training does a step goal good.

Gym visits: 12; March-August total: 44. A nice rebound over last month. I’ll be good for the reimbursement.

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Physical Therapy: Week 2 and Half Marathon Recovery

#RunFTL shirt

One thing I forgot to touch on in either the weekly wrap or the race recap is how much I loved the A1A Half Marathon shirt. Last year’s was cute, but the cut was infuriating and I almost never wore it because I’m forever tugging at it. This year I switched it at the expo for a large (over sizing anxiety) and it fits perfectly. Memo to shirt makers: take note from the mermaid, women have boobs.

I runfess I like to treat myself after achievements like a half marathon. Luckily through #GoTheDist I’ve learned to be more conscious of non food rewards. This week’s damage was two new skirtsport skirts. I’ve enjoyed them, but running in the Lotta Breeze for the Half was just perfection. The cut is cute but the pockets are a game changer. Also, I wore a pair of formerly leggings to PT Friday morning and time to purge what doesn’t look good on me.

Key learning in this week’s physical therapy sessions: ankle stability and balance go hand in hand. I know, DUH! But somehow this never clicked for me. My balance is generally poor – I was laughably bad when Wii Fit was a thing – but better on my left side, normally. Not so much with the whimpering Achilles, but I really love these stability/balance exercises. On the dip into heel raise from a step I really felt the calf shaking with fatigue on the third set.

Speaking of Wii Fit, I wish I still had the board for some of the heel dips and raises as standing on the stairs in my apartment building gets old.

NYRR upgrade

As I work in the cultural world I’m fairly familiar with the membership upgrade offers. Buy now, get x months free; upgrade and get Y benefit. I hadn’t really looked at the NYRR ones beyond basic member until I got an upgrade offer. The cost difference is about $60 and includes a free race registration (value ~$20), but I got to thinking of all that NYRR has given me: the free programming at the RunCenter, the wonderful people I’ve met, the growth of myself as a runner. Because I can afford it, it seems the right thing to do to give back more. Added benefit: it opened up a volunteer opportunity for the NYC Half Expo so I can unlock 9+1 in case I want to do the Marathon again in 2020.

Currently reading: Phil Hewitt’s Outrunning the Demons, barely in time for Runners’ Bookshelf’s February choice. I enjoyed Meb for Mortals and seem to be on a bit of a running kick. That’s helped by the fact that they were pretty much the only books I downloaded to my new Kindle last week.

Also this week: I posted my recap of the A1A Fort Lauderdale Half.

Weekly Wrap: with Wendy and Holly. That this is the last weekly wrap makes me sad. I’ve only done it less than a year. I met some of you who were Cherry Blossom 10M ambassadors when you found my recap, and after Wendy and I met in Runners’ Bookshelf she coaxed me into linking up since I posted my own wraps anyway. I finally joined, and I’m so glad I did. I’ll check out #RIOTS, the new linkup Wendy mentioned and will try to be better about posting in rather than just reading the weekday linkups.

  • Monday: I felt pretty good after the Half, thanks to the swim. Mom and I had some errands to do and I wanted to dip my toe in the ocean for it to be an official Florida visit so we walked to the beach. I felt it in my achilles on the bridge over the intracoastal and by the time we got back to the condo I felt I should ice it. One of the best goodies in the expo bag was a hot/ice pack from Cleveland Clinic. It’s perfect. Overall, felt good and didn’t stiffen too much on flight home.
  • Tuesday: I was off work and took advantage of that with a weekday outdoor run. Yay. The shakeout felt really good and I wasn’t sore at all. I could have gone longer but decided it wasn’t smart to push it if I really want to pull off two long runs ahead of the NYC Half. I decided a much needed mani/pedi was more interesting than steps and didn’t even get my step goal. Funny how much I’m commute dependent on that.
  • Wednesday: hi, winter. So glad I ran outside yesterday because it’s a slip and slide now. 5K row after work. PT in the morning and he was impressed at how my Achilles handled the half marathon but found some huge knots in my calf. I can understand why runners often have massages. Besides the existing, he added:
    • side steps on toes
    • Single leg RDLs
    • “sneaky” lunges on toes. This one was a challenge, I don’t have lunge flexibility
  • Thursday: return of the office run group which in my head just sounded like Eminem’s Slim Shady. Why I thought of that song, who knows?! Our usual lap in quite good time even accounting for a slower mile two on account of the reservoir transverse being a dark, muddy, potholed mess. My achilles felt good as was my breathing through this winter cold.
  • Friday: thrilled to wake up and do my morning commute with absolutely no pain from Thursday night’s run. First in a couple of months. I got a good number of steps in, but took a rest day from the gym because I’m fighting a cold and needed some down time. PT again in the morning. Mine had one of the assistants helping and the assistant asked if I ever did a “single leg RDL” I said I had no idea what that was, but to show me. I had the prior Wednesday, but I don’t quite speak PT acronyms. Those are fun, save for my lack of balance. Added today:
    • Side plank clamshells. Oh those are evil but I kind of loved it
    • Single leg heel drops on a leg press machine.
    • This really complicated one where I bent the plant knee, slid the other foot out to the side and then behind me in a kind of curtsy. It took me about two sets to figure this one out. I’m not sure which is worse, my coordination or my balance.
  • Saturday: complete rest day beyond PT exercises and errands, want to kick this cold to the curb. Could I have run or hit the gym? Absolutely, it’s not a bad cold. But don’t want it to linger. and yes, now do you have to let it linger is an earworm. And then I spotted this Sarah Marie shirt in an eblast. That might have to happen one day. Funny of the day: I was frantically trying to find a charger for my vacuum before my cleaning guy came. I told him there might be an issue. Not to worry, he was coming from another job where the client didn’t own a vacuum (how?!) and he had his on him.

  • PT with a view
kinda like I’m channeling Kim. Did someone say heel drops?
  • Sunday: I wanted to be outside. The weather was overcast but better than forecast. The vague plan was a long run, but I knew that wasn’t happening pretty quickly. I don’t like spitting. I don’t mind it at all when others do it courteously, but I hate the feeling in my throat. What’s one of the side effects of a cold? Crap in the back of your throat that you choke on and… you see where this is going. So I decided to go about a mile and then do my PT laps there. Stretches are fine in my apartment, lunges and side steps not so much. I then jogged back to the stairs for some scenic heel drops. Now time for some quality time with a book and a bath.

