Kelly's Goofy Plan: Week 2

Week two began with a family affair – my younger brother, Kevin, graduated from the Police Academy and officially became a member of the NYPD. It was a busy morning in the city, and then my family headed back to Long Island to celebrate, so it was a rest day well spent.

Over the weekend I had gone to Runners Edge to get a new pair of running shoes, and they sold me a pair of Brooks Levitate 2. I had completed my run with Mike on Sunday wearing them, and wasn’t sure that I liked them. I had a week to decide if I wanted to exchange them, so I was excited to run in them this week.

So the week started on Tuesday, with an early morning run with Kasey. We agreed to an early start time, and upon stepping out my front door and feeling the weather, which was sitting cool in the 40s, I ran back inside to grab a pair of gloves and an ear warmer. Perhaps overkill, but it is still early in the season, so chilly mornings tend to catch me by surprise. By the time I had located these accessories, I was 10 minutes behind schedule, and when I reached Kasey she was nearly at the apartment.

Kasey pulled off her headphones as she approached me, and told me that she was beginning to be concerned that she had taken a wrong turn when she hadn’t found me that far into the run. To my surprise, she didn’t snap the headphones back on, as is standard, but instead began asking about wedding plans (she is, naturally, one of my bridesmaids), and that conversation turned into talk of the family affairs, and we actually wound up carrying on conversation throughout our entire run. Something that is a rare occurrence but was very welcome.

The sun wasn’t quite up when Kasey finished her run. I was at about three miles at that point, and had another 4 to get through before I could call my run complete. It was a really good run all in all, and although I was cold at the start, I settled in, warmed up, and was glad that I got out of my warm bed to put in work.

Plus, Kasey admitted something to me that day – she had ACTUALLY enjoyed our run.

On Wednesday I headed out for a quality run – this weeks foal was for four 1200 m repeats, at a 7:29 pace. Dad agreed to meet me at the track so I would have some company, and again is was a cold fall morning. I woke up to find out that Dennis had turned on the AC, despite the outdoor temperature being in the 40s, so it was even colder than it needed to be in our bedroom. The cold made me entirely not want to get out of bed, but I did, pulling on layers of running gear to an excessive degree.

I wasn’t sure of the shortest route to the track via side roads, so I went out to the main road that the school is on, and ran down that to get to the track. The one creepy part? Running an old grave yard that is NOT well lit when it is dark out. No thank you.

When I got to the track it was still dark, and I couldn’t see dad walking laps. I ran to where he chains up his bike, and saw that it was locked in place, so I dumped some of my layers and took off my light up vest. It was dark, but that was overkill on a track that was blocked off from traffic. I did keep on my hand lights though, and just as I was about to begin my laps saw dad approaching – he was dressed in all black, which was why I hadn’t been able to spot him earlier.

The run to the track had been about a mile and a half, so I deemed that an adequate warmup and got right to work. For some reason, the song “American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was stuck on repeat in my head as I looped around the track. The 7:29 pace was a challenge for me, but I pushed to keep as close to it as I could. The first repeat rang in at 7:34. Not too shabby, a little slow, but I was happy with it. One recovery lap, then right into the second repeat. I counted down as I finished each 100 track segment. An extra push in the last 100m, and the second repeat was complete in 7:32 – still a little slow. The sun was starting to come up now, and I made a put stop to use my inhaler before continuing on to the third repeat.

Third set. Holding the pace was getting harder. I focused on pushing on the straights, and just getting through the curved areas of the track. 7:35 pace. Not bad, still moving, still pushing. Only one more repeat to go, and then I just had to finish an easy cool-down run to get home. I finished my recovery, and took off at the start of the fourth repeat. The pace was taxing, and despite giving it my all, the last repeat was my slowest – 7:44 pace.

It was time to leave the track after that, so dad hopped on his bike and ride with me as I ran back to the apartment. I was proud of myself for getting out there and doing track work, even if I hadn’t perfectly hit the numbers. I still showed up, and that counts for something.

Thursday morning I managed to get moving before Dad arrived at my apartment on his bike, and shortly after we found Kasey as well. I was surprised to see that for a second time this week Kasey pulled off her headphones, and started chatting with me as we ran – she started wearing contacts this week, so maybe the process of putting them in before running is waking her up enough that she can tolerate me that early in the morning. Just a theory.

I wasn’t planning on getting too many miles in that morning, as I had plans to run with Mike after work. Once Kasey had finished her run I ran a little more around my parent’s house, instead of running back to the apartment like I normally do – as we were running Dad’s bike brake started acting up, and he didn’t want to risk going out on main roads. So, we finished the run at my parents house, and he gave me a ride home. I had stuff that I needed to pickup from their house for the wedding anyway, so this plan worked out.

