Week 9: Training for the 2022 NYC Marathon

Well, week 9 means we are officially more than halfway through marathon training – yikes!

To be reflective for a moment, I think I am doing a really good job with my runs. So far, I have only missed 1 planned run in the last 9 weeks, which I feel is something to be proud of, On the other hand, while I was doing well with consistently strength training and cross training in the first month or so, I have not been doing a great job with it the last 2-3 weeks. So, my goal moving forward is to make sure that I am cross training at least twice a week, but hopefully a little more than that!

Monday was a travel day, as Den, Tommy and I made our way home from Atlanta. I really planned to run after work on Tuesday, but was so wiped out that I wound up going to bed before 8:30. After a full weekend of activities, my body was feeling the fatigue. I doubled down on Wednesday morning, telling myself that I was going to get up and run – and then it rained.

So, I texted Mike to see if he was around and free to run Wednesday night – lucky for me, he was planning to do his long run that night, as the weekend marked his husband’s birthday, and they had lots of celebrations planned that would keep him from having time to get it in then. So Mike ran 9 miles on his treadmill, and then met me at my house and we headed out for 7 miles together. It was getting darker by the minute by the minute, and I loaded up with lights, pulling on my flashing vest and my gloves with lights on them. I also pulled on a hat, since it was a little drizzly still.

I felt so stiff as we got moving and was reminded of alexi pappas’ quote about how when you are training you should feel great 1/3 of the time, ok 1/3 of the time, and crappy 1/3 of the time – this was definitely the crappy third. But at least I was with Mike, and we were able to chat to pass the time. It took 3 miles, but I eventually settled into the run and started to feel a bit better – not good per se, but not like I wanted to lay down on the floor and call the run done.

I reminded myself to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and to be thankful that I was capable of being out for a run. We talked about the tragic murder of Eliza Fletcher, and how she was killed while she was just out for a run, doing what she loved. Her death weighed heavy on both of our hearts, thinking about how she had young children, and how heartbroken her family must be.

By the time we finished our 7 miles, we were both dripping with sweat, and needed to chug some water. I got in from the run, ate some dinner, and went right to bed. It was a simple end to the night.

Even though I ran Wednesday night, I felt like I still wanted to get out Thursday morning and run a few miles. So I messaged Dad, and he agreed to accompany me on his bike. I got to his house and we went through our regular 3 mile loop, as the sun climbed higher into the sky. Soon, these runs are gonna be more dark than light. I felt good Thursday morning, and the weather was actually on the pleasant side. Dad even broke out his bike gloves so his hands wouldn’t get chilly.

That night I headed to the track with the merrick bicycle Tri Team – UCan was kind enough to send me a few boxes of their new pineapple gels to sample with the tri team, so Sami helped me organize a track night to hand them out. It was more on the informal side, and Mike and I opted to just run laps of the track rather than following a workout, pushing on the straights and recovering on the curves.

My next run was set for Saturday, and I had 16 miles on tap. All of my usual running crew was unavailable – Mike had done his run during the week, Katie and Michal had other plans, and my parents had headed to Hawaii for a two-week vacation, so I was on my own. I made the mistake of not setting an alarm, since I was going to be running solo anyway, and was shocked when I woke up around 10:30 am – my body had apparently decided I needed 12 hours of sleep! If it was colder, this would not have been an issue – but it was a hot day, with temps in the 80s and the sun high in the sky by the time I got outside. I really did not want to run 16 miles on the treadmill, so I decided to split my run in two – with 6.2 miles outside and 9.8 miles on the tread. I headed outside without water, figuring I would loop by my house at some point – but a little after mile 2 I ran by the local Starbucks and bought a water bottle, because I was so thirsty. Having the water bottle helped a lot though, and I was able to get through the rest of the outdoor miles without any issues – I even spotted my uncle along the way, out walking his dogs.

When I got back to the house, I set up a movie on the T.V. over my treadmill and got to work. The 10 miles on the tread were full struggle, to be honest. After waking up late and not eating much before starting my run, I was starting to get hungry as the day ticked into the afternoon, and after really having to push through every moment, I had to take a break at mile 13 and eat some real food – gels just weren’t cutting it at that point. I grabbed a bag of goldfish and wolfed them down, and immediately felt better after getting some food in my system. After that the last few miles weren’t necessarily “good,” but they were more manageable. I was very happy when I finally hit the 16-mile mark and got to abandon the treadmill.