Plan for the week:

  • Monday: PT and cross train after work
  • Tuesday: run
  • Wednesday: last? PT or find out whether insurance approves more. Off, after work event
  • Thursday: office run group
  • Friday: crosstrain
  • Saturday/Sunday: long run depending on weather.
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Physical Therapy: Week 0

John Mayer or Queen both have appropriate lyrics

Runfession: I’ve been much more worried about my Achilles than I’ve let on, especially when I started to feel some thickening. I made the decision that I’d go see a doctor after the Half, and that day finally came this past Monday. The reason for my concern? While it wasn’t getting worse, it also wasn’t getting better. I first felt the strain when I was in Florida and blamed it on two 15Ks in four days, but it didn’t make sense as my Florida route was pancake flat.

Cari's adventures with physical therapy Click To Tweet

Luckily I work in a large-ish office with many of us on the same insurance plan, so finding a podiatrist was a fairly smooth process. I was able to get in the same day and she was amazing. She listened to my symptoms, did an exam and x-rays and confirmed what I’d been thinking: achilles tendonosis. Course of treatment? Physical therapy to improve my ankle strength and break up the scar tissue. Their office had in-house PT, but not one that I was in network for, but I had a quick referral to one who was able to see me Tuesday.

You know those words that stick with you because their name makes them so memorable? Dactylography, Triskaidekaphobia. Dorsiflexion.

The latter joined that collection when I met with the PT team who said that, among other things,  I have limited dorsiflexion in my ankle. Sounds like I should spot a dorsal fin and be a dolphin! Things I learned from one day’s session:

  • My 2019 goal of not getting injured is intact – I was already injured! Boo. From their initial assessment, my bouts with plantar fasciitis are connected with this achilles injury, both stemming from my flat as a pancake feet.
  • On the plus side, I don’t need to stop running or change my plans to run any of the 2019 races I have planned.
  • There’s an app for that. PT in 2019 is much better than 1997 and 2008 (both for my knee) where I had bad xeroxes of the home exercises. The app with my daily exercises includes a video that demonstrates them too.
  • When the PT is using some tool on the achilles itself that you can’t see since you’re on your stomach and facing away, it crunches and feels a little like a pizza cutter

(as an aside, WordPress’ spell check is the worst. Those three words may kill it)

I see PT like I did Invisalign — it’s very different when you’re paying for it as an adult. I have been very good about wearing my retainer and will be compliant with my PT. The top photo is actually a resistance tube from the gym, but they gave me my own strap so I have no excuses. It’s too early to tell, of course, but I like the stretches and am optimistic.

My appointments over the next three weeks are at 7 or 7:30 AM. When I (hopefully) graduate from PT the plan is to keep getting up that early and either go for a run, or get to the gym.

Weekly Wrap with Wendy and Holly Michelle after a slightly worried DM to Wendy about whether this recap was running enough for the Wrap:

  • Monday: 5K row between podiatrist and Monday Night Magic. Such a fun show, and dinner was Pommes Frites. How can you go wrong with any of that?
  • Tuesday: beautiful day, nearly 60 in NYC. I had my first PT session and then headed to the gym for a short elliptical session before walking home. Can’t skip a gorgeous weather interlude when snow is on the horizon.
  • Wednesday: off. Did not even get step goal. Not achilles related, more at work until 8 PM related.
new kicks!
  • Thursday: office run group didn’t happen due to schedules. I thought we were happening so only brought outdoor pants (tights) which were more than a little warm in the gym. The shoes look white, but they’re more an ice blue with a coral/pink accent. This was only a short run as I didn’t want to push the Achilles-treadmill bothers it more. Shoes feel good and I’m antsy to take them out for a longer run once I know they’re a good option.
so this is why I’ll never be a home owner?
matching for cross training, apparently illegal
  • Friday: I’m not technically a millennial, but the avocado toast/real estate thing always makes me laugh. Love me some good avocado toast but rarely get it for lunch. I’m back on MealPal for February and it popped up today at ‘Tisserie. So good! After work, headed to the gym for a 5K row and my PT stretches. It’s too soon to have any real impact, but I love feeling the stretches in my calves. Another lovely feeling this week-I don’t “need” to go to the gym. I filed for the reimbursement and the next six month window doesn’t start until March 1, but I wanted to go. It feels weird not to go on days like Wednesday. That said, next week is crazy and I’m going to miss it more than I make it.
trying out new Lotta Breeze capri skirt
  • Saturday: I wanted to run. I did not want to run outside with a wind chill of 20 when I had not prepaid and didn’t have to. But I wanted to run. Oh the arguments with ourselves. So I layered up and headed to the gym where I could give the new shoes another go and try out my new Lotta Breeze capris. They are definitely my favorite capri model. Best thing? No pain and went just a little longer than Thursday. Followed it with a short row and long stretch followed by some well bundled errands.
yep, those are icicles!
  • Sunday: it was marginally warmer (less wind) and I really wanted to go outside. After a l-a-a-z-y morning with my book & coffee, I headed out to do some errands via the long way around. Shoes are definitely a keeper and legs felt good, although that was assisted by a conscious decision to avoid the hills. Still feel good after two days in a row, and cautiously optimistic for the Half. Hardest part was errands after in running clothes. Brrr

Plan for the week:

  • Monday: PT; crosstrain as I’m not running three days in a row
  • Tuesday: off, book signing after work
  • Wednesday: gym following after work event. Run or crosstrain TBD
  • Thursday: office run group?
  • Friday: fly to Florida; shakeout?
  • Saturday: short run to beach?
  • Sunday: Fort Lauderdale Half
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from Fred Lebow to Penguins and Football

oh my!

I runfess that I have not figured out how to blog from my phone, so this is a two-week Wrap since I spent the interim weekend driving with mom down to Florida. I had the best laid plans of crashing a post quickly on Monday, but I got home late and yeah, not going to happen

I don’t have email on my phone, so trying hard to play catch up on what I missed in Runfessions, Tuesday Topics, Coffee Date and Weekly Wrap. But disconnecting can be wonderful. I didn’t post too much while we drove, but it was great to finally see Richmond even though the museum we wanted to visit was closed.

Not having email on my personal phone was a decision I made when I got the new phone in March and I don’t regret it at all. Really what personal email isn’t spam these days? Does anyone still use email as a primary means of communication outside of work? That’s crazy to think of, but we’ve swung back from give me your number to give me your email to give me your number to text. I just finished Isabel Gillies’ A Year and Six Seconds (loved it!) and one point she made when a friend offered to set her up on a date post-divorce was that there was no email when she dated her first husband. Crazy!

