Marathon number three - something that a year ago I would have thought was insane, considering I was yet to run marathon number one.
I ran my first marathon as a part of the 2017 Dopey challenge in January, and my second was the Long Island Marathon in the beginning of May. My plan was to focus on improving my half marathon time this fall, but when New Balance rewards had bibs available for the New York Marathon, I could not resist. So here i am, 7 weeks into marathon training, with 9 weeks to go before race day.
There are three ways that most people get into the NY marathon -
- The lotto - The New York Road runners use a lotto system. I entered when it was open, but did not win.
- the 9+1 program - When you run 9 NYRR events and volunteer at 1, you get a guaranteed entry for the following years marathon. While I live an hour outside of NYC, I did not learn of this program until last fall, when there were not 9 races left for the year that i could attend, so this was not an option for the 2017 race for me
- Charity Bibs - There are many amazing charities that you can support by running the NY Marathon, but there is a large amount of money that needs to be raised. While I think this is an amazing option, I was unsure that i could raise such a large amount.
Of course, there are those that time qualify or are sponsored, but i feel the above three methods are how most people come to get a bib for the NY marathon. I am working on a 9+1 entry for the 2018 race, but still a little bummed that i was not going to be able to run the race this fall.
Then, i received an email from New Balance rewards, announcing that they would be offering bibs through their rewards program. Luckily, I was already enrolled in the rewards program and had been racking up points in for the last year. New Balance is also partnered with RunDisney, so i was planning to use my points for a RunDisney race bib at some point. You can earn points for the New Balance rewards program in many ways, from purchasing New Balance gear, to liking them on social media, or linking the rewards account to your Strava account and getting rewarded when you run. With a year of point collecting, i had the 8,000 points needed to redeem a bib for the NY Marathon.
This time around I am using a plan from runners world magazine, called simply "break 4 hours." I used the plan for the Long Island Marathon, and came in with a finishing time of 4:13 - so, a little over my goal of four hours. I was happy with the time, and credited the 13 minuted to missing a few tempo runs, and doing half of my long runs at slower than called for paces, so that I could run with friends. I also lacked a real race day pacing plan, and went in with the approach of "I'll just see how long i can hold a 9 minute pace for." Turned out i could hold it for 15 miles, 11 miles to short of the four hour goal i was reaching for.
First training run for the NY marathon!
While I don't expect to break 4 hours during the NY marathon, I know this plan will make me strong enough to run a race that I feel good about. At this point in my training, I am averaging 35-50 miles a week, with 3-4 easy runs, a track workout, and an alternating weekly tempo or long run.
So for the rest of this training cycle, you can expect to hear from me every Sunday with a weekly training recap, with the occasional mid-week check in.
Other planned posts include race recaps, gear features, and fuel up Fridays! If there is anything else you would like to read about here, leave a comment below.
Until next time - Happy Running!