I felt a bit disheartened when I finished the 16 mile run, but reminded myself that not every run can feel great – especially not every long run, and in this case I was dealing with less than ideal conditions, which were admittedly my own fault, since I decided to sleep in that morning and had to deal with the mid-day heat. But at the end of the day, I showed up, and got 16 miles underfoot – and that counts for something!

Sunday Mike and I headed into NYC for one of his favorite events – the 5th avenue mile. As the name implies, it is a one-mile race down 5th avenue in NYC. Since it starts later than most NYRR races, we opted to take the long island rail road into the city, instead of driving in, like we do for most races. We hopped on the train and then took a subway from Penn station to the MET, where Bib pickup was happening.
When we picked up our race numbers, they also gave us the race giveaway – a pair of shorts. We debated what to do with the shorts, and ultimately mike offered to run to the bag check at the finish like while I waited to use the porter potties, so that we would not have to come back to the bag check at the start after the race was over.

Mike and I were in the same corral, which was a deviation from the last time we ran this event – in the past even though we are the same age, we were split into the men and womens waves – but this time runners were split only by age, with no regards to gender, which meant we could start together.

After feeling like I had blown up during my long run the day before, I told Mike to leave me behind and run his own race, because I was nervous about going all out for a mile. The last time I ran this race I had pulled off a 6:53 – but this morning I was hoping to be able to go sub-8. Based off my current fitness, I felt like that was a realistic goal.

The race announcer counted down, and our corral was off. Mike jetted away, and I focused on putting one foot in front of the other, trying not to get swept up in the excitement and take off too fast. I set a pace alert on my watch to let me know if I ran faster than a 7 min/mi or slower than an 8 min/mi, and was resolved to not look at it as long as it was not yelling at me, and to run by feel.

There are course markers every quarter mile, and then every few hundred yards in the last quarter mile. 5th avenue is a sneaky uphill climb, where your legs start to feel tired even though you don’t necessarily see a hill. But I could feel when we shifted from uphill to downhill, and geared up my pace as much as I could. I was relieved when the finish line was finally in sight, and glided through with the last bit of effort I could muster – pulling off a 7:44 mile. My fastest mile in quite some time. At some point in the race I passed Mike, which I realized while looking around after crossing the finish line and spotting him behind me.

We headed right home after, since we had plans to go out to brunch for Mike’s husbands birthday. It was only a mile race, but getting to go to brunch after felt like a reward for a job well done.

Week 4: training for the 2022 NYC Marathon

It was almost surprising to realize we were already at Monday again when I got up this morning - where did the weekend go!? I didn’t have a run in the morning, but I did make plans to go to the gym with Sophie after work.

This time instead of taking a class we opted to head to the weight room, focusing on our legs. Since my knee has been a little achey, I’m trying to prioritize strengthening it up as I get more into training. We spent about 45 minutes taking turns on different machines, and when I got home I finished up the workout with a 10 minute core class before dinner.

After Sunday’s easy long run and my day off from running on Monday, I was feeling good Tuesday morning, even if I hadn’t gotten to bed as early as I would have liked. I remembered to opt for a pair of stability shoes, in hopes that it would benefit my knee, and got out with Mom and Dad along on their bikes. I settled into a comfortable stride, and as we turned the first corner Dad commented that we were going faster than my usual paces as of late – I looked down at my watch and was surprised to see that we were in the 10 min/mi range. I made a quick decision to see how long I could hang out at this pace, since I had been thinking about trying to add some pushes into my running routine anyway.

I tried not to look at my watch every three seconds to see if I was still pulling off the pace and was happy when the first mile clocked in at 10:15. I could feel my body working, and it was in no way a conversational pace. When I called back to Dad and said that breathing sucked, he pointed out that even if I was going slower it would still suck, because of the humid air. He was right, and I kept pushing through mile two, when my watch dinged out a 10:14 completion time. With one mile to go, I focused on just keeping that pace. I was struggling more, and when I had a ¼ mile left I saw my mile time was a bit slower than I wanted, and I pushed the pace until I saw the average drop down to a 10:12, just before my watch let me know that I had finished mile 3. I slowed down and eventually transitioned into a walk, happy that I made the choice to push myself. As we got back to the house Mom commented that she “had to pedal the whole time to keep up!”