Back on topic…

NYRR Five Boroughs Patch

I had no idea there was a Five Boroughs series patch. So cool. Used to love collecting these when I was backpacking. Want to think of somewhere more exciting to put this than my corkboard. It’s tempting me to do 4/6 again, but I really don’t think it’s on tap for this year since I’m out of town for Brooklyn and not sure I want to do Queens again. We’ll see.

I actually eased way off on running after the Half as I said I would to try and get Achilles/calf resolved. I really don’t want it to linger. Luckily this seems to be helping although I was worried about my back to back races which I scheduled before this flared. All the cross training this last month reminded me that I miss rowing, and do like the Lateral, which were both pleasant surprises.

what was that old Doublemint ad? Double the fun? Weekly wrap with Wendy and Holly Amy:

Week of January 21

  • Monday: stairs were OK and Achilles wasn’t terrible, although swollen, so I went to the gym for a good stretch,roll and short cross train. Never miss a Monday is hard post-Half! Epsom salt bath when home.
  • Tuesday: feeling better. 5K row, long stretch, roll, epsom salt bath and ice.
  • Wednesday: off. Late night at the office and legs needed a day off.
  • Thursday: no office run group due to schedules and I wanted a short test of my leg so I did the lower loop of Central Park. Slightly annoying, but not so I’d call it pain. Iced well after.
  • Friday: leg one of the aforementioned drive to Florida. Overnight in Florence, SC and we didn’t get in until nearly 11PM so although I scoped out the fitness center, I did not do anything but fall into bed.
  • Saturday: leg two. Hotel treadmill was weird so after a half mile, I switched to the elliptical for 20m before the drive from Florence to Delray. I would be AOK never seeing I-95 again.
  • Sunday: I wanted to run to the beach. Mother Nature brought the beach to land with heavy rains so managed just a short run between thunder storms

Week of January 28

  • Monday: ran to the beach and back. Just a shakeout and longest test of my leg. It definitely stiffened up on the flight home, and iced it well that evening. This never miss a Monday was beautiful!
  • Tuesday: was feeling three days in a row on the achilles so went for long stretch and roll and some kettlebell work.
  • Wednesday: ankle was feeling good, and we closed early for the snow squalls/Polar Vortex so I made time for a 5K LateralX. That is hard. And long. It’s almost 20m longer than a 5K run. As I said, the last thing I wanted to do was ice my ankle when I got home, but knew it was the smart thing. I’d also argue I was continually icing it by walking around in this weather.
  • Thursday: ankle felt pretty good after the long LateralX. I wanted an off day Friday ahead of two days running so I biked 45m. Also, I wanted to finish a book. #Priorities
  • Friday: off, sneaker shopping. While I’m pretty confident the issue was my prior pair of Vongo 2s running out of miles early, I still needed an actual solution as New Balance no longer makes the Vongo 2s and the 3s are just too wide. I went to JackRabbit and let them play. We had some trial and error, and amusingly I came home with the 860s which I’m pretty sure ETA: (YEP!) are the ones the clerk had me try too when I first landed on the Vongo 2s. Apparently the new model of these retained the good of the V2. Going to try them next week when I hopefully get back to some treadmill runs.
which hemisphere is this race in?
  • Saturday: Frozen Penguin 10K. My beloved first race moved to February and offered a 10K this year.  It was frozen, as was my phone so no photos of the iced path and icebergs in the Hudson. I treated it as a fun run to see how my ankle was two weeks post Half, and I had a blast. I’ll recap this Tuesday.  My only goal was not finishing last, and I didn’t. Small races are nice, but harder to get lost in a huge pack.
all smiles (and no hat!) after 4M
  • Sunday: speaking of a huge pack, 5,107 of my closest personal friends and I ran Central Park this morning. What a gorgeous day. Finishing without achilles crying was the goal. Done, and I even ran Cat HIll. More on Tuesday.

Plan for the Week:

  • Monday: I might miss this one. Depends, I have 8p theater tix so might get to gym before for a stretch.
  • Tuesday: run or cross
  • Wednesday: cross or short run
  • Thursday: office run group
  • Friday: off or cross
  • Saturday/Sunday: running one of the two, not sure which yet.

GoTheDist January:

  • 423,595 steps
  • 189.47 miles run/walked
  • 51.09 miles run

Behind, but smartly letting ankle heal vs. pushing. I’m OK with this

Gym visits: 14 in January (so much stretching, cross training), 52 for September-February cycle. Wow, I don’t miss having to sweat out 50. Time to file for reimbursement.

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Planning through pain

It’s better to be ten miles undertrained than one mile overtrained

This was twice-repeated at Monday’s NYRR event and it’s so true and so fitting for my training. I think my feet/knees are a reasonable alarm clock when I’m erring toward that one mile. While frustrating, this two week time has been educational too. What can I do when I can’t run, especially when I need to burn off energy.

I realized I still do love rowing, my OG exercise, and need to make more of an effort to do it regularly. Even peak resolutionist season, the rowers are often empty.

I also spent the week weather stalking since winter decided to take all of the cold and snow and pack it into one week for the mid Atlantic/northeast. Stay safe everyone! At the course strategy session (yes, I know better. I still went anyway) Friday they were predicting maybe 10% chance the race would go as planned, but way more likely it would be a fun run or cancelled outright. I’ll be honest, if it had been turned into a fun run, I might have opted out. There’s nothing fun for me about running in an icy rain if it doesn’t count for anything.

Weekly wrap with Wendy and Holly :

  • Monday: two miles on the LateralX, which I realized is a way longer mile than the standard elliptical. No pain. Lots of rolling, stretching
  • Tuesday: treadmill test of new shoes. No pain. Long stretch after.
  • Wednesday: off. I took my gym bag to department holiday party but it was after 9 by the time we wrapped and I was way too tired.
  • Thursday: office run group, aka major test of new shoes as it involved Central Park hills. We decided to do the longer loop to 102nd St. vs. cutting over on the reservoir track since dark and muddy is a bad combination. This meant we’d have the West Side rollers as well as Cat Hill and, to be honest, I was slightly nervous. Outside of needing to stop twice in the first mile to tie my shoes, it was a success. We got to talking and the five miles went quickly. No pain, just slightly sore Friday morning. Verdict? Bad shoes.
  • Friday: NYRR course strategy wherein I countered the voice psyching myself out with the one reminded me I could do this because I had done this. Followed by gym, 1M LateralX, 2500 meter row (forearm was oddly sore) and long stretch and roll.
pre race tradition
  • Saturday: off. When I thought the race might be called, I planned to run Saturday but around 11a, they said due to the weather shift it was a go. Didn’t even leave the apartment until 5P when I realized I needed to get to LPQ before 7P closure to get my pre-long race meal and remembered I had no chews. So Jackrabbit, Modells and LPQ. Freebie was their organic honey lemon ginger drink and while I feared it might be too sweet, it was delicious.
layers, trash bags, rain coats, heat shields
Done!
  • Sunday: Ice would have turned me off running this, but I found myself wishing for snow because while I’ve done a half marathon in the rain, I haven’t done one in cold January rain. This was better though than the original forecast of 8F. Spoiler: I finished, and hit my goals. More on Tuesday. ETA: recap here.
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January, Gyms and Fred Lebow

