Fitness Friday: One Week Countdown

I love fall mornings in the park with the mist over the Great Lawn

We're a total of 9 days away from the NYC Marathon and sh*t has gotten really real over the past few weeks.  We've received our bib #s and start times and I've completed my 20 mile long run.  I came back from my forced 10 day break and got right back into things and was feeling great and somewhat caught up on mileage so I decided I was ready to tackle a full 20 mile run (part of me had debating just doing 18 because I was nervous as hell...).  It went off without a hitch and was one of the best long training runs I've ever had.  Needless to say it gave me a ton of confidence for the big day!  I am gearing up for the "last 10" mile run this weekend - it's organized by Jack Rabbit and Nike and we run the last 10 miles of the marathon course.  Undoubtedly some of the hardest miles because it has the most hills and it's where people tend to start to struggle a bit.  This part of the course was fairly blurry to me from the last time I ran the marathon because all I could focus on was getting across the finish line and trying to block out the pain I was in.  So I'm definitely ready to soak in this part of the course and know there won't be many surprises on race day. 

Pre-20 mile run!

Post-20 mile run and still smiling!!!

I'm also in the "taper" phase where mileage has decreased significantly and if you know any other runners this phase can be a little bit of a mind f*ck as well.  You start to feel phantom pains that weren't there before and it's also a bit of an emotional roller coaster (in weird ways I can't really explain).  For example, I got super depressed last Friday because work had been so busy and I was just exhausted and feeling really alone/isolated because I had made zero plans except my long run.  A little weird, I know, but all part of the training I guess! 

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Fitness Friday: Marathon Training Update

Hard to believe we're in week 10 of marathon training!  I'm currently on a bit of an unplanned break from training due to a mole removal (and the addition of 5 lovely stitches on my sternum) so I'm really interested to see how the rest of my training goes!  Luckily I have the NYRR Virtual Trainer coaches and my physical therapist to consult with (it truly takes a village sometimes) to get me back on my feet after I get my stitches out.  Until then, let's recap the last couple weeks, shall we?

Amazing sunset on an evening run

When I left you last I was getting ready to tackle a 13 mile run: 9/3/16 - 13.5 miles around Central Park @ 9:51 pace - this was a great LTR and the first taste of fall running weather which was amazing! 9/4/16 - respected the rest day and took it easy 9/5/16 - rest day in the running department but did a leg workout of squat jumps, curtsey lunges, side lunges and mountain climbers for good measure 9/6/16 - my first solo speed workout (and first intervals since high school!).  I did 6 x 1,000M repeats and with warm up and cool down clocked 6 miles @ 9:38 pace.  Intervals were all sub 4:40 which was awesome. I struggled with a side stitch through some of it which was annoying but was super proud of myself for getting out there even without a running buddy! 9/7/16 - rest day! 9/8/16 - 6.1 mile run at 9:18 pace 9/9/16 - SoulCycle!  Super important cross training but I was tired as hell and the class was hard! 9/10/16 - 15.2 mile run!  My friend Tricia and I ran up the West side to the Little Red Lighthouse under the GW Bridge.  It was so great to mix it up with scenery outside of Central Park.  It was humid as hell and I had no idea how much the weather took out of me until about 6 PM that night when I wanted to crash during NYFW events

All smiles after 15 miles!  And re-fueling with a Juice Press Vanilla Protein + Cold Brew shake - so good.

9/11/16 - rest day!  I'm slowly learning to love these 9/12/16 - 4 miles @ 10:11 pace.  I was really irritated that I felt so sluggish on this run but then Tricia pointed out that I was likely still recovering from the long run on Saturday which was probably true.   9/13/16 - intervals!  I got up early and knocked out 5 x 800 repeats all under 3:45 which was incredible.  I had no idea I could run that fast but I was really focused on my cadence and it made such a difference.  Total was 6.6 miles at 8:56 pace. 9/14/16 - rest day! 9/15/16 - rest day due to travel (went to Santa Barbara for a friend's wedding!) 9/16/16 - despite getting a lot of sh*t from my friends for going to bed so early (hello jetlag), I was wide awake and ready for an LTR in Santa Barbara.  I knocked out 11.2 miles at 10:30 pace and I had a smile on my face the entire time because the scenery was just so beautiful.  Forget the elevation gain I had to endure to get from our house to the beach because once I saw the Pacific Ocean I couldn't get the pep out of my step.  

Not a bad view during the run!  Definitely not in Central Park anymore

9/17/16 - rest day (also bestie's wedding day!) 9/18/16 - rest day (and travel day) 9/19/16 - HIIT strength training class.  I had really wanted to get some miles in but I was so tired from traveling I knew it wouldn't happen. 9/20/16 - 6.1 miles @ 8:35 pace.  I was still super tired but went out for a run anyway since it had been so many days in between and I knew I was looking at about 2 weeks off.  I have no idea where my speed came from but I just kinda went and let my feet take me and I ended up having an amazingly fast run.  I was also starting to wonder if the speedwork has been helping a little!
And that brings us to today.  Wish me luck that I don't go totally stir crazy until I can run again.  Check back in a couple of weeks to see what I've done in my down time (the goal is to continue with mobility stuff and hip strength but we'll see how the healing is going) and what my plan of attack is going to be.  

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