Apparently at that pace there is no coasting along on her bike, haha.

Now, I get that a 10:15 average pace run may not seem fast to you – but to me, as I come back to running after some medical issues and a few months off, I was elated that I managed a few miles at what used to be an easy pace for me.

Sophie agreed to meet me to swim after work, so my first stop of the night was the pool. We got stuck in the short lanes, as it was crowded. The short lanes are tiny – I would say 10-15 yds at most. It is annoying, because by the time I glide up after a launch off the wall I am already halfway through the lane. Sophie didn’t have a lot of experience swimming laps, so I did my best to give her some tips. I felt underqualified to do this, because I am probably one of the slowest swimmers that I know. Granted, I train with an awesome tri team full of athletes, but I typically use swimming as active recovery, so I am never too concerned about having a perfect stroke or going fast. We spent a little under a half hour in the pool, and then called it quits.

After our trip to the pool I tried something new – Emerge, a local yoga studio, was holding a “Acutone” class, which combined acupuncture and live Tibetan bowl music in their light therapy room. I have been enjoying the solo acupuncture sessions that I have been going to at emerge, so I decided to sign up for the special class. When I got there, they had reclining chairs set up for each of us and walked us through the process before starting the class. When the class started the music began, and the acupuncturists came around to set each of us up. Once I was all set up, I did my best to relax and try to meditate and was surprised to realize I fell asleep when the class was coming to a close. All in all, it was a relaxing experience, and a good opportunity to learn.

Since Wednesday was the first weekday morning that called for 5 miles, it was the first time I needed to be up before the sunrise in order to get my distance in before work. On Tuesday night Mike had sent snaps of his run on Tuesday night, which had taken place in sunny 90 degree weather, and after letting him know he was crazy, I got him to agree to come out for another morning run instead of braving the heat in the afternoon again.

I picked Mike up on the way to my parents’ house, and they were waiting outside with their bikes when we got there a minute or two later than we were supposed to arrive. My legs were officially sore from Monday night’s workout, and my brain was still asleep, tucked under a cover of fog and not quite ready to jump into the day. Mike was excited that the construction on his house was finishing up and filled me in on all that was going on, and eventually my brain caught up to my body, and I was able to join into the conversation.

My knee was cranky on this run, and I had to stop and adjust my support band about halfway through. I briefly considered cutting the run short before the adjustment, but when I got the band into its proper location things felt better. By the time we hit 5 miles, Mike and I were both dripping with sweat. While there had been enough of a breeze when we started that Mike “considered wearing a sweatshirt,” the breeze had died down as the sun came up, and the humidity rose with it. I was very glad that we got the miles done in the morning.

When I got home my legs were feeling the miles, and I knew that I needed to make time to stretch, or I would pay for it later. I popped on a 5 minute peloton stretch, and did that before moving on with my day. I didn’t have anything else planned, as my uncle was coming over to install some sheetrock and I wanted to help with that as much as possible, so that in the future I could attempt to do it myself.

I was so pooped on Wednesday night that I got into bed by 8:30, and was asleep soon after. Despite this, when it was time to get up Thursday I wanted to roll over and sleep for another hour. The last few days had been so nonstop that I felt like I hadn’t stopped moving since Monday, but I knew I needed to get this run done and that my parents would be waiting for me.

I stepped outside and felt like I had been hit in the face with a brick of humidity. I immediately went back in the house and grabbed my inhaler, knowing that I would need it before this run if I didn’t want to struggle with breathing the whole time.

Mom and Dad were waiting for me with their bikes, and we got out on the road together. Today was more of a struggle than other mornings, but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, and made it through the three miles, with the support of my parents.

Thursday night I played catch up with the core challenge, and stacked three classes in a row. It was a challenge, but I felt really strong when I made it through all the classes, and ended the session with a good 10 minute stretch.