Winner winner chicken dinner: Run Like Duck winner is the wonderful Wendy!
I emailed you via the address that showed. If you didn’t get it, DM me on twitter/IG with an email.

Gyms and January are a hot topic. Blink is a place where the crowds don’t ebb and flow drastically, at least not the two locations I typically go to. While it’s not a Planet Fitness, it’s not one with extensive equipment which tends to cut down on some of the nonsense. I had my first personal encounter with resolutionist shamers and it just made me laugh. Apparently unpacking a new sports bra and taking off the tags in the locker room is a heinous crime worthy of comment. I resisted the urge to invite them to access a print out of my visits, but really it shouldn’t matter.

Lebow Hat 2019

It’s crazy to realize Fred Lebow is next week. I also just realized that with New Years Day a Tuesday, MLK is a week later and whee, I have Monday off after the Half. Although walking around was good recovery last year, it’s going to be a push to do my stairs when I don’t have to for work.

Getting ready for the #FredLebowHalf to kick off my @nyrr running in 2019 Click To Tweet

So with it a week out, goals:

  • Finish strong. This is really about pacing myself. I know I’m undertrained and my achilles/calf is still a slight issue. If this means walking up Harlem Hills so I finish, I need to do this. I want to finish, yes, but I’d prefer it not be a limping crawl over the finish.
  • Have fun. Yep. This really is number one. I want to enjoy this day. Lebow was my first and I hope it’s just as magical the second time around.
  • 2:45? 2:50? Yeah, that’s not a PR but I’ve done minimal hill work and I think I’m going to regret it. 2:41:09 was this course, 2:50:08 was Ft. Pancake/Flat Lauderdale where I walked a lot due to heat, gel queasy. Honestly? I don’t care. I just want to finish this feeling good about the run. I was injured last year too so not sure extent to which that’s a deciding factor.

My regrets about the training cycle? No Mile High and not changing shoes sooner (more on that below). Lesson learned. Both within my control vs. November’s challenges.

Monday is D-Day. Err, M-Day. It’s the first day I can claim my guaranteed entry for NYC Marathon. I think I’m going to be smart and wait until next Sunday to be sure my leg is OK. I’m 99% sure it is and I’ll be fine, but I want to be cautious. It’s the same logic I used after last year’s Lebow and before Fort Lauderdale.

In the mean time, weekly wrap with Wendy and Holly Kim. Subtitle? All the cross training:

  • never miss a Monday: I’ve really enjoyed the Monday routine I re-established in December and wanted to keep it up although I needed a running off day. So I rowed for the first time in about a month and the first long row in nearly two. That’s not a six minute fall off in ability, but rather fidding with YouTube buffering because I cannot get through rowing without a “soundtrack” and for some reason it was being a toad. Oh well. I then had a good, long stretch and roll.
Hi calluses. Calli?
  • Tuesday: I tested the achilles on the treadmill and it started to be annoying, so I decided on another cross train day. 15M on the LateralX almost a year to the day after I first tried it and another 5K row. Between a flare of winter hands and two days in a row of rowing, I’m glad I’m not a hand model.
  • Wednesday: off. Didn’t even get step goal. Start of cold coming on and thought a full off day smart to rest achilles ahead of Thursday’s Central Park hills. Decided the best way to heal is not chase pointless steps.
  • Thursday: office run group expanded to three on one of our coldest runs so far. With an additional person the pace picked up and I was surprisingly able to keep up even on Cat Hill. But going up that hill was also a doozy on my left foot and calf. When we finished, I gathered my stuff from the office and headed to NYRR to collect my bib and hat. Came to love last year’s, but think I like this one even more. I stopped in at the New Balance store to see if the staff thought my shoes were the issue, which I was beginning to think. The staff person did the scan, but surprisingly for that store’s staff, wasn’t helpful so I headed to the Jack Rabbit at Time Warner where I got a little more help. Unfortunately she thought it was probably just that the shoes ran out of miles early. She suggested I stick with my backups and then come in when Lebow is done and “we’ll play” which I think is a good one.
  • Friday: felt like something was pulling at the outside of my ankle, although it wasn’t painful. Luckily I have a flexible offices and sneakers will occasionally fly. Decided to be smart and not run two days in a row. I rowed 5K and then stretched and rolled. Rowing actually made the calf or whatever this is feel really good. Iced when I got home as I’ve done most nights. The frozen roller from my first PF flare is a godsend as the size/shape is perfect.
  • Saturday: I woke, no pain. I dreaded going for a run -not because the wind chill was in the 20s – but because I was worried the shoes weren’t going to fix everything. I finally went out with a plan to run along the water which, when I avoid the ferry stairs, is almost flat. My feet didn’t feel great at 1.25 miles so I doubled back and finished at about 25m. But it was better than Thursday and I think I’ll be OK even if I only run Thursday. Cross train has been good.
  • Sunday: no pain! I still played it smart and didn’t run. I did a mile on the elliptical since the branch open Sunday doesn’t have a LateralX, 2K row, and a long roll and stretch. Officially cautiously optimistic.

Spring 2019 Half Marathon Mileage: 86.13

Plan for the Week:

  • Monday: off, after-work event
  • Tuesday: run or cross train
  • Wednesday: off or cross train
  • Thursday: office run group
  • Friday: cross train
  • Saturday: off
  • Sunday: Fred Lebow Half Marathon.
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Wrapping up fall

Snow, root canal… What a week.  Not much substance beyond the Wrap.

On the plus side, I crossed 600 miles run on the year and snapped up Inner Runner on a Kindle deal of the day and I look forward to reading that when I have some down time on vacation. Haven’t done any run reads in a while.