That run after work? Yeah, it didn’t happen. By the end of a busy work day, I was feeling overwhelmed and had about a million wedding things on my to do list, so I had to be a jerk and bail on Mike so that I could focus on getting a few things done. I reminded myself that in less than two weeks the wedding would be a thing of the past, and I would no longer have to be a flaky jerk.

By the time the weekend rolled around I was less than a week away from the wedding, and that to do list felt like it was getting longer rather than shorter. My to do list felt like it was 10 miles long on Saturday, and that wasn’t including the run that I needed to squeeze in. I managed to get some last minute supply shopping done in the morning, and agreed to meet Kasey around noon to get some miles in. The air was on the cooler side, but the humidity was back and kicking.

The Merrick bicycles Tri Team had gotten new gear, and my Half-zip had finally come in, so I of course suited up with that for my run. I was excited to get to wear it for the first time! I also wore my new sneakers, which after giving them several chances throughout the week, I was not in love with. This run was their last chance, and if they didn’t wow me, they were being returned and I was coming home with the newest ghost model instead (spoiler alert - the sneakers got exchanged, and I went back to the “ghost” line that brookd makes).

The run with Kasey wound up being riddled with walk breaks, because we both kept winding up short of breath – the air was not our friend today. We slowed the pace and kept it  casual, once again chatting through the miles. Once Kasey had finished her miles I ran towards my parents house to see if my mom was home, so we could establish a plan of what we needed to get done in terms of wedding stuff that day. After the pit stop, I made my way back to the apartment, getting in a total of 6 miles. The shoes were still feeling very ‘meh,’ so I made the decision that they would need to be exchanged. Womp womp. I was glad that I was able to sneak a short run in, despite the fact that it was a little bit overwhelming to find the time.

I closed out the week with a 5k with Jennie – the McVey 5k! Jennie and I have known each other for as long as I remember, and we attended elementary school together at McVey before my family moved in the late 90s, so when we discovered this race, we knew it was something we wanted to complete together.

Jennie had been on top of things and signed up for the race in advance, but I somehow never got around to registering. Lucky for me there was on-site registration, and they even still had my shirt size available. After we registered we pinned on our numbers and hung out in the school gym, since it was a bit chilly out, and the start line was right in front of the school anyway.

Originally I had figured that I would race this event, but as soon as the start horn went off, I realized that I really wanted to complete this event WITH Jennie, it was my last race before the wedding, and it was something special for the two of us - so off we went, and we stuck together the whole way. The course even took us past Jennie’s parents house, and her Dad came out to cheer us on. When the finish line was in sight Jennie surged, and I had to chase her down as she flew through the finisher’s chute.

We hung out at the school for a little bit upon finishing the race before moving on to the rest of the days activities - which mainly consisted of assembling wedding centerpieces for me! But as always, I was glad that I found time for a run.

Kelly's Goofy Plan: Week 1

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.

Intro to the next cycle: Training for the 2019 Goofy Challenge

If you’ve done a RunDisney event, your first question here may be “Kelly, if you’re going to do Goofy, why not run the extra 9.3 miles and just do the Dopey challenge?!”

Simple: Vacation time.

In May while celebrating Emily’s birthday, I convinced mike to come into the city to meet us at barcade…. and then proceeded to talk him into running a marathon

Don’t you love grown up jobs?

Anyway, I did manage to rope two of my friends into traveling to Florida with me - Mike and Jennie. While you have heard of Jennie before (she ran in the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon weekend with me in 2018), Mike is new to the blog, and while we have known each other since the third grade (about 20 years now), he is the most recent victim of, as Dad calls it, my run-bullying.

Back in 2016 when I was a new runner, Mike was the friend that agreed to sign up for my first New York Road Runners race with me. Since then, we have done a few races together every year, and one drunken day in NYC later, I had talked Mike into the 9+1 program that the NYRR offers - with the ultimate goal of running the NYC marathon in 2019. So the disney half is a step on his path to the NYC marathon, and will be both his first half-marathon and his first RunDisney event.

Jennie will be along for the ride this time, hitting up the Disney parks with us and acing as the captain of our cheer squad. Don’t worry guys, I will make sure that she gets a full lesson in acting as captain from both Dad and Emily.

Anyway, Mike started training using the plan that RunDisney offers on their website, and after taking a solid week off of running post wineglass marathon, I began to roll right from one training cycle into another. I am starting to get my mileage back, and once the wedding is over at the end of October, I will be able to shift my focus fully to training for these races.

The best part about this training cycle so far? Fall weather. Here in NY, we seem to have finally broken through the humidity barrier, and settled into cooler temps nicely - Here’s hoping that this training cycle goes a little more “according to the plan.”