After getting my race registration for the NY marathon squared away on July 10th, I got to work customizing my training plan. While I am using the "Runners World Break 4 hours" marathon training plan as a base, I needed to move some runs around to accommodate vacation and the orange theory classes i like to take.
Training has been going well so far, but has not been without its hiccups. Here are some highlights of the first three weeks -
Week 1: July 10
Total Mileage planned: 22
Mileage complete: 27.1
Officially started my training plan on Tuesday, with a 6 mile run before work. Being July on Long Island, this was a humid run, and i only questioned deciding to train for a marathon throughout the summer like 80 times. But I finished feeling strong, and determined that i was going to nail this training.
My first track workout was on that Friday, and started with a two mile warm-up. The meat of the workout was 6 400 meter repeats, with a goal time of 1:56 per repeat, and a 200 meter rest between each. Once those were completed I closed out with a two mile cool-down. I hit my numbers, which is always a good feeling. I love getting my track workouts done before work, because they generally leave me feeling super accomplished.
Week one track workout: paces were good!
I got to Orange Theory fitness five times this week, and used these workouts as my shorter run distances.
Week 2: July 17
Total Mileage planned: 21
Mileage complete: 33
Kasey and I after an Orange Theory Class, happy to have survived peak performance
This week was a peak performance week at Orange Theory Fitness, so every class came with a new challenge. I tend to get a little competitive, so this lead to me taking the classes a little harder than I normally do. I am looking forward to the next peak performance week later this year so I can see how I have improved. The challenges for the classes I attended included -
- Monday - 500 m row, timed. Complete in 1:47
- Tuesday - Maximum distance run in 24 minutes: 2.95 miles (it killed me that I got so close to 3 without hitting it!)
- Wednesday - counted repeats of body weight exercises
- Thursday - 2,000 m row, times. Complete in 7:36
Regular runs this week included a five mile morning run, with Dad along on his bike, a track workout Wednesday night with the Merrick Bicycles Tri team, and a long run on Sunday.
The Tri teams track workout was close to what i had on my schedule, so I opted to count it as my track workout for the week, rather than doubling up on track workouts like i sometimes do. The workout started off with dynamic stretches and a few warm-up laps, then 4 400 m repeats @ 10k pace with a 30-60 second recovery between each, 2 800 m repeats @ 5k pace, and ended with a body weight challenge, which went something like this -
- 1x400 @ 5k pace with 20 push ups
- 1x800 @ 5k pace with 40 mountain climbers
- 1x1200 @ 5k pacewith 20 burpees
We ended the track night with some yoga, courtesy of Cindy from The Yoga Shack in Bethpage, NY. I wish every hard run could end like this! I took another yoga class on Friday, because I needed it after this weeks runs.
For my long run on Sunday, Dad and I headed to Jones Beach, and ran to the end of the bike path and back, finishing up on the boardwalk. There was a lot of sun on this run which made it a little challenging, but I got through it just fine.
Week 3: July 24
Total Mileage planned: 26
Mileage complete: 27.8
This week i wanted to make sure I got some quality miles in before Wednesday night, when I would head to Florida with my fiancé Dennis and his family. Got an Orange Theory session in on Monday, and then logged some miles before work with Dad on Tuesday. Wednesday morning was the hard workout for the week, when I headed to the track before work.
This weeks track session consisted of a two mile warm-up, then 3 X 400 m, 4 X 800 m, and 1 x 400 m all at around a 7:50 pace. I only got in a one mile cool-down instead of the usual two, as I ran out of time before work.
Dennis and I headed right to the airport after work, and caught our plane to Orlando. We got to spend two days in Disney world before boarding the Disney Fantasy. We started our vacation with a big breakfast at Trattino al Forno, and spent most of the day in the new Pandora section of Animal Kingdom.
On Friday I got a run in before heading to the parks, running around the boardwalk hotel, and then to Hollywood Sudios and back to Epcot before finishing. This is one of my favorite runs to do, and I try to run it at least once every time i am in Disney.
Running between Hollywood Studios and the Boardwalk hotel, with a peek of the back of tower of terror
On Saturday we boarded the Disney Fantasy for a week long cruise, and on Sunday I got my long run in on the ships jogging deck. Every 2.5 laps on Deck 4 on the Fantasy is a mile, so I did 25 laps to get my long run in. I was glad that i found time on vacation to still put work into my training.
Long run at sea