I had a long list of plans for the weekend, so I knew I had to prioritize time to run so that I could stick to my training plan. Mike and I made plans to run on Saturday morning, and I picked him up at 6 so that we could try to beat the heat. Of course, as soon as I got to Mike’s house the low gas light dinged on my car, and we had to take a slight detour to stop for gas before heading to the Bethpage trail. It was just the two of us that morning, and our plan was to run 10 miles together, with no bike support crew to make sure we were staying hydrated.

I planned accordingly, and had stuck my Nathan vest in the freezer the night before so that it would stay cool the whole time, and filled the rest with water that morning. In the pockets of the vest I had 2 Ucan gels and pouches of Gu, because I couldn’t decide if I wanted sweet flavors (I had birthday cake and a s’mores flavored gu) or fruit flavors (the Ucan was strawberry banana flavored). We parked on the street near the path, and stretched as we talked towards the bike path. The only goal was to make it through 10 miles, regardless of the pace. We got moving, chatting as we made our way to the first hill of the day, that would show its ugly face just before we hit a mile. As we climbed we complained to each other, but noted that we would be thankful we opted for hills when we are running across the many bridges of the NYC marathon.

We kept making our way down the trail, and I opted to take a gel around mile 3, since I hadn’t taken one before starting and I could feel the humidity getting to me already. As much as carrying the hydration vest is annoying, I was glad to have it and take sips of water as needed. As much as the hills mainly consists of rolling hills, the more uphill portion was done when we hit mile 5, and got to turn around to head back to the car. At mile 8 we made a pit stop at the bathroom in the park so Mike could re-fill his handheld water bottle. The last 2 miles were a bit of a slog, as we were feeling fatigued and it had gotten more humid as the sun rose higher into the sky.

When our watches buzzed at mile 10, we were both happy to be done with our long run. We hopped in the car and headed home, and after a quick change I picked up my mom and together we headed into the city - we had plans to get brunch and then tickets to see Hamilton! I had bought these tickets almost a year ago, but then delayed them twice, so it was nice to finally make it to the theater.

Sunday I prioritized recovery - I got up and headed to Emerge yoga, where I took a great Sunday morning class and then had an acupuncture lesson. I left the studio feeling super relaxed, and was glad that I took the time to go.

Week 3: When it's Humid, I head for the Treadmill.

 I was met by, as my dad says, Hot, Hazy, and Humid weather when I headed outside for my run on Monday morning. It was the end of June in New York, and the humidity was very much out to play. I managed to get out of the house before 7 am and worked my way through the 6 miles on my training schedule. The miles were difficult, and slow going, but I kept going even when I wanted to quit. I walked a little at the end of my miles to cool down, red faced and exhausted, but happy that my miles were finished for the day. I rounded out my day with some yoga that evening, so that my legs would feel fresh when I took on speedwork the following day.

When I had done speed work a week earlier, it was borderline a traumatic experience. I was DREADING another speedwork session. I told myself I was going to get up early to beat the heat, but then just could not get myself out of bed that morning. So, I packed a gym bag, and after work I headed to my parent’s house to get in my interval run on the treadmill. I was honestly worried about being able to hit the prescribed paces in the workout but figured that I had a better chance on the tread than I did outside.

My schedule called for 8 600m repeats, at a 7:50 pace. I took a warmup class, stretched, and then picked out a HIIT class from the peloton, so that the energy of the class would match my goals for the intervals I had on tap. I was skeptical the first time that I rolled the speed up to a 7:53, but managed to hang on for 600m. and after 400 m of recovery, I managed to do it again. It kept going like that – a slight disbelief, a hard effort, another interval checked off. At the end of the 45 minute class I was dripping with sweat, but only had one more interval to go! I popped on a 20 minute Pop Punk run, and made it through my last interval, and glided into a nice cooldown to finish off my run. This run was so welcome after the struggle that intervals had been the week before.

The next day I focused on strength training, and after work met up with Sophie to do a few peloton classes. We did an hour of strength training total, consisting of a 20 minute lower body resistance band class, a 20 minute strength for runners class, and a 20 minute core class. As we are early in our marathon training, we even did a nice 10 minute stretch to close things out. How many weeks do you reckon I will actually manage to keep up with strength training and stretching like this?

