Hello friends! It's been a while since my last post and I apologize. Let me fill you in on life as of late:
After the NYC Marathon I went home for a quick weekend to surprise my grandma for her birthday (I still owe you a post on the NYC marathon - I could relive that day over and over again, it was so incredible!)
Celebrated my 29th birthday with SoulCycle, friends and bottomless brunch
Work was crazy through the end of the year which I was not prepared for
I went home to Reno for the holidays and had some solid couch/downtime
I have officially drank the SoulCycle koolaid and have been going just about every week since December
Started Training for the Paris marathon (at this point it's a short FOUR weeks away!)
Went to Tulum, Mexico for a friend's bachelorette weekend (working on a post for you soon because it was absolutely amazing)
And that's just the big things! I have been so excited for this year's adventures and challenges and so far it has not disappointed. I am working on a winter marathon training update to share with you because that's been one of the things taking up most of my time (and one of the biggest challenges I've faced this year).
In the meantime, tune back in Wednesday for a new outfit post with a brand that I absolutely love!
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!
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.
The last time we did a Fitness Friday post I gave you all the deets on my first triathlon experience. Since that post I started training for the New York City Marathon and I'm getting ready to wrap up week SEVEN of training. I'm on the 16 week NYRR Virtual Trainer plan so the fact that I'm almost halfway there is just crazy talk. But it's happening and I'm somehow just cruising right along. I say somehow because if you've been following me long enough, you know I was working through a crazy ITBand injury from the 2014 NYC Marathon. I just kinda limped along hoping it'd passively fix itself and it wasn't until February of this year that I decided to take control and overcome it. Since then I've run the Brooklyn Half Marathon and completed my tri. A few things I've done differently during this marathon training versus 2014: consistently warmed up and done dynamic stretches before every.single.run (I can't stress how important that is if you sit at a desk most of the day), consistently gone to physical therapy (I swear my PT has turned into my actual therapist at this point), consistently done strength training (definitely once if not twice a week) and actively incorporated cross training to mix it up (SoulCycle has been my go-to for this!).
Also, can we talk about how AMAZING these shorts are? They're Lululemon and have two side pockets (perfect for stashing my gummies, phone, keys and other essentials on a long run), they don't ride up and they're the perfect length. If you're in the market for new running shorts I highly recommend them!
Running and training continues to amaze me because literally every run is different and sometimes I have bad days where I have pain, some days I'm sluggish and some days I pound out 4 miles at a 9 min/mile pace (fast for me considering I usually run a 9:45-10 min pace). Will be sure to check in with you guys soon, in the meantime wish me luck on my 13 mile run this weekend...!
In January my passport arrived. February brought the most spontaneous trip I've ever been on when I hopped a flight to Hilton Head with Krista to escape the polar vortex that was our weather. In March the [big] trip planning began. What started as just a week in Italy evolved to include Paris and I was officially on the hunt for flights. I decided 2014 was the year I was going to run the New York City Marathon and found out I was officially training/running with Team for Kids. In April, I hit a home run at work when we got a marketing campaign approved for one of my clients. What would follow would be a series of short, killer events and a new "baby" for me to foster in the form of a new website and the most fun social media account of all our clients (disclaimer: I don't usually talk real life job stuff here but the whole campaign was definitely a major highlight for me). I also met David Bromstad at his Naturalizer launch event and would later host a live Google hangout interview with him about his second collection with Naturalizer. In May, one of my bestest girlfriends came to visit and I was so happy to be able to show her my life in NYC. June kicked off yet another "summer of yes." And the summer of spontaneous concerts (ex: purchasing Gov Ball tickets the night before it started - Outkast killed it and I relived some amazing musical memories). I went on my usual bi-yearly trip home for the Rodeo followed by the most amazing Fourth of July weekend at Lake Schroon. Zac Brown Band concert tickets were purchased the day before their show at PNC Bank Arts Center and I officially started marathon training. July also brought November Project into my life (thanks to my BRF - best running friend) and I would never look at group fitness the same again.
Happy Friday everyone! I have to admit, I've been very spoiled at work - prior to this week I hadn't worked a normal/full week at my job since the middle of August [insert guilty face emoji here]. As awesome as it was it was kind of a wake up call this week! I definitely had multiple cups of coffee days (that was probably due to the weather too - it was verrrry rainy this week).
I wanted to check in with you and get a little status update on my marathon training. And also, talk about being really real with you guys. Today's outfit is nothing special at all - I'm sure you're thinking a trench, leggings and sunnies? What? Well I have to admit, I've been living in these sneakers because I will not risk hurting my feet/legs by wearing heels and most of the time on the weekends lately I've been running around in my workout gear because when you're in pain most of the time comfort really does become key. Also I feel like I'm not being completely honest with you if I didn't show you my dressed down side once in a while.
