Apparently for me, marathons are events that happen in threes. In January of 2017 after completing my first marathon, I rolled right into training for my second – the long island marathon, and then shortly after completing the long island marathon, I managed to get a late entry into the NYC marathon through New Balance Rewards. Three training cycles in a row, three very different race experiences, each unlike the other.
My body and mind told me to take a step back after NY, and although I registered for the 2018 Disney marathon, I didn’t even make it to the start line of the race, after a bad asthma flare up that left me light headed just walking around. So in early 2018, my weekly mileage decreased, and I focused more on half marathons – managing a PR at the NYC united airlines half in March.
I ran quite a few halfs early in the year, but eventually wound up with the marathon itch, and picked out the Wineglass marathon in the fall of 2018. But before the race had even been run, I decided to sign up for the goal that would follow: The 2019 Goofy Challenge.
So after wineglass I took a super lazy week, relaxing and recovering from my 26.2 mile journey. But when the second week of October rolled around, I was ready to get moving again, and start working towards my next goal.
With the million different training plans out there to get you ready for race day, I poked around online to explore some options. I ordered a copy Hanson’s guide to marathoning, and started my training schedule using one of their plans, as I began to read the book. With my last cycle I ran a less than ideal number of “quality” runs leading up to race day, and that is something I need to rectify this time around.
So week one, day one I headed out into the neighborhood with Dad on his bike. It was too nice of a morning to constrain myself to the track, but I committed to getting some speedwork done anyway. After taking it easy with a warmup for 1.5 mi, I began one of the workouts from Hanson’s book – 5x1 km repeats. I pushed, and you know what happened? I didn’t die. It actually felt good to get moving like that.
So, I did it again. And again. I somehow managed to make my way through them, even if I did have to stop and cough at times during the recovery between the repeats. The faster portions of my run fell in the range of 7:50-8:10, but according to Hanson’s should have been closer to 6:50 based off my previous race paces. Yowza. I was happy regardless, and told myself that with some work, I would get faster times. I was happy that I pushed myself to hit these paces at least, even if it wasn’t exactly what the plan called for. Perhaps not the best thing to do on the first day of a new cycle, but I was happy.
I continued to motivate myself that day, getting in a leg workout after work with plenty of squats, and then finishing the day with a 1000 yd swim.
On Wednesday I opted to sleep in, as I had plans to run with Mike after work. He was waiting at the apartment when I got home, and after a quick change we were out and running. We began our loops about the neighborhood, discussing the trip that we will be taking to Disney in January for these races – Mike and I are going to be running the half together, and it will be both his first half and his first RunDisney event! My legs were fatigued, but we got a few miles in before I headed to a nice Yin Yoga class, my favorite recovery. The class focused on hips and hamstrings, so I was a happy camper.
On Thursday I actually managed to get myself the door at 6:10 – the time I always tell Kasey and Dad, but that always winds up being closer to 6:15. But this time I managed it! It was more humid than I expected it to be, considering it was October, and I had really been hoping that the soupy air of summer was behind us.
When Kasey and I found each other around the half way point, we took a moment to commiserate about the lousy air quality before running up the one hill of our route. It was dark out, in a way that made it feel like the sun was just never going to rise. It was one of the first mornings on the season that I was reminded of just how dark it gets in winter. Our pace yo-yoed, each taking turns to lead the run. Once Kasey had finished her miles, I pushed myself to pick up the pace a little, figuring it would get me home and off of my sore legs sooner.
By the time I was home the sun was up, although the sunrise never really presented itself. I was a puddle of sweat, and questioned if this was really appropriate October weather.
The rest of the week slipped by, filled with the craziness that is preparing for a wedding – at this point, there were about two weeks to go before the big day. But Mike and I kept each other accountable on Sunday, agreeing to head out around noon. When he arrived at the apartment we set up our watches, and got moving – Mike had 9.5 miles on his schedule, and you better believe I pushed that to 10, getting him into his first ever double digit mileage.
We chatted as we ran, largely about weddings, as mine is quickly approaching, and Mike is in the process of planning his for next summer. Mike had decided that as we ran he wasn’t going to check his mileage or pace, as to not psych himself out. I stopped us briefly at the halfway mark to refuel – Gu and water – and I have to say Mike is the first person that I have seen try running gels for the first time without getting completely grossed out by the texture of it. Note to self – when having people try Gu, give them sweet flavors instead of fruit ones!
After the pit stop we headed on an out and back path, that would get us the rest of the mileage. We were both feeling fatigued, but just kept moving forward. Before I knew it, we were almost back at the apartment, and my watch said we had run 9.7 miles. Since we were so close to 10, I encouraged Mike to take an extra loop around the apartment to break into double digits, and he agreed.
Simple as that, our long run was done. Did Mike text me the next day letting me know that his legs were dead? Yes. But that is certainly a part of any runner’s journey.