Over the weekend I bought a second hand bike trainer from a friend of mine, and I was ready to take it for a spin to start Monday morning off on the right foot- and I have to admit, it was nice to roll out of bed and get moving without having to venture out into the cold weather!
I loaded up the “London” loop on Zwift, and did a basic ride with no goals. I got in 8 miles in just under a half hour, and established that I am awful at swapping bike gears. But practice makes perfect, and I’ve got all winter.
After work Sophie and I headed to emerge to take a class with Vanessa, missing Emily who was preparing for finals, and her last week of grad school! Vanessa took us through sequences that opened up our hamstrings, eventually bringing us to the wall to work on handstands. I didn’t get up into one during class, but it was still a great, challenging class.
Tuesday morning Kasey and I headed out as usual, and it was another windy morning. We headed into the second mile and I felt like Kasey was picking up the pace, so I matched her and pressed onward as we got faster- I commented after she finished her mileage that she made me work today - but apparently she thought I was the one pushing the pace, so neither of us was really sure why the little burst of speed happened. I did one more loop around my parents neighborhood before heading back to the apartment, for a total of 6 miles.
The next time I got moving was Wednesday night, when Sophie and I agreed to meet at planet fitness to get in some treadmill miles. I had a speed workout on deck- a total of nine miles. A two mile warm up, 6x200@2:48 (200 rec), 2 miles straight @ 8:47, another 6x200@2:48 (200 rec), then a two mile cooldown. It was the good kind of night, where the miles just flew by and I felt like I could just keep going forever. I hit my numbers, and Sophie managed to knock out a 7 mile run, which I was really impressed with - I mean, she’s been consistently running for less than a month! Sophie, you’re gonna give me a run for my money as you up that mileage, and we will be racing each other in no time.
Kasey was in the thick of things with college finals, so our usual Thursday morning run was cancelled, and I hopped on the bike trainer on instead. I started the “Zwift 101” program that they offer, and did a 30 minute session that was all about training zones. Non-running activities continued that day, with a swim session with Allison after work. It was the usual plan of 1,000 yards, and I was especially grateful for the pool being warm with the cold weather we had outside.
Friday morning I was flying solo, with my original intentions being a treadmill run- 5 miles. But I really just did not want to get to the gym. So I procrastinated around the apartment, until I reached a time that I would only really be able to get in five miles if I ran outside. So, I sucked it up, added a few more layers, and headed out the front door. I took it easy around the neighborhood, enjoying watching the sunrise and occasionally seeing Christmas lights, still on from the night before. I had to rush a little to get ready for work when I got back to the apartment, but it was more than worth it to have gotten the run in.
The weekend was full of races, starting with the Ted Corbitt 15k. Mike and I signed up for this race together, and it was the final one he needed to complete to finish his 9+1 qualifier for the 2019 NYC Marathon. One of my co-workers, Carson, was also signed up for the race, so we all decided to carpool together again.
It was Mike’s turn to drive this week, and we did not get lucky with city parking near the start area. We wound up having to utilize a garage, and then walk about a mile to the start line. It was a cold morning, with a real feel under 20 degrees, but at least there was no wind this week. We picked up our bibs, made a quick porter potty stop, and dropped off our bags before heading into our start corrals. The three of us started together, but Carson anticipated needing walk breaks, so we weren’t planning to stick together through the whole race. I had 18 miles planned for Sunday, so I was planning to stick with Mike, so that the weekends runs would be a good approximation of how I would feel for the Goofy Challenge.
As we shuffled though the start line, we lost Carson sooner than expected in the crowd. I watched her neon pink ProCompression socks as she weaved ahead, wondering if we would see her again before the end of the race.
My toes were so cold at the start of the race that it felt like I had a block of wood in the back half of my shoe, a feeling which left me looking down at my feet to see if I had stepped in something before I realized that I was just numb.
We aired on the side of caution as we ran into the aid stations, walking when we needed to grab water since there were patches of ice where runners ahead of us had spilled water.