Luckily my PT is amazing and I'm on the mend from my little IT band injury (after 2 sessions a week for the last couple of weeks) and I'm bound and determined to finish this marathon. And make it a great race. I had a lot of doubts but I completed 17 miles last weekend (12 running, 5 quick walking) and it really gave me a mental boost. And on race day, it's honestly about 80% mental. I'm definitely starting to feel a little overwhlemed because I realized this is the largest race I've ever run (I think NWM was only like 15,000 runners). In the end though, I'm just going to focus on the journey and enjoy myself. I keep visualizing my November Project peeps waiting for me at the #mile14 takeover (they're working the water station!) and my friends waiting for me at the end. They've been nothing short of supportive and they can't even begin to understand how much it's meant for me to constantly yap about the race and running and my injury and blah, blah, blah.
H&M Trench Coat (similar here), Fabletics Leggings (similar here), Under Armour Shoes (c/o), Old Navy Bucket Bag (similar here), Amazon Sunnies
So here goes - I'll check in with you either next week or the week after to let you know how it went!
Let’s do a little marathon training check in shall we?I’ve never done a dedicated fitness post on this blog (I’ve alluded to actually working out multiple times and if you follow me on social you know I like to get sweaty sometimes and you may or may not have noticed I’m training for the NYC marathon). Hang with me, it's a bit lengthy today but I really felt like I needed to get this all out.
Let’s talk about my journey, shall we?Back in January I decided I was over being an asshole and not taking care of my health.I’ve always eaten healthy (for the most part, although I do love me some pizza, fried food and desserts but who doesn’t?) but since moving to NYC eating healthy on the reg was a challenge (yes, the “busy” excuse was thrown around a lot).So this year, I made a vow to start putting my health first. I also hit the gym again until you guessed it, mid-February, when my oomph wore off a little (and the polar vortex and a cold and any other excuse...).Come March I decided 2014 was the year I was going to run the NYC marathon.[Major sidenote, it had been 2 years since my last race (Huntington Half!) but I felt like it was time.]NYC has been on my running bucket list and I’m living here now and I finally found my groove, so why not?I didn’t make it into the lottery but I was blessed to be chosen as a sweepstakes winner to run for Team for Kids and TCS paid for my fundraising obligation.Yes I realize this is a HUGE deal and a major blessing, so now it’s go time.Right?Wrong.I started to dabble in running again in April and May, completed our busy season at work in June, went home for vacay, went to the lakehouse for Fourth of July, still needed a little recovery from my vacation so I started training the week of July 14.Let’s make a note that TFK started training in May and they had already been doing 12-14 mile runs at this point.My longest here was 7.Also back up a bit, I signed up for ClassPass in May and hit that first month hard.Like worked out more frequently than I had in a long ass time (18 classes in one month.Go.Me.).Feeling like I was in amazing shape, I started training.And then ClassPass kinda fell off.I stopped doing barre and Cyc and just started running more.I did my first long run at a NYRR practice run in CP and felt amazing.14 miles done and done and felt so good.Until about 3 hours after my run.And then foot pain.2.5 weeks later I was finally feeling up to running again (mind you, I only did yoga a couple of times in between but otherwise didn’t work out much because it hurt to walk.Super fun.Not.).I had also been missing November Project* which had quickly become an obsession of mine (it might have also contributed to me pushing myself too far because even after those 14 miles that Sunday I did another 4 to get to the NP Social that night.Yes, you’re reading that correctly, I ran 18 miles that day.Dumb.But I would have had such bad #NPFOMO!). *More on November Project in an upcoming post.
Fast forward to now.I had to completely revise my training plan to build up miles again and I am still struggling to fight off these injuries (including now maje IT band issues and am seeing a PT at least twice a week).Some things I’m learning and wanted to share (and no, this is not all a complete revelation for me):
-You MUST have strong hips to run.I sit at my desk most days and I haven’t focused on these babies at all, but it is imperative to have strong hips. And glutes. Strong hips = better running gait (that's basically the way your feet land when you run) because it starts from the top down. I'm also currently working on the 30 day glute challenge per the doc to strengthening these bad boys at lightening speed.
-Shoes.DO NOT start training for your race in shoes that you wore at your last race 2 years ago.Dumb, I know, I was just too busy to go to the damn running store and get a new pair.PS-my new go-to running store in NYC is NewYork Running Company because they def know their ish.
-Cross training: just do it.You need to regularly do cross training (and specifically strength training) because it will help SO.MUCH.Just like the hip thing.And you can usually do a pretty good leg workout in about 15 minutes if you’re pressed for time (my Nike Training Club app is my favorite).
-Yoga/Stretching: makes the world of difference.Make yoga a thing. I love hot yoga at YTTP.
And now onto this sick gear I’m wearing in today’s post.Under Armor had an amazing event during Fashion Week that I attended with Jackie to kick off their #IWillWhatIWant campaign. #IWillWhatIWant is "a reminder that you don't need permission, advice or affirmation when you have WILL. It’s a celebration of who you are. As an athlete. As a woman. As everything in between and beyond. It’s a reminder that the best things in life aren't given. They’re earned. And there’s one reason you are where you are today. That reason is you." With that said, despite the ups and downs I've had with this marathon training, I'm beyond determined to finish this race and I know my WILL will get me there. I can't wait to tell you guys about my race day experience and thank you for taking the time to read today's post (and for reading in general).
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