Life After Marathons: A Running/barre3/Coffee/Life Journal

[Bree]

Awesome race and congrats on the PR!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

The best part was … even though I was struggling, I was still having an awesome time. Even the rough parts of this race were so much fun.

I think this sums up everything running should be about.

Such a great recap of an amazing race! Congratulations again!!

 

[KSellers88]

I'm not much of a crier, but I definitely got chills reading your recap! I am so incredibly happy and excited for you. Amazing job! HUGE Congrats!

 

[cavepig]

Great recap! Whew, Glad you didn't go down with the pothole!!! Awesome runnin'! Thanks for sharing as I have never been to New York and it's fun to read, like getting on trains like you mention I would be so clueless! Oh and crying is awesome, I totally cried down Main St. at the marathon this year!

 

[jennamfeo]

GREAT JOB!!! I had full intentions of tracking you until I realized that with the time difference you would be done before I even woke up. And I was right, but the first thing I did when I woke up was pull your info up the in NYRR app to see how well you did! CRUSHED IT. Super proud of you and all the fun you had!

 

[PCFriar80]

Nice job on the race and conquering those wind tunnels! Too bad you couldn't have taken a left on 33rd or 34th street and ran by MSG!

 

[Dis5150]

Great job Sarah! You did awesome! Congratulations on your PR! I think I already said all this on the running thread but it’s doubly true!

 

[SarahDisney]

Congratulations! What a great day!

Thank you! It really was a great day!

LOVE the recap. What an amazing race and sounds like you had such a great time and when you couple that with a new PR, well, you can't ask for much more than that. So proud of you. Congratulations!

Thank you! Between the experience and the PR, I have no complaints (okay, minimal complaints) about the race!

Fantastic recap. Very well written and such a great experience! Proud of you!

Thank you, and thank you so much for helping me achieve my goals!
Also ... of course it's well written. I used to be a writer (not professionally, but as a hobby). Did you not get that from my rambling weekly recaps?

Great job on your race! Congratulations!!

Thank you so much!

Awesome race and congrats on the PR!

Thank you!!

I think this sums up everything running should be about.

Yes!! This race really helped me rediscover the fun of running, which is something I've been lightly struggling with lately.

Such a great recap of an amazing race! Congratulations again!!

Thank you!

I'm not much of a crier, but I definitely got chills reading your recap! I am so incredibly happy and excited for you. Amazing job! HUGE Congrats!

Aww, thanks! It really was such a special experience!

Great recap! Whew, Glad you didn't go down with the pothole!!! Awesome runnin'! Thanks for sharing as I have never been to New York and it's fun to read, like getting on trains like you mention I would be so clueless! Oh and crying is awesome, I totally cried down Main St. at the marathon this year!

Thank you! Yeah, that pothole was a close call (and I saw someone fall later in the race (thankfully, she was okay), so I was extra grateful that I didn't go down).
I'm all about the best subway routes ... which is why I keep trying new ways to get to/from work. Somehow no matter what I try, it takes too long ...
And I'm sure that when I do the WDW marathon there will be a lot of crying. A lot.

GREAT JOB!!! I had full intentions of tracking you until I realized that with the time difference you would be done before I even woke up. And I was right, but the first thing I did when I woke up was pull your info up the in NYRR app to see how well you did! CRUSHED IT. Super proud of you and all the fun you had!

Thank you!
You must have woken up right after I finished, since I saw your Instagram message when I was still in the post-race area - it was the first congratulatory message I got, and I really appreciated it!
(I'm bad with time differences, but I finished at 11:11, which was either 9:11 or 8:11 for you, depending on whether you're 2 or 3 hours behind me - I can't remember right now)

Nice job on the race and conquering those wind tunnels! Too bad you couldn't have taken a left on 33rd or 34th street and ran by MSG!

Thank you!
Yeah, I wouldn't have said no to running past MSG ... would have been much better than running past Barclay Center. Nobody cares about the Barclay Center, and MSG is the greatest arena in the world.

Great job Sarah! You did awesome! Congratulations on your PR! I think I already said all this on the running thread but it’s doubly true!