I need this shirt. That is me in a nutshell at the weekend.
600 miles, running through cold, snow and root canals #RunTheYear Click To Tweet

Weekly Wrap with Wendy and Holly:

  • Monday: Managed to avoid root canal thanks to a bite adjustment from my dentist who I adore & who got me in within an hour. I was still tender and did not feel like the jarring motion of running, plus I thought a day off running was smart. The rowers & LateralXs were full so I went to my old friend the recumbent bike for 9+ miles. Upside? Harry Potter. Order of the Phoenix is going to be the death of me, but I’m finally almost done.
  • Tuesday: yeah, dentist’s fix wasn’t and my tooth / jaw was screaming bloody murder. I was at the office late and it was too cold to walk home, so I hit the bike again. It’s not really exercise in the way running is, but I treat it like I do walking home, better than sitting on my ass. 10+ miles and Potter 5 is done. I’m definitely taking a break on that series. I’m honestly not sure I want to finish it.
  • Wednesday: didn’t even get step goal. Thanks, tooth.
  • Thursday: root canal happened and what I loved? It finally stopped hurting. I was still numb after work so went to the gym for an easy mile on the treadmill and a solid stretch after. Was mostly a shakeout after two hours in the dentist’s chair. Oh yes, we had the weather almost all of you did. Lots of tree branches down due to the weight of snow on the leaves.
Bond45: get in my belly!
  • Friday: off. Dinner plans and needed a mental health day. Came in just shy of step goal, but I was OK with that as a quiet night was what I needed.
Tracie Virtual Race
  • Saturday: my typical late start. I badly needed the sleep after this week. So nice to be able to enjoy my coffee without pain. I finally headed out late without a plan beyond getting in some miles for #TracieMadeMeDoIt, a great way to encourage Run the Year folks to get outdoors as weather makes it harder. I knew I needed to go to CVS so decided to run the long way there for 4.5 miles. Pace was all over the place (1st mile had lights), but it felt good given that I hadn’t really run since Sunday and I didn’t want to push too hard with a vague plan to still try to race Sunday. It was awesome to watch some of the NYRR 60K runners still out there at about the 8 hour mark. That’s some amazing endurance.
Race to Deliver, Flat Cari
I love this color! Too big, but perfect for layers. Turkey Trot attire for Thursday
  • Sunday: 4M Race to Deliver. As I mentioned last week, my plan was to try for a PR. But I gave that one up once my tooth kept me from running this week. Although I wasn’t sure I’d feel up to running this depending on how my tooth felt, I knew I’d participate even if I just walked as I love the work of God’s Love We Deliver. Because it was that weird in between weather of cold but not cold enough for gloves I wanted one of my shirts with thumb holes I wasn’t wearing anything NYRR and someone actually asked me if it was my first race. That was sweet. I tried to time my run to the start so that it would be an actual warm up and quick slip into corral, but it was a bigger race than I expected and it took about 13 minutes to cross the start, so I was cold again (and the winner finished just seven minutes later!). Mile one was slow due to crowds, weaving and Cat Hill and mile three was some wet leaf dodging, but otherwise the race felt good. 43:35 per NYRR, 43:38 per my watch (best thing about Garmin? It/Strava/Runkeeper match!) 31 seconds off Gridiron, but my second best NYRR 4 Miler so I really can’t complain.  I’m actually not even unhappy that I didn’t PR, I pretty much knew it was gone from mile one. I stayed at the finish festival for a little while but then ran home because it was cold, moisture wicking or not. I crossed 600 miles run on the year and am really happy with that, even if 700 isn’t going to happen. I might pull out 200 miles more than last year (472.71), but even if I don’t I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished this year.

Needless to say, I didn’t start the NYRR Half Marathon Training and not sure I will. I can’t add one more thing to my plate right now. I think it will just frustrate me. I’m OK with keeping up as is for Lebow and pushing the “formal” training to the NYC Half  even though my only goal for the latter is to have fun.

Plan for the Week:

  • Monday: cross train
  • Tuesday: run
  • Wednesday: depends on how much time I have between work and my train. Hopefully at least quick run.
  • Thursday: Troy Turkey Trot 10K where I’ll hopefully see Darlene
  • Friday: Birthday. I want to do some celebratory miles, but not sure what. Maybe 3.9 since 11.23 and 7.9 aren’t happening. Will also depend on travel schedule.
  • Saturday/Sunday: TBC based on work, our major event is 11.28 and I’ll likely work most of this.

Happy Thanksgiving to the Americans in the wrap. I’m thankful to know all of you, you’re wonderful additions to my running journey.

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Weekly Wrap, 11.5

I spent a lot of Marathon Sunday afternoon watching football and catching up online. I really, really need to remember not to read LetsRun. They publish some wonderful articles but the forums are a misogynistic cesspool of the worst order.  My kingdom for a world where raising one person up didn’t result in tearing the others down. In the mean time I’m just going to focus on wonderful articles like: American Women Take Top Spots from Runners’ World.

harumph!

Speaking of Runner’s World… I may have a birthday coming up but I feel like this email was a little off the mark, target wise. I absolutely laugh about it because my age doesn’t bother me, but this is up there with my dermatologist sending a birthday coupon on Botox.

So much lately on the various running e-blasts about staying motivated. I guess I’m relatively lucky in that I haven’t hit that much. I think I channel Thoreau as Deb mentioned: 

“Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move,” wrote Henry David Thoreau, “my thoughts begin to flow.”

Running without music has been complete non-issue, even last week’s longest at nearly eight miles. Even on days where I’m pushed into cross training it’s a great mental balance for the craziness of work this season. Less than three weeks to the gala, which is wonderful and frightening.

Weekly Wrap with Wendy and Holly:

Very little running most of this week. Achilles, calf. Decided not to push it. Rather miss goal this month than be hurt long term. Didn’t use it as reason not to go to the gym though so calling it a win. It’s actually a bit of a gym catch up for me ahead of February reimbursement as I know I’ll miss some time around the holidays so want to front load so I’m not scrambling then.

