My NYC Marathon Training Journal! (Comments welcome)

Hi Kim,
Great job on the runs-the humidity is killing me out here. Would love to do the Nike 1/2 sometime- great bling!

The NY half I have thought about as well-the route is so cool and historic.


Linda

Thanks! Not a lot of humidity out here thankfully. That would kill me. I'm such a wimp when it comes to heat. :rotfl2: I saw you're from Westfield, it that in west or east MA? My sister lives in Somerville outside of Boston.

Cut it short a mile today, just didn't have it in me. Went to the gym for my leg workout, but cut that one short too. That was my fault though, barelly ate anything yesterday. Like I said above, I'm a total wimp when it comes to heat and was just really sluggish all day yesterday. Now when it comes to cold, no problem, colder the better. :goodvibes However, I did get to the pool today and got an hour in there, which was good. I would've stayed longer, but it was getting crowded and had to start swimming around people, so I left.

The plank challege is going well; today was an off day, but did 2 1/2 minutes yesterday. Took a couple of days off from the ab challenge, it's not the leg raises or crunches, it's the full sit-ups that are killing me.
 
Subscribing! I am running NYC through guaranteed entry next year (3 no's). I start training for Dopey Tuesday, would love to follow along :)
 
Subscribing! I am running NYC through guaranteed entry next year (3 no's). I start training for Dopey Tuesday, would love to follow along :)

Thanks! Good luck training for Dopey!

I was supposed to get a short 5miler in this morning, but woke up w/ a bad migrane, still have it just not as bad. I'll play it by ear tonight if my head is better.

Tomorrow is 7 and gym for my leg workout. I'm crossing my fingers for a short day w/ the 4th the next day so I can hopefully get down to the pool for some laps.
 
1/2 day at work today!!:yay:

Got my run in this morning. Still a little warm, but that's okay. I got a good weight training session in too. My legs felt really strong throughout the sets, so I think next weight machine session, I'll try adding another 5 reps to see how that goes. And b/c I got off work early, I was able to get down to the pool. There were so many little kids from day camps, it was adorable. They also had out an inflatible obstacle course that they were able to go across. It threw off my head though, b/c for the past 2 weeks I've been going the length of the pool and goes the width makes you feel so much faster and stronger. :rotfl2:

Happy 4th everyone!!! pixiedust:
 


Following your posts :-)

Thanks!

Back from a short vacation. I met my sister in Chicago for the long weekend. Such a fun city and tons of stuff to do! And as much as I love my Giants, there is honestly no better place to spend a Friday afternoon than in the bleachers at Wrigley Field. I love that ballpark! I was able to get my runs and some gym time in there. I know Boston is a big running city, but I have never seen so many people running as I did Sunday morning, and it's great there ~ they have a path along the lake just for running and biking. I went into the Nike store and absolutely fell in love with one of the running shirts, it's the breeze model. Oh my god, it is so light weight!! It's perfect for summer when it's on the warm side. At the time I thought I was lucky b/c they didn't have my size, but then the girl told me they had them online and of course 2 colors are on sale and in my size!

My training schedule is a little off this week. My scheduled days off were yesterday and today. I could have switched it up, but Fri is so light, I figured why not. Mileage-wise, I have 5,3,3,4 & 10 on Sun. Temps are cooler this week and my beautiful coastal fog has been here the past 2 days. :cloud9:

On the disney side of things, got registered for the Tink 10k and ½. I'm 99% on the 5k too, just waiting a bit for some extra money. The ½'s already at 64%, but that's the only race w/ a % right now. What a difference no challenge makes for the 10k! DDD is only 8 weeks away now and it couldn't come any faster. :mickeyjum I had an AP last year and went so much, but didn't renew it after Tink and am in w/drawls. I haven't been since Tink and it seems like the commercials are really amping up right now taunting me. Lol!
 
So Sunday's run wasn't good. It was a combination of staying up late watching Timmy's no-hitter post game stuff and no legs. Strength training was the same way~ just nothing there. But that's okay, not every run or workout will be good and it's what you can learn from them that is sometimes better than a good run, or so I've been told! :goodvibes

And this morning, I was bad and skipped my run. It was a short run, and I know that's bad, but according to my schedule I could do the run or cross training, so I went to the gym and hopped onto the bike. So at least I did something! :rotfl2:

On a happy front, my dad called about what flights I had out to NY for the race, b/c he's trying to book his flights to come out w/ me! :woohoo: He said he was going, but he also told me he was going out to WDW in Jan w/ me and ended up ditching me to go visit my sister, so I had a few reservations about whether or not he would actually go. The upside for him is that he gets to experience a major marathon as a spectator and see the flip side of the race ~ I'm usually the one watching him in Boston.