Thank you so much!!

 

[FredtheDuck]

What an awesome recap! You did an amazing job with this race, and I'm so glad you kept your goal to have fun top-of-mind. Congrats on that shiny new PR, too!!

 

[jennamfeo]

You must have woken up right after I finished, since I saw your Instagram message when I was still in the post-race area - it was the first congratulatory message I got, and I really appreciated it!
(I'm bad with time differences, but I finished at 11:11, which was either 9:11 or 8:11 for you, depending on whether you're 2 or 3 hours behind me - I can't remember right now)

Awww! Yay! We have a 3 hour difference right now, so it must have been around 8:15 when I woke up.

 

[SarahDisney]

What an awesome recap! You did an amazing job with this race, and I'm so glad you kept your goal to have fun top-of-mind. Congrats on that shiny new PR, too!!

Thank you! Once the race got started (and I defrosted), it was pretty easy to just have fun, so that was a pretty easy goal to reach!

 

[SarahDisney]

Training Plan Thoughts/What’s Next
​

Two months ago I ran the Fred Lebow Half Marathon and got a personal worst time.
This week I ran the United Airlines NYC Half with a personal best time.

So, what was the difference? There were a few differences (including very different courses), but I think the biggest factor was probably my @DopeyBadger plan.

I had always been a “run however I want” type of person, but having someone help me understand the principles of training effectively was really a game changer. (Although I apparently don’t understand things as well as I thought, since I tried to introduce a new type of workout to my new plan and did it all wrong … but I’m getting there)

I’ve already shared my testimonial, but I wanted to go a little deeper into my thoughts on the plan:

Paces – The easy paces took some adjustment, but I did eventually get the hang of them. HM Tempo was probably my hardest adjustment, and I never really got used to it. I think 10K pace was my favorite pace … I really enjoyed pushing and seeing how fast it made me!

Pace vs. Effort – One of the things that I was very hesitant about with this plan was the emphasis of hitting certain paces, which is not something I’ve focused on much before. I realized very early in the plan that the paces are not at all important. I prefer to run by effort, and that’s what I did on this plan. The paces were just a guideline for whether or not my effort was what it should be. If I think I’m running at easy effort but my pace is a minute too fast, then I need to figure out if the pace is that wrong or if I’m assessing my effort wrong. Same with faster paces – am I putting in the right amount of effort that corresponds to the pace I’m looking for? I found that when I focused on effort rather than pace it made the runs less stressful, and most of the time I wasn’t that far off pace.

Distribution of Miles – Previously, I had always done long long runs on Sundays and shorter mid-week runs. I was still doing that on this plan … but the long runs were shorter and there were more miles mid-week. I thought it would be a tough adjustment for me, but it really wasn’t. I need to get better at actually waking up on Sundays (it’s easier to get out of the house before 7 if I know that I have 2.5 hours of running ahead of me), but once I do that, I think I will appreciate the (sometimes) shorter Sunday runs. (I do miss my 5 mile/1 hour Sundays a bit, but the 7 miles isn’t the worst)

Overall - Honestly, it went better than I expected. I even got used to drinking chocolate milk after some of my runs. I was definitely skeptical going in, but it turned out to be a great plan and a great training philosophy for me.

What's Next:
My next race is the Run As One 4M on April 22nd. Goal is continuous running, preferably at a pace around 11:00 or below. Coach and I are still ironing out the details of the plan (I'm designing it with his input - we're almost there, I just need to fix a few workouts where I was trying to create a bad habit). While I'm training for that race, I have to figure out what my next "A" race will be - I have three candidates, so I have to figure out the merits and detriments of each.