  • Monday: I started on the treadmill, but my Achilles was whingeing so I decided to row followed by a long, hard stretch.
  • Tuesday: I had a lot of plans to get out early and run, and then I remembered I needed to vote before work because I couldn’t after. So I had a short test of my Achilles (yay, it’s on mute!) My evening plans got turned on their head so I ended up with time to go to the gym and was glad I almost always have my gym bag on me. My right calf seized up at .2 miles so I decided to hit the elliptical. Not sure why that happened, but I’m all about listening to my body. The Matrix Elliptical is evil and it felt like a good workout.
  • Wednesday: got a little further in trying to run, but calf was still unhappy so I went for 25m on my old friend the LateralX. That feels like such a good workout and didn’t bother my calf at all.
Toasted White Chocolate Mocha
  • Thursday: had some time in the morning and wanted to test my right calf. Short, sweet and no pain. I really think it’s the treadmill that’s irritating my legs this week so glad to have the chance to run outdoors. The other reason I wanted to test the leg was I needed to know if I was good for the office run group. Our first after the time change but luckily Central Park is fairly well lit except for the segment where we cross the reservoir loop. It was a good run, not quite as close to the PR as last time, but I will break 32. Eventually. Fuel for that run? 3P Starbucks run. Not a huge fan of the toasted white chocolate mocha. I think I’ll stick with peppermint or go back to the regular white mocha.
all the colors!
  • Friday: was supposed to be a true off day, but it was raining so hard I couldn’t even walk home so I went to the gym for some light cross training on the recumbent bike (Yes, still trying to get through Order of the Phoenix) and heavy stretching. Barely eked out my step goal.
cold sun
  • Saturday: there were plans, and then there was reality. That started with some quality time with coffee and my laptop. Ahh weekend procrastination. I finally got dressed to go out. I mentioned to Lisa that while I’d acquiesced to long sleeves, I was not ready for tights. Seeing that it was 45 with a wind chill in the 30s sapped the desire to go to Central Park for ~ 9 right out of me. I could say it was a smart decision after the Achilles/calf pain, but that’s just making excuses. The issue with CP is it’s about a mile walk to the start of my loop, which is cold. I could take the crosstown bus, but that’s not sheltered from the wind and mid-day Saturday traffic means it’s too hard to jaywalk and stay warm while running to start. So I decided instead to run to the gym and back for about four miles. As soon as I walked outside and to the corner to start, I knew it was the right decision – even with a shirt with thumb holes, I was cold. Although I switched from buff to hat, I forgot my gloves. The wind wasn’t terrible as this path is mostly sheltered and it was a good run to the gym even if the GPS was a complete mess. There is so much construction & scaffolding it’s almost impossible. So I’m calling that a two mile run for logging purposes. When I got to the gym I decided on a short row and a long stretch/foam roll before running back home. GPS was off there too as it apparently didn’t truly find a signal until I stopped zig zagging. I stuck with York as there aren’t too many roads to cross while running against the hospitals and Rockefeller University and it’s well lit whereas the riverside path isn’t. Overall, a good running day.
  • Sunday: Meh. But not going to dwell on that. Going out to run 7 miles is better than sitting on the couch and the Park was gorgeous. Two years ago or even last year I couldn’t go out and run seven miles so a run that didn’t make me happy is better than I could do before. It’s the little things.

Plan for the Week:

  • Monday: crosstrain or off depending on whether I need root canal.
  • Tuesday: run or crosstrain
  • Wednesday: run
  • Thursday: office run group
  • Friday: off, dinner with Mom
  • Saturday: crosstrain or run
  • Sunday: NYRR Race to Deliver 4M. I haven’t raced since early October and looking forward to this. I want to beat my Gridiron time (43:04), but I realize that’s contingent on my tooth & runs this week.
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Running without music and Run to Lose, week of 9.9

My TomTom has been having sporadic GPS issues of late that seem to be getting worse. The battery isn’t lasting as long as it used to either. It owes me nothing, it’s a hand me down that I’ve had for a year and a half, and its previous owner had it about a year. It’s time to start looking for a replacement: happy for any suggestions you have. In the mean time, I’m going to try running without music. One of the features I loved the most about the TomTom was the onboard playlist since I don’t have any music on my phone, nor do I have the data for a streaming service. Alas, TomTom is leaving the GPS watch space so I’m hesitant to invest in a new one. The Garmin with music is just way too expensive for my budget and reviews of the others don’t seem great. Since I don’t relish carrying old iPod for music along with my phone, one step might be to learn to run without music at least outdoors which I can apply to races. Indoor treadmill runs are less of an issue as I can always figure out something there. These are my current thoughts:

  • Garmin: I’m looking heavily at these. They seem to be the gold standard in the running industry for a reason
  • Fitbit with GPS: meh. They’re too big. I don’t wear my running watch daily for this very reason and I like my Alta for steps so don’t particularly feel the need to upgrade
  • Apple Watch: meh. I’m wholly an Apple person, but the first thing I do with fitbit and running watch is to turn off the messaging notifications because they drive me nuts, so I feel the benefits of this are mostly not of interest to me. Even before I was running, the Apple Watch held no interest to me.

The benefit is the TomTom isn’t totally dead and its battery seems to be holding long enough for my fall races, so I should hopefully be able to take advantage of holiday sales.

I finally got Runner’s World’s Run to Lose and taking a lot from it when it comes to fueling for runs and in general. Some of it is nutritional common sense, some isn’t. It’s well written and accessible. I especially like the Kindle edition since I can click through to some of the studies cited. I think I’m finally ready to break this ~ 7 month plateau, especially ahead of the holidays. I also need to figure out my fueling strategy ahead of a humid half marathon in February since gels and necessary water made me queasy last year. I can do 9 miles without fuel and probably won’t use anything for the Bronx 10 Miler, but those extra three need something.

Run to lose, without music? #RunTheYear Click To Tweet

Weekly wrap with Holly and Wendy:

  • Sunday: I was less sore than I expected after Saturday’s long run. It was a cool, damp day and because of that, I didn’t tailgate. My steps suffered as a result, but I was OK with that because not tailgating meant better food choices. Sometimes it’s just impossible to avoid guacamole and the salt of tostitos. Weight Watchers had a tailgate and I was curious, but not enough to get more wet.
  • Monday: my right calf was sore. DOMS or just weirdness? Who knows. With the cool weather I’m back to sleeping in my bed so it’s not the futon related curling up. Oh bodies, you are so weird. I fully expected this to be an issue on the treadmill but it wasn’t because I could not get one! I was at the Times Square location of my gym earlier than normal because I wanted to get home for Monday Night Football, but apparently everyone else had the same idea. Odd too because the city otherwise seemed quite for Rosh Hashanah. So after a short row to warmup, I hit the LateralX for two miles/30M. I love it in a way I don’t care for the typical elliptical and feel it’s the closest to running in terms of getting my heart rate up.
Tribute in Light, 9/11 Memorial South Pool in foreground
  • Tuesday: September 11. I knew that a run today needed to be meaningful. Luckily, the weather held out as meaningful and treadmill don’t go hand in hand to me. For the past few years I’ve gone downtown to see the Tribute in Light and wondered whether it might work to run there from the office. After a short hop to the start of a construction detour that served as a warmup, I ran the rest of the way down to the Winter Garden from where I could cross over to the Memorial. The lights were beautiful in the fog. I contemplated running back to the office but had accidentally run without money and couldn’t refill my water, so hopped on the subway back. Sometimes there’s no right way to mark a day like this, but this felt right. Speaking of water refills, I wish the Lululemon vending machine had been open, although it’s unclear whether they have water to go with Nuun tabs.
  • Wednesday: super busy day, ton of steps between meetings. I was wavering on going to the gym, but decided to try. It was one of those rare exceptions to get going and you’ll be fine-I had nothing in the tank. Partially tired, partially food log related. So I turned it into a stretch and strengthen after bailing on the rower.
quack! Not on the run, later in the day between meetings
  • Thursday: note to self: if you’re going to run in the morning, watch what you eat at night. Pizza does not sit well even ~ 12 hours later. I knew though I couldn’t run after work due to an event so I went with short and sweet vs. not at all. Cool, humid morning. Nice start to the day. While I can’t get it together to be a solid morning runner, I love how it makes me feel the rest of the day, especially if I fuel well after and am not a hangry mess.
yeah that’s how i felt about running Friday night. Manhattan 7M shirt, can you tell I planned to run outdoors originally?
  • Friday: attempt at running without music? FAIL. That was more about bad food choices during the two days and feeling sluggish than the lack of music that stemmed from forgetting watch, headphones and headband. Even with the Yankee game I couldn’t stay on the treadmill or the elliptical bike so I had a very good stretch and plank session and called it a night.
I am grumpy, hear me roar. Actually more sneezy than grumpy. Failed workout, repeat shirt, less laundry. Winning.
well that’s a different kind of trail!

 

  • Saturday: wanted to run long and really didn’t want to run Central Park as I wanted the riverside breeze. Contemplated going to the west side but didn’t think I had enough time due to my cleaner coming at 5:30 (best. treat. ever). so I decided to check out Randalls Island, which I last explored back when I was doing the #GreatManhattanLoop. It was a run in two and a bit parts: potty break, and needed to find out where the FDR on ramp crossing was with all the construction and a run/walk around the lower part of Randall/Wards Island. It was about 80 and slightly humid but the real culprit was the freshly cut grass. My allergies were in full tilt and the grass didn’t help. Nor did no shade so I ran when I could, walked when I couldn’t and ended up cutting the loop short. There are some great paths to explore on RI maybe  in a couple of weeks. After walking up the bridge I tried to run again but I was feeling shaky so I opted to walk. Calling this a learning lesson, sneeze powered is a fun joke but not actually for runs. Besides food logs, I probably need to look more closely at allergy meds & runs’ timing.
Peanut Butter Warrior
  • Sunday: equal parts recovery / make up & get ahead mileage as this week’s schedule is brutal. Original plan was my typical NFL Sunday recovery, run down the river to the gym and stretch before heading home to be a couch slug. However I found out one of my/my nephew’s favorite vendors (Meece for Mayor!) would be at the Columbus Ave. street fair so I decided to head that way. I took the long way to the Fair and an odd for me route through Central Park to try to avoid both the chess tournament and the 18M race. I felt bad for those runners, this was not long run friendly weather. But I love knowing NYRR does this as if I decide to run NYC next year, organized long runs will be a godsend. The roads were just way too congested and as a side benefit, the paths had way more shade. After sorting out presents, I briefly wandered the rest of the street fair before heading home via the grocery store. And a smoothie stop. While that was 25% wanting to fuel early, it was mostly about having a sparkling clean kitchen and not wanting to mess it up via a smoothie. JustSalad’s Peanut Butter Warrior is one of my favorite commercial smoothies especially as it’s non dairy and I rarely carry Lactaid on the run.

And then I was a slug. That’s what football Sundays are for. I apologize for any heat waves in the NYC area, I took my AC out yesterday.

Bronx 10Mile Training Mileage (since July 31): 97.24 miles

Plan for the Week:

  • Monday: Cross Train or Stretch & Strengthen
  • Tuesday: Run
  • Wednesday: Off, plans before and after work
  • Thursday: return of the office run group, hopefully
  • Friday: run
  • Saturday: TBD
  • Sunday: Bronx Tune Up: I’m feeling ambivalent about the Bronx 10 after the past two Saturdays. Success is likely going to be very weather dependent

 

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Weekly Wrap, Week of 9.2

A short week, but why did summer have to join the long weekend party? I am 100% over the heat & humidity and will not regret that come February. It’s just been miserable. I had a realization on Friday though that the struggles the last two weeks have been 10% food choices and 90% heat, which was a relief. It’s not that I don’t want to run.  In fact, it was wanting to run that pushed me through “I don’t want to go outside in this awful weather”. This was reinforced by an absolutely perfect long run (finally!) on Saturday.

Munk Pack goodies!

On a positive note, I won Marcia’s Munk Pack giveaway and my box arrived this week.  All opinions are my own I haven’t had the chance to fully delve into the cookies, but I love the pouches for a pre-run snack. I’ve long said it isn’t fair that the best runner food gets marketed to toddlers. I’m not sure I’d want to carry it on a run due to size & worry that it would explode on my phone, but the peach chia vanilla was absolutely perfect about an hour before as I was deciding when and where for my Friday evening run. I was concerned it would be too sweet, but it wasn’t at all. I cannot wait to try the apple quinoa cinnamon because fall! ETA: I tried it, even better. More below.

adventures in long runs, Munk Packs and riding the Ferry #RunTheYear Click To Tweet

In the mean time, weekly wrap with Wendy and Holly:

 

Love this city. Magic Hour
  • Sunday: the perfect beach day on the last day of somewhat reasonable weather. Still got nearly 12K steps in walking to & from the boardwalk and then to and from the ferry. I love the new Upper East Side stop and while it’s not practical to use regularly, it was the perfect summer send off. It was hard to tell because it was dark, but I think they’ve linked the ferry stop to the northern promenade and I’m excited to explore that next weekend. I’m bored with only being able to go south.
100% pure sweat. I was walking up the ramp here. No heroes
  • Monday: speaking of south. I was finally ready to quit being lazy and get off the couch when I realized my watch was completely dead. As in no battery at all. Oh yay, another hour to drink coffee and not move.  I really, really need to get to a place where I get up and go the way I do on race days. Otherwise I’m a slug. But sometimes slug is good. When I finally got going, it was 90F with 57% humidity for a real feel of 99. Yuck. But I still ran to the gym. I lie. I ran to the base of the hill at the 59th St. bridge and then started again at the top. No heroes in this weather. My watch apparently wasn’t having the weather as it turned out this happy horseshit, as my grandmother used to say. Not even close. The time was right, but the mileage was off by ~25%. Even adjusting the GPS on Runkeeper was off, but closer to reality. I knew it was going to be wrong with the distance it was tracking (I’ve split the run to the gym a number of times, I knew it wasn’t a mile), I just didn’t realize how laughably so.
  • The gym plan was two miles, but it was too hot for intervals even in climate control, and I had a feeling I might run home so I cut it short at 1.34 and headed to row and do some planks/kettle bells. Why yes, I was using their AC and dreading going back out, why ever do you ask? 😀 But if I’d seen the time I would have gone to 15m, just because this is silly. I said I’d make the decision about running home when I walked out the door, and my glasses immediately fogged. I knew I had something left and wanted to try, plus there was shade and a breeze, so I went. It’s hilly until you drop down to the river and then I changed to walk when I hit the base of the ramp at E. 79th. Running smart. I was so overheated when I got home I made & downed my smoothie before even getting in the shower, which never happens. Propel was good and even water was OK for run home. But I am over summer. Still proud of this workout. Pushing past my comfort zone in more ways than one.
  • Tuesday: step goal due to after work meetings
Poke MealPal lunch
  • Wednesday: 1,000 days in a row logged into MFP. Would have been another ~400 as I still remember the day I missed logging in. MealPal a go again after taking August off due to travel. Supposed to be a run day, but my right calf seized unbelievably about .1 mile in and I bailed. I know it’s from sleeping semi curled on futon for the AC, but yuck. So I foam rolled and then rowed my fastest 5K in a while.
  • Thursday: late start due to local meeting so I went out for a quick, short run. I decided to investigate the northern side of the ferry landing I mentioned Sunday, but it’s still all construction. And all the steps. So many steps! It’s just as well time didn’t allow for longer as it was already brutally hot & humid. If office group didn’t run (it didn’t), plan was to hit the gym after but I was full on zapped by the heat and after working until nearly 7, I just walked part way home in the refreshing rain.
office snacks
  • Friday: pretty much a 20 degree temperature drop and it was lovely. Our Office Services team have been keeping us in fresh fruit & veg and with fall comes all the apples. Yes, fall is for apples, not pumpkin. Luckily a colleague has an apple corer because I’m still afraid of knives. I had the best laid plans of leaving at 5 and tackling Central Park, but it was more like 7 and on top of it getting dark early, the Run Center closes at 8 so I decided to drop off my bag at home and make this an all East River weekday week. The route was slightly off my normal because I decided to head up East End when I hit the light since there was way too much traffic to jay walk err. run, but it’s still basically my 3ish mile East River loop. It felt good, even if it wasn’t super fast. It was nice not to be a disgusting, dripping mess when I came home.
  • What I like about this route even at/just past dusk is it’s pretty busy and well lit. There’s a section under scaffolding down near the hospitals/Rockefeller University that I really don’t love at any hour. It smells of weed and urine and it’s just generally unpleasant, but I can run on the river side of the scaffolding. Tonight I found myself thinking of Mollie Tibbets, probably because I read Happy Fit Mama’s post this afternoon. While there has been some ugliness around her death that isn’t worth going into here, I find most of the reactions to be people disheartened that this is still happening in 2018. It shouldn’t be unsafe for women to go out in daylight. After dark? Well it depends on the area, some parts of the world wouldn’t be safe for men or women alone. I’ll probably never walk or run in Central Park after dark, although it’s many times better than it was at the time of the Central Park jogger, I still have the ghosts of those days in my head. Curiously, I think the city’s growing homeless problem is less visible in Central Park than it is on the streets of midtown.
Great Pumpkin Run

Nice surprise in my email when I got home. I’d totally forgotten about this Strava challenge. Followed that up with a delicious smoothie, which might have had a little too much berry?

  • Saturday: plan was to get up and go, but then I decided to make coffee. Oops. I headed out mid afternoon after fuelling on something slightly more intelligent than coffee and Cheerios: coffee and the apple cinnamon quinoa Munk Pack pouch. Delicious!  The weather was absolutely perfect, if a bit chilly as I walked to Central Park. The plan called for 6.5 but considering my last long run was August 18 and even that was a run/walk due to the photos, I wanted to go longer. I headed out on my 15K loop, which I wish NYRR would adopt: go all the way down to the bottom of the park on the first loop and then cut over on the 72nd St. Transverse the second loop. The first two miles were mentally slow as molasses, but then I got into a groove and it was a really good run. I have the same question about Mile 1 as I did previously when I ran the loop. I think it might be legit, maybe? Overall I felt strong, even on the hills. Didn’t walk at all. Fun reading back on the last time I did this loop, also my last long run in Central Park and first outdoor long run since the Brooklyn Half. Eek.
  • Overall goal of this run was to see how I was feeling ahead of Bronx. Not starting was never a possibility because I need it to qualify for the NYC Half, but I really wasn’t sure if I’d be running or run walking. Although I didn’t quite get in ten miles, I’m confident that I can on race day if the weather is reasonable. It’s flatter than Central Park and I’ll have the adrenaline. Nice to see that although long runs have suffered in the heat, my running fitness hasn’t terribly. Original goal after Brooklyn was to focus on speed but stay in half marathon shape. While I’m not quite there, I’m not far off. My lungs were fine, it was my knee and hip slightly that weren’t. I’m optimistic for a good run at the end of the month. The pouch was perfect fuel amount for the long run. I think part of the reason my time was better too was fewer water stops. And, no photos. Also, love the new belt — and the way the water pouch is, I think it won’t suffer the same death as the prior with bottle bouncing.
rocking my Sarah Marie Design Studio replacement shirt to dinner
I almost ordered in, but siren song of sushi worth quads on the stairs

 

  • Sunday: rest day. New York Giants game so there will be steps. Could I have cross trained? Yes. But need day off after three days running in a row.