The race was broken up into two loops of Central Park, the first about 4 miles and the second about 5, and right as we finished our first loop, we watched the first finisher break the tape- that didn’t make us feel slow or anything. Soon after we spotted Carson’s pink socks, and sped up to catch her. We spent the rest of the race yo-yo ing with each other, as Mike and I continued to run a consistent pace, and she alternated between running and walk breaks. Eventually when Mike and I finished the race, she was only about a minute behind us.
We made our way through the finishers chute, collecting cups of yellow Gatorade, an apple, and the traditional bagel. Carson met up with us in the baggage claim area, and we headed to pick up our race shirts, then grab a pic of mike with the qualifier bell - with this race, he officially was qualified for the 2019 NYC marathon!
Weirdly, for me at least, I didn’t really take any photos during the race - it was just too cold! The gloves had to stay on my hands the whole time, and my phone was tucked away within layers of clothing.
We shivered as we made our way back to the parking garage, all VERY happy to be in a heated car. The ride home was uneventful, and I spent most of Saturday being perfectly lazy in anticipation of doing lots of running on Sunday.
The plan for Sunday was simple: a 5k, plus an additional 15 miles to make up one 18 mile long run. I set everything that I needed up on Saturday night, and Sunday morning I got dressed and headed over to my parents house to pick up Sophie, who would be joining me for the race. I got there early enough that was able to sneak in two miles before making our way to cedar creek park.
It was cold again on Sunday, and i just kept it easy for the first leg of the day. I did two loops near my parents house, not wanting to break a sweat and then be freezing while I waited for the race to start. After the two miles were complete I headed back into the house, and Sophie was ready to head out.
She drove us to cedar creek park, and we took a few minutes in the car pulling on layers before heading out into the frigid air. We had to wait in line to grab our bibs, and then ran back to the car to pin them on. We were parked right near the start line, so we were able to keep warm until just before start time, at which point we hopped out of the car and stretched a bit.
While waiting for the race to start I mentally debated my plan. I had a lot of miles ahead of me for the day, and didn’t want to be burning out. But I couldn’t talk myself out of racing this one. So when the start horn sounded, I took off and settled into a sub-8 pace, comfortably pushing myself. I had to pull my face mask on and off, the frigid air making it a little difficult to breathe. There was a turn around a little after the first mile, and I spotted Sophie and let out a cheer- she was booking it!
I had wound up in a group of about five women, and over the second mile I worked to break away from them, pushing myself to keep the pace. As we entered mile three I broke away with one other person, and the two of us fought each other to keep ahead throughout the third mile, until I had to back off a little- I felt the familiar nausea that sometimes comes with going fast for me, and I had too many miles ahead of me to risk a finish line puke.
I would later be a little annoyed with myself for this choice, as I came in second place in my age group, and that woman came in first, by about 5 seconds. Womp womp.
The last mile I fought to keep my sub-8 pace, and managed to hold it until the end of the race. I passed a few cheering members of the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team as I came into the finishers chute, and happily slowed my pace and moved towards the runners that were coming into the finish line to spectate as Sophie finished her race.
My race time was officially a 24:35, which was a PR for me! As I mentioned before, it was also good enough for second place in my age group, which I was pretty pleased about, since in 2017 I got third place age group.
Sophie and I headed out for some more miles at cedar creek while we waited for the final finishers to come in, and added another mile and a half to my total mileage for the day. We hung out with the Tri Team during the awards ceremony, and then headed to my parents house once it was all finished up.
Dad and I then headed to the bethpage trail from there, with the intent of getting though another 12 miles. I told myself that I would be happy if I got through 10, but knew I really wanted to hit 12 so I could total 18 for the day. The weather was nice, so why not go for it.
We made our way through the different paths at the preserve, which was mostly empty except for a few people out with their dogs or on their own runs. Dad and I chatted as we went, and he helped me to make it though the miles, without any more breaks like I had earlier in the day- other than one. When we were about half way through our first three mile loop, he realized he forgot to put his helmet on, so we had to stop by the car real quick.
But from there on out, we were good to go! When we did get through all of the miles, I was really happy with myself for getting though the distance without too much difficulty, considering I had set a new 5k PR on that same day.
Another high mileage week- the highest one so far in this training cycle as a matter of fact. With just a few more long runs ahead of me, I am officially getting excited for the races that lies ahead.