My next journal update will probably be a #buyallthethings update ... I currently have 5 different new sports bras hanging around my room (spoiler alert: some of them are getting sent back to Amazon/Zappos)

One Last Note:
aka #BuyAllTheThings: Shoe Edition
Even though the NB 880v8 is not yet in stores, it is available online. I'm waiting to buy it in store, since it's a new version and I want to make sure it's still comfortable (also, after Sunday's race, I'm thinking I may need to stop being stubborn and size up), but I did look at the colors online. Since I'm buying it from a New Balance store (I go to the NB RunHub at NYRR RUNCENTER, so I get the NB expertise (and rewards program...) + runner-centric store - best of both worlds), I think I should be able to get whatever color I want. Here are the two I'm most interested in - would love to see what other people like! (Sorry about the extra large images, but I just yanked them from the NB website)

Blue Iris with Pigment:

Guava with Vintage Indigo:

Thoughts?

 

[SarahDisney]

Also - forgot to add - I went to a different Starbucks than usual today, and they asked if I wanted some Reserve espresso from Tanzania in my latte. I should have said yes (especially because I was using a free drink), but I decided to stick with my usual regular espresso. Has anyone had this reserve espresso? Should I have tried it?

Also, I've had the blonde espresso a few times, and I think I don't like it as much as the regular. It's okay if I get extra stars for blonde (that happened last week), but I don't think I'm going out of my way to order it.

 

[DopeyBadger]

A solid overview. It's nice to read the core philosophies from the other perspective.

 

[FredtheDuck]

Personally, I LOVE to iris NB you showed. In fact, I'm now off to the NB website to see if they update to the 1400s will come in a color like that!

Oh, also, props to you for writing your own training plan! I have been wondering lately if I should start thinking of doing the same in the future, not because I don't want Coach's help (I really value it!), but because some of my races have less ambitious goals and I feel bad bugging him when I know he has so many other runners going for bigger things. Curious to know what the bad habit you're removing was?

 

[Andie16]

Congratulations on your race result! I keep smiling thinking of you barrelling into the finish chute shouting "I'm not going to cry!" I'll bet you made the day of many volunteers who got to join in on your PR excitement!

 

[KSellers88]

Training Plan Thoughts/What’s Next
​

Two months ago I ran the Fred Lebow Half Marathon and got a personal worst time.
This week I ran the United Airlines NYC Half with a personal best time.

So, what was the difference? There were a few differences (including very different courses), but I think the biggest factor was probably my @DopeyBadger plan.

I had always been a “run however I want” type of person, but having someone help me understand the principles of training effectively was really a game changer. (Although I apparently don’t understand things as well as I thought, since I tried to introduce a new type of workout to my new plan and did it all wrong … but I’m getting there)

I’ve already shared my testimonial, but I wanted to go a little deeper into my thoughts on the plan:

Paces – The easy paces took some adjustment, but I did eventually get the hang of them. HM Tempo was probably my hardest adjustment, and I never really got used to it. I think 10K pace was my favorite pace … I really enjoyed pushing and seeing how fast it made me!

Pace vs. Effort – One of the things that I was very hesitant about with this plan was the emphasis of hitting certain paces, which is not something I’ve focused on much before. I realized very early in the plan that the paces are not at all important. I prefer to run by effort, and that’s what I did on this plan. The paces were just a guideline for whether or not my effort was what it should be. If I think I’m running at easy effort but my pace is a minute too fast, then I need to figure out if the pace is that wrong or if I’m assessing my effort wrong. Same with faster paces – am I putting in the right amount of effort that corresponds to the pace I’m looking for? I found that when I focused on effort rather than pace it made the runs less stressful, and most of the time I wasn’t that far off pace.

Distribution of Miles – Previously, I had always done long long runs on Sundays and shorter mid-week runs. I was still doing that on this plan … but the long runs were shorter and there were more miles mid-week. I thought it would be a tough adjustment for me, but it really wasn’t. I need to get better at actually waking up on Sundays (it’s easier to get out of the house before 7 if I know that I have 2.5 hours of running ahead of me), but once I do that, I think I will appreciate the (sometimes) shorter Sunday runs. (I do miss my 5 mile/1 hour Sundays a bit, but the 7 miles isn’t the worst)

Overall - Honestly, it went better than I expected. I even got used to drinking chocolate milk after some of my runs. I was definitely skeptical going in, but it turned out to be a great plan and a great training philosophy for me.