My running schedule for the rest of the week is 5/5/4/11.
 


Hi Kim,
Awesome job on the working out. We have had about a month of straight humidity with maybe 1 or 2 day break-not good for working out,even the air conditioners cant keep up.


I am from western Ma probably about 1 1/2 hrs from your sister, so she has had this heat too!!!!! We get a break Sunday 82 and dry-about time- I may run ALL day!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!


Have a good one!!!!!


Linda
 
Kim...I following your posts !!!

Thank you Miss Vicki! Only 5 more weeks to DL!!!

Hi Kim,
Awesome job on the working out. We have had about a month of straight humidity with maybe 1 or 2 day break-not good for working out,even the air conditioners cant keep up.


I am from western Ma probably about 1 1/2 hrs from your sister, so she has had this heat too!!!!! We get a break Sunday 82 and dry-about time- I may run ALL day!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!


Have a good one!!!!!


Linda

Thanks! Hope the weather's good now for you. I haven't talked to my sister in a few days to catch up and I've missed morning weather updates b/c I was watching the Tour de France instead of GMA. That's funny you mentioned AC's b/c when I talked to my sister last weekend, she actually blew out the electricity trying to hook up a new one she just bought!

Weeked runs were good, a little slower yesterday than I wanted but overall were good.

This week is nice and consistent ~ all 5's and another 11 on Sunday. And I'm really going to try and update after every workout from now on. My little distance emails from training say I should be writing distance, terrain, how I felt, that way I can look back every few weeks to make changes if neccesary. Opps! :blush: 15 more weeks til NY!! :yay:
 
Got my run in this morning. I actually had a tiny little sprinkle for a couple of minutes too while I was out there which was new and fun. It wasn't quite the crazy down pour of rain that I ran in for the RnR Providence a few years back; that was the most insane weather I have ever run in! I didn't have my watch and lost my Nike sensor but it felt like a negative split which is good. My legs felt strong and I pushed the intervals a little bit. I ran my usual route ~ I have 2: 1 for 3/4 and then 1 for anything 5 and over.

Afterwards went to the gym for some upper body work. My bicep curls went really well today usually I have to push to get to the 20 for each set and today I got in 25! Started to feel it a little at the end of the 3rd, but I was happy with it.
 
Thank you Miss Vicki! Only 5 more weeks to DL!!!


I know!!!!! Can't wait to get back down to the park. Did some hill work today on a short run...hill suck :lmao:

Hope your training is going well. Keep up the good work. :thumbsup2
 
I know!!!!! Can't wait to get back down to the park. Did some hill work today on a short run...hill suck :lmao:

Hope your training is going well. Keep up the good work. :thumbsup2

Yay hills! :rotfl2: Actually, I shouldn't joke, that's on the schedule for Thursday.

I got my long run in, and it was both a really good learning experience and one of the weirdest runs I've ever run.

They always say to try things out and play around/experiment w/ new things before race day and they couldn't be more right. A few weeks ago, NYRR had a 1/2 off sale on all training gear so I bought a "Training for NYC '13" shirt that I would use for my long runs. It's an Asics shirt and a running shirt, so I thought it would be great. Unfortunately, for some reason, it is not breathable to me at all; I was so hot a mile in I was actually pulling the head hole out a little bit for some air. And I could actually feel my face getting red. The one good thing was that on the way back there was a slight head wind so I was able to cool off a little.

But the good thing was that while I was trying to not concentrate on being hot, I was really trying to focus on my body and form. I really have to work on keeping my shoulders down and my head up. I've always had that problem in the past and the mornings after a race my neck and shoulders are always tight. I also noticed that my back was getting a little tight towards the end of the run. I've been doing a couple of lower back machines at the gym during strength training, but I think I have to add supermans back into the mix. Legs are okay, they were good during the run, but a little tight right now, so I have to roll them out a bit.

It was also one of the weirdest runs I've ever had too. There was a guy who passed me on my way back. We were about .1 away from the expressway and I know he didn't make the light. However, when I got to the light, he was gone!!! He wasn't on the other side of the light, on the expressway (there's a small paved part), or in the parking lot of the shopping center on the other side of the expressway. He disappeared! I know I wasn't hallucinating, b/c he said "Good morning" to me and I said it back; it was just weird.

Then about 1/2 mile up from that, I saw a biker coming at me on the road, bright lime jacket and blue helmet just like my dad. As he rode by me, I was looking at him and he looked exactly like my dad; I really thought it was him. I realized a few minutes later it wasn't him b/c the guy was on a mountain bike and not a road bike like my dad would've been had it been him. It was just a crazy few miles at the end of my run.

I also stopped by the Sports Basement today for some supplies, and they had a new gu flavor!! :yay: It's salted caramel. Mmmmm... Only thing was that they were only selling it in the small boxes, so I had to get 8 of them, hope they're good. I'll let you know when I try it out next weekend.
 
Yay hills! :rotfl2: Actually, I shouldn't joke, that's on the schedule for Thursday.

I got my long run in, and it was both a really good learning experience and one of the weirdest runs I've ever run.

They always say to try things out and play around/experiment w/ new things before race day and they couldn't be more right. A few weeks ago, NYRR had a 1/2 off sale on all training gear so I bought a "Training for NYC '13" shirt that I would use for my long runs. It's an Asics shirt and a running shirt, so I thought it would be great. Unfortunately, for some reason, it is not breathable to me at all; I was so hot a mile in I was actually pulling the head hole out a little bit for some air. And I could actually feel my face getting red. The one good thing was that on the way back there was a slight head wind so I was able to cool off a little.

But the good thing was that while I was trying to not concentrate on being hot, I was really trying to focus on my body and form. I really have to work on keeping my shoulders down and my head up. I've always had that problem in the past and the mornings after a race my neck and shoulders are always tight. I also noticed that my back was getting a little tight towards the end of the run. I've been doing a couple of lower back machines at the gym during strength training, but I think I have to add supermans back into the mix. Legs are okay, they were good during the run, but a little tight right now, so I have to roll them out a bit.

It was also one of the weirdest runs I've ever had too. There was a guy who passed me on my way back. We were about .1 away from the expressway and I know he didn't make the light. However, when I got to the light, he was gone!!! He wasn't on the other side of the light, on the expressway (there's a small paved part), or in the parking lot of the shopping center on the other side of the expressway. He disappeared! I know I wasn't hallucinating, b/c he said "Good morning" to me and I said it back; it was just weird.

Then about 1/2 mile up from that, I saw a biker coming at me on the road, bright lime jacket and blue helmet just like my dad. As he rode by me, I was looking at him and he looked exactly like my dad; I really thought it was him. I realized a few minutes later it wasn't him b/c the guy was on a mountain bike and not a road bike like my dad would've been had it been him. It was just a crazy few miles at the end of my run.

I also stopped by the Sports Basement today for some supplies, and they had a new gu flavor!! :yay: It's salted caramel. Mmmmm... Only thing was that they were only selling it in the small boxes, so I had to get 8 of them, hope they're good. I'll let you know when I try it out next weekend.

Boy it does sound like you had a weird run. :confused3:confused3 Too bad about the shirt. Thank goodness you tried it out before.
 
Boy it does sound like you had a weird run. :confused3:confused3

Yes, definitely weird. :goodvibes

Runs have been okay this week. The weather and coastal fog has been out the past 2 days which is awesome. I was wrong about the hills workout tomorrow ~ that's next week. Tomorrow is 6, but a fartlek six. Interestingly, it's not a pyramid fartlek like I've done in the past, it's 3 miles warm-up, 6x1 min hard w/ 30 sec recovery and then finish up the 2-3 miles. So I'm going to bring my watch and do it on the road, which is always better than the treadmill. Then this weekend I have a 4 on Sat and 12-13 on Sun.

I also ordered and got my iron decal for the DDD 10k last night. I love it!! :love: After my long run this weekend, and maybe gym if my legs are good (?), I have to head over to Michael's for the finishing touches and my running shirts are complete. They had some purple ribbon w/ tiger/zebra print on it for 99¢ so I picked it up and am going to tie it around my ponytail. With the courses officially being announced and waivers out, I am ready to for the races. And it's taking everything I have not to start packing now. :rotfl2: Although I'll probably start making my list next week...
 
It's been a long couple of days. I didn't sleep at all Thursday-Saturday and when I did, it was just bad dream after bad dream. Because of no sleep, my runs and strength training have been really sluggish. And to add to that, my lab has stopped eating any dog food. Over the weekend, she was eating "people" meat like chicken and turkey breast as well as hot dogs, but this morning she wouldn't even eat the turkey. I'm really hoping that she'll eat some tonight.

So here's hoping for a better week for the both of us. On the schedule I have 6/4/6/4/14.
 
Long, stressful week last week. I got everything in; it just was not a fun week at all. Like I mentioned last post, my lab had stopped eating over the weekend; she was pretty much just lying around ~ no barking or anything. She was eating a little bit of turkey and chicken breast meat and started eating some cheerios, but not a lot of either. And more than once, even that didn’t stay down for very long. Even though she wasn’t eating her dog food, I was still doing breakfast and dinner like usual on the off chance that she would eat something, but no go. But Friday night, she started eating again!!! :yay::yay: When I saw her eating, I swear I almost started crying I was so happy. And she’s eaten pretty much every breakfast and dinner since then. She’s barking and bark/talking at me again, trying to jump up on the couch and my bed to sleep, a complete 180. She turns 13 sometime this month and I know time isn’t on her side, but I just wasn’t ready to do what I thought I would have to do.

So onto training! I’m supposed to do 7/7/4/4/15 this week and speed again, but I’m going rogue and changing the weekday stuff up a bit. :cool2:

I did my short run this morning and didn’t do speed work ~ I went up to a nearby city park/trail/open area place for some hill work. The hill when you 1st get there is pretty gnarly so after a short warm up, all I did was run up and down that hill. It’s not a crazy San Francisco hill, but steep enough. My quads are a little sore, but I think it’s more from running down the hill and not up it. They were actually really burning after the workout and totally out of breath, but it felt so good. That’s not sadistic, is it? :goodvibes I’m 90% sure I’m going to go back and do another hill workout next week instead of speed work. I know speed stuff is good and makes you go faster, but there are a few over/underpasses in DL and there are bridges in NY especially the one around Mile 15, and I would rather be prepared for the bridges in the middle of race when your body is really starting to feel the distance than my time. I know I want a good time, but feeling confident going into the race and finishing the race is more important than time. B/c I got home later than I would on a regular run, I just did some lower leg strength stuff at home, no gym. Tomorrow and Thursday I’m going to do 5/10 to simulate a shorter DDD.

And speaking of DDD… I finished my 10k shirt, and I love it. So now everything is finished and ready to go for DL!! Now the waiting game begins. This little ditty pretty much sums up where my head is at right now:
 
The rest of the runs this week went okay. Legs were a little heavy yesterday, not sore, just heavy. Wednesday I was a little surprise ~ I was expecting to be sore b/c of the incline of the hill from Tuesday, but it was actually my ankles from the way my feet were angeled going up and down the hill.

But I have been kind of lazy this week ~ no gym at all. :upsidedow I did do some body weight stuff on the bosu ball after hills on Tuesday, but that's it. So we'll see how it goes on Sunday to see if I can make it after my long run. I think I might try my 1st ice bath this weekend to see how it works out for me.

I also finished a book about the race from '07. Each chapter is broken down by miles and tells stories about the pros and a few "regular" people and a tad about each part of the race. I've watched a few course videos and when I was at the end of the book when they reached Central Park all of a sudden it sunk in and became very real that I was actually and finally going to be running this in a few short months. I have to admit, I'm kinda starting to feel a little overwhelmed. I know by race day I'll be ready for the distance, but I just feel so far away from being there. And all the people...:faint: I thought WDW was crowded in Jan! At least the roads are bigger and we're spaced out for the 1st 8 miles. I just have to keep thinking happy thoughts on my runs!
 
No long run this morning. :( I didn't feel good yesterday so didn't get a short run in, and then this morning I woke up around 2:30 and couldn't fall back asleep, still not feeling well. I got out for a short one this morning and just didn't have any energy. But on the upside, legs did feel good I just couldn't go fast and my intervals were really slow. Just nothing there. Plus, time of day-wise, it ended up being somewhat of a good mini-training run, b/c b/w the coastal fog we've had recently and getting up so early for long runs and a little bit later for my mid-week runs, I haven't really run in the sun. And I'll be in the sun in DL in a few weeks unless we get some coastal fog like we used too and in NY ~ I won't even start until 10:30-11.

So now, long run's tomorrow.
 
Long run was slow and sluggish, but done. I feel better today, but really tired. I could go to bed right now and not even wake up until tomorrow. Perfect example was my hill workout today. My legs actually felt okay going up and down the hill, but just no energy pushing me.

Hopefully tomorrow's better. I'm trying to get a good 10 in, so we'll see.

And we're getting closer to DL! I am now officially in the single digits. I did some packing already. :rolleyes1 I'm about ¾ the way done, really only have my running stuff that I can't pack left. Everything else is set ~ booked my shuttle last week, hotel's done, flight's done just printed put my waiver and the weather outlook is starting; Friday looks really nice. Gotta start my DL movie marathon going tonight.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top