Thursday morning called for a 6 mile tempo run, which I knew I was not up for just yet. I planned to run in the morning and had to fight to get myself out of bed. I set a goal of trying to hit around a 9-minute mile for 3 miles, and planned to run 7 miles total, so at least I would get the full mileage that the training wanted, even if the paces were not perfect. I let myself take it easy the first mile so my body would have plenty of time to warmup, and then tried to take the pace down when I got into mile 2. I fought to get the pace to just under a 9 min/mi, and didn’t quite get there for mile 2 – but by the time I rolled into mile 3 I had found my stride, and managed to hang on to the pace for miles 3 and 4. I spent the last three miles slowing down and just getting the miles under foot. It was a hard run, but I was happy that I had dragged myself out of bed at the end of it.

On Saturday I had my first race since march of 2020 – the NYRR pride run! It was a freaking humid morning, so I had no plans to run at an all out pace, but I was excited for the “event” that is a race, at long last! Mike and Jude picked me up, and we headed into Manhattan together. We pre-reserved parking at a lot near Carson’s apartment, and met up with her before heading into central park. They had covid precautions in place, so they had asked runners to pick up their bibs in advance if possible, so Carson had gotten our bibs and shirts earlier that week.

NYRR had set up the race to have a “rolling” start, with different start times based off your pace, but we all decided to start at the later time, together. We headed into central park, checked our bags, and were able to run right up to the start line and begin our race without being packed into a corral. Carson and I stuck together as we made our way through central park. This year the race was a 6k, and when we got moving, I was pretty much immediately dripping with sweat. It was central park, so of course there were hills - first up were the three sisters, then we made our way around the south side of the park before going up Cat hill. It was nice to be running with Carson though, and we did all we could to make it through the miles without melting.

When the finish line was in sight, Carson picked up the pace to fly through the finish, and I matched her stride for stride – although had she gone much faster, I probably would have thrown up. They gave us ice pops as we left the finishers chute, which were so good in the heat. We waited for Mike and Jude at the finish line, and then found a restaurant that served crepes, and we each ordered a different type and shared them, as we caught up. It was a great morning in the city, and made me really miss the days of races!

My last run of the week was a long run of 10 miles. It was humid again on Sunday, so I decided to just take the run inside, and headed to my parent’s house to use their treadmill. I did my diligence with a warm-up stretch and a warm-up run, and then started with one of Bec’s 60 minute marathon race prep classes. When I made it through the hour long class, I was dripping with sweat. I sat down on the treadmill for a minute to catch my breath, and then got up and went into another class, a 20 minute rock run with Andy Speer. By the end of the second class, I was at just over 8 miles, and ready to be done with my treadmill run. I stalled for a few minutes, swapping a load of laundry, and then clicked into a class that I always enjoy, one of Chase Tucker’s 20 minute pop. It got me to pick up the pace a little and carried me through the 10 mile mark I was aiming for. I forced myself to stretch, and was glad that I was done with another week of training.

The Constant Question: Will my fall Marathons happen?

Hey guys, its been a while. Like many of you, I have spent the last few months at home, staying safe in the days of COVID-19. It has been a weird new normal, and even though I am sleeping more than ever, it has been emotionally exhausting. My metaphorical cup has been too empty lately to feel like I can pour anything from it to create, so I have been quieter than usual on the social media front. The closest I have come to creating has been sewing dozens on masks, which is immensely stressful at times, and I worry myself ragged that I am not doing enough to help keep people safe. But here I am at long last, hopefully a few of you are still out there, doing okay as you read my ramblings.

First and foremost, I’ll start by saying this: I KNOW there are far more pressing matters these days. There are more important things than races coming back to running - us runners are still getting out there and logging miles without them.

There are plenty of more serious, concerning, and frankly, stressful issues than races. Perhaps that is why I keep fixating on the question of my fall races - it’s almost a nice daydream at times, to imagine running through the streets of Chicago or New York.

I know from a logistics standpoint, it’s unrealistic to believe that these major cities will be able to accommodate hordes of runners taking over their streets to run a marathon – every resource from the police presence to the clean-up crew is strained at the moment, so I am trying to manage my expectations. As of right now, I am registered to run the Chicago Marathon in October, and the New York City Marathon in November.

As the days tick off on the calendar, one after another spent working from home, I have started to think about training for these races. For the first six weeks of quarantine, I aimed to run about 30 miles a week, with a long run every other weekend. Then after a week of less than stellar runs, I decided to cut back for a week, only running once, on the day that would have been the Brooklyn Half marathon. My friends and I had been looking forward to running it together, so we each logged 13.1 miles on our own, and then had a virtual Zoom brunch to celebrate.

Last year when I first started training for the Chicago marathon (that ultimately did not happen for me because of a knee injury), I built my training plan from the “Hanson’s marathon method.” I really liked the training, and it made me faster, but so many miles lead to me slacking on the strength training front. It is an intense, high mileage program, and the thought of jumping into right now, when my races may not even happen, is super intimidating.

I still have a few weeks before any 18-week training program needs to start, so I decided to try something new – the Peloton Marathon training plan. Now, from looking at the schedule the mileage seems low, so I am planning on using it as a “lead in” to marathon training, in the weeks leading up to my actual training schedule, to get used to following a plan again.

I was first introduced to the peloton about a year and a half ago, when my parents purchased a bike (after I moved out too – rude). But since I sometimes headed over to their house to ride the bike, I had a peloton subscription, which allowed me to take classes through the peloton app. For the last few months I have been taking advantage of this, doing everything from core workouts to bootcamps. My husband, who is much more into biking than I am, approached me about the idea of getting our own peloton bike – my response was along the lines of “If you’re looking for someone to say no, you came to the wrong person.”

So now, we have our own bike, and it has been great for cross training and getting workouts in during quarantine.

Back to marathon training – this week I started following the training schedule that the Peloton team offers for training, and it has 4 runs in the first week, and two days of strength training. So far I have completed the first tempo run, which was pleasantly challenging, and one day of strength training. The guided runs are audio based, so I can listen to them on the road, or on the treadmill, which I like the flexibility of.

It is still early, but as of now I like being on a schedule again. It has me feeling motivated, and like I am working towards a goal again. I had been starting to feel stuck in quarantine, but this has me feeling like I have forward momentum, for the time being at least.

So, I hope that this post has found you well. That maybe it has inspired you to shake up whatever routine that you have fallen into, and to look for something that will make you feel like you’re moving forward once more.

And I hope that after all this, I will have a fall marathon to run – because a virtual MARATHON just sounds like a bit much to me.

2020 Dopey Challenge: The Final Countdown

Guys, I am so excited - the time of the 2020 Dopey challenge is finally upon us, and the first week of the year was the last week of training…. and packing.

I started the year off slow, sleeping in a little after a late night. I texted Dad when I woke up, and he agreed to bike along as I ran, even though it was a chilly, windy morning - the real feel was 24 degrees. I layered up and drove over to my parent’s house, and Dad and I headed out. We chatted as we looped around the neighborhood, and soon I needed to switch from a jacket to a vest. We wound up totaling a little more than four miles, and at the end of the run I did something that I usually neglect - a cool down stretch. Something I really need to be more on top of, and I figured that I may as well use the new year as an excuse to be more on top of it.

On the second I headed back to work, and was so busy that the days flew by. On Thursday I was planning to head to the gym after work, even through I was dreading the new years crowds, but my husband’s family made dinner plans, since it was my sister-in-laws last day in New York. Since she is only here for a few weeks of the year, I headed to dinner with everyone, and just snuck in a short body weight strength session before bed.

Friday night I was so exhausted that I was hardly functioning when I got home from work. I felt a little better after dinner, but still didn’t have energy for much. So I organized some clothing and headed to bed early, since I had a race the next morning.

My body decided to wake up before my alarm, and I rolled out of bed around 5:30. I got dressed, and grabbed the race bag that I had packed the night before. The race was the first New York Road Runners event of the year - the Joe Kleinerman 10k, and I was heading into the city with a few friends from the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team to run it. It was rainy outside, but it was more misty than pouring, so I was hopeful that it would stop before we got to central park. I drove to Sami’s house, then met up with her, Tailia, and James, and Sami drove us the rest of the way to the park. Tailia had picked up everyone’s bib earlier in the week, so we just had to drop our bags and hit the porter potties before starting time. This year the NYRR re-did their corral assignments, with each runner being assigned a corral based off their best time in the last 12 months. For me, that meant getting moved back from corral E to F, since my best pace was from 2017 - but it gives me something to work towards this year!

We all loaded into the corrals, as we waited for the race to start. As a result of the rain, I put on way too many layers, that I would wind up shedding throughout the course. I didn’t really have any goals for the race, so I figured I would just see if I could keep up with some of my team mates. When the race started, the course took up us the worst hill in central park: Harlem hill. It is not only steep, but it winds up for so long that it feels like there was no life before the hill before you see the top of it. Once I made it through that hill, the work was not done - after all, the race was a 10k, and that was only the first mile.

I was glad I wore capris with pockets, and stuffed my gloves and headband into a pocket. From harlem hill I headed to the three sisters, and rolled through each one of them. We went all the way from the north end of the park to the south end, running the whole outer loop. The course was packed, and eventually I lost sight of my friends. When mile three rang in at a sub-9-minute mile, I questioned what I was doing - yes, the challenge of this pace felt GOOD. But I also hadn’t run paces this fast since before my injury in August, and I felt like I may be doing something stupid, with marathon weekend less than a week away. So I backed off the pace a bit, and focused on the run one mile at a time. Once we were headed north again we hit Cat hill, and then it wasn’t too far to the finish line. I had indeed lost layers as I ran, and was in the tank top that I had worn as my base layer by the time I crossed the finish line. I spotted Katie and Tailia on the side of the finish, and Sami and James came in right after me - looks like we had been within moments of each other throughout.

I found Carson after the race, and she took a walk back to the car with me. We all headed home, and Sami, Tailia, James and I had breakfast together, chatting and talking about our 2020 goals, and what races we wanted to run in the coming season. I headed home after and worked on marathon weekend costumes for a little bit, and then eventually headed into the city for a second time that day - Jennie had gotten us tickets to see Frozen on broadway, so we made a while girls night out of it, and got dinner in the cities before. It was a great night, and we had so much fun.

Sunday was a sleep in day for sure - the perks of tapering. Once I was up I got started on the day’s projects - packing and costumes. I had a lot of work to do, including finishing sewing three skirts. I had a lot of work to get done, and a long say of sewing ahead of me. Overall the crafting went smoothly, other than the skirt I made for my marathon costume - the material I picked was too silky, and when I tried it on with my running shorts it was super clingy. So off to the craft store I went, with Mom’s company, and I picked out a new material (and bonus, it was on sale!).

By the end of the day I had finished a mask, a headband featuring a tiny hat, three skirts, and two shirts. Phew! The line up for the weekend?

For the 5k Mike, Jude and I will be running as Buzz, Woody, and Zurg.

For the 10K the three of us will be going as Lock, Shock and Barrel, aka “Oogie’s boys” from nightmare before christmas.

For the half, Mike and I will be running as the Mad Hatter and Alice.

Finally, for the full, the last leg of Dopey, Mike and I will be running as Dopey and Snow white.

I am a little nervous about the heat for the full, so I have a raw threads snow white tank top, incase it it just too warm for a shirt that has a cape attached.

With all the costumes ready, I just had to get the rest of my supplies packed up, which I took care of on Monday night. My checked bag was very on-brand for me, and weighted in at 49 lbs, juuuust under the 50 lb limit. Once I was all packed, I just had to wait one more day before heading to Florida.

2020 Dopey Challenge: 7 Days to Dopey

The end of 2019 was a blur, with the week between Christmas and New Years somehow squishing together so tightly that it just felt like one deep breath, flown by like a blur.

After spending Christmas with my family, I headed back to work on the 26th, Bah Humbug. I was officially in the taper zone, so my mileage was decreasing rapidly as race day grew closer. After my Christmas Eve 20-miler, I only needed to get in two more runs that week, an easy 4 miles and a long run of 12 miles on the weekend.

I sadly headed back to work the day after Christmas, and it was a quiet day at the office, as most of my co-workers took the whole week off. I packed my gym bag before work and headed for the treadmill when I was finished for the day to get my miles in. I snagged a treadmill and started moving. The air was felt stagnant at the gym, and it was hot! Of course I had forgotten my water bottle, and my phone refused to stream Netflix, but it was fine. Everything was fine. It was only four miles, four very sweaty miles, and they got done quickly enough. After the gym I dipped into the craft store and bought some supplies to make Dopey costumes! I put a little bit of work in that night, and successfully completed a few masks.

I had a lot of thoughts about cross training, or going to a yoga class this week, but honestly, it just didn’t happen. I enjoyed the low mileage that was scheduled, and just took it easy around the holidays. The next time I headed out for a run was on Saturday, accompanied by Mike and Carson. We let ourselves sleep in a bit, and planned to meet up around 11 am. The three of us headed to the Massapequa preserve, and got on the road together. We headed into the woods and did a three mile loop that took us by lots of doggie friends, and then looped by the car to grab some water. The original plan was just to keep repeating the loop, but Carson needed to pee, so we headed towards the park bathrooms, which were about four miles north on the trail. So off we went, our loop plan turning into an out and back.

The preserve is a little but hilly, and as the miles crept us on us we made a group decision to switch to run/walk intervals. We were much happier campers with this change, and shortly after reached the restrooms. We were a little concerned that the bathrooms would be locked for the season, but thankfully one was open. After business was attended to, Carson took a quick swing break on the near by playground, while Mike and I did a quick loop on the parking lot. The weather was super nice for December, and I was very happy as we entered mile 11 of the run, knowing that the end was in sight as we approached mile 12 - and then Carson threw down the gauntlet and said “We should just run a half today!”

I sighed. I was tired. I half fought Mike and Carson, but they won the battle, and we adjusted our goal to 13.1 miles - our out and back had been a little longer than expected anyway, so we only had to go about a half mile beyond the car, before turning around and entering the true final stretch at last!

It was a sense of accomplishment when we got to the car, and I was relieved that the miles were behind us. When I got home i treated myself to a nice big pasta dinner, and hit up the craft store for more costume supplies. I have a lot of costume work ahead of me in the next week, but my glue gun and I are ready!

On new years eve my Dad and I have a tradition, we head into manhattan, head to a few stores, and then grab lunch before heading home. When I woke up on New Years Eve I almost forgot this was the plan, and found myself scrambling to get ready so I would make the train on time. Of course, as I headed out the door I called Dad and he told me the plan had changed - we were driving. That gave me a little time to dry my hair at least. Once we got into manhattan we wandered around, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, visiting a few historical sites, stopping by a yarn store, and eventually getting lunch at Fraunces Tavern. After a busy day of exploring the city we headed home, and I decided to try to get a few miles in before heading over to Mike’s house to celebrate the new years. I geared up, got outside, stretched, and started moving - I got to the end of the block, and an awful side stitch hit. I took a minute to stop and try to breathe through it. I wanted to run about four miles, but the run just kept going like that - run a few houses, get an awful side stitch, have to walk. It sucked. So instead of four miles, I threw in the towel after a mile. It was a sucky last run of the year, but if I have learned one thing in 2019, it is that there is always a better run ahead of me.

To close out the year, Den and I headed over to Mike and Jude’s house, where we watched the fan fare around the ball drop in NYC, ate lots of yummy food, and enjoyed hanging out with a bunch of friends to ring in 2020.

As sad as I am that the holidays are behind us, I am so excited for marathon weekend to be here!

2020 Dopey Challenge: 23 Days Out

Day by day, the Dopey Challenge inches closer, and my excitement grows! This week was especially exciting, because I got to head to Disney World with my family for a Christmas trip - I had never been to the parks in December before, so I was really excited for this trip!

After another weekend of back to back runs, my knee was sore on Monday. I decided to start my week with a ride on the trainer, so Monday morning I got up early and selected a workout on Zwift. The one I picked was a 55 minute ride that included hill intervals, so it was a little rough at times. I was dripping with sweat by the time I finished the ride, and hopped in the shower before work.

Tuesday morning I once again managed