What's Next:
My next race is the Run As One 4M on April 22nd. Goal is continuous running, preferably at a pace around 11:00 or below. Coach and I are still ironing out the details of the plan (I'm designing it with his input - we're almost there, I just need to fix a few workouts where I was trying to create a bad habit). While I'm training for that race, I have to figure out what my next "A" race will be - I have three candidates, so I have to figure out the merits and detriments of each.

My next journal update will probably be a #buyallthethings update ... I currently have 5 different new sports bras hanging around my room (spoiler alert: some of them are getting sent back to Amazon/Zappos)

One Last Note:
aka #BuyAllTheThings: Shoe Edition
Even though the NB 880v8 is not yet in stores, it is available online. I'm waiting to buy it in store, since it's a new version and I want to make sure it's still comfortable (also, after Sunday's race, I'm thinking I may need to stop being stubborn and size up), but I did look at the colors online. Since I'm buying it from a New Balance store (I go to the NB RunHub at NYRR RUNCENTER, so I get the NB expertise (and rewards program...) + runner-centric store - best of both worlds), I think I should be able to get whatever color I want. Here are the two I'm most interested in - would love to see what other people like! (Sorry about the extra large images, but I just yanked them from the NB website)

Blue Iris with Pigment:

Guava with Vintage Indigo:

Thoughts?

OMG I love the Guava! I have never run in NB, but may need to in order to get those beauties. LOL. Loved the recap!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Both of the shoes are so beautiful, I think the only logical thing to do is get a pair of each.

Looking forward to hearing more about your new plan!

 

[Bree]

That's a hard decision on the shoes. I love both colors. So I will enable you by telling you to buy both and rotate them on your runs.

 

[SarahDisney]

A solid overview. It's nice to read the core philosophies from the other perspective.

I think the fact that I can explain my thoughts on the training philosophies so well means you're doing an excellent job teaching

Personally, I LOVE to iris NB you showed. In fact, I'm now off to the NB website to see if they update to the 1400s will come in a color like that!

I hope they do - it's such a great color. I love it.

Oh, also, props to you for writing your own training plan! I have been wondering lately if I should start thinking of doing the same in the future, not because I don't want Coach's help (I really value it!), but because some of my races have less ambitious goals and I feel bad bugging him when I know he has so many other runners going for bigger things. Curious to know what the bad habit you're removing was?

Thank you!
I primarily do either run/walk or easy continuous, but I wanted to introduce some faster continuous, but I picked out a pace that was too close to Daniels T pace, which would have been bad at the distances I was planning (that's too hard of a pace to run for a long time in training). I haven't finished the plan, but I think I'm just going to do regular T pace runs (with rest intervals), which should still help with the speed aspect of continuous running.

Congratulations on your race result! I keep smiling thinking of you barrelling into the finish chute shouting "I'm not going to cry!" I'll bet you made the day of many volunteers who got to join in on your PR excitement!

Thank you! I'm glad my overemotional moment made you smile
I told pretty much every volunteer about my PR, so I hope it did make people happy to see me succeed!

OMG I love the Guava! I have never run in NB, but may need to in order to get those beauties. LOL. Loved the recap!

The Guava is pretty nice. I have Guava accents on my current shoes, but they're not as bright as having a whole shoe be Guava. I really like it.

Both of the shoes are so beautiful, I think the only logical thing to do is get a pair of each.

Looking forward to hearing more about your new plan!

I'm not made out of money!!! I'm hoping that whatever color I don't get is still available when I'm ready for my next pair of shoes, which will probably be shortly after the WDW marathon (I usually get 10-12 months from a pair of long run shoes ... although that might change once marathon training starts)

That's a hard decision on the shoes. I love both colors. So I will enable you by telling you to buy both and rotate them on your runs.

But I already have a pair of shoes that I rotate - these shoes are for long runs and the occasional mid-week run. I have other shoes that I wear for most of my shorter runs. So it's tough to justify buying a second pair for shoes that I only wear 1-2 times per week.
It's tough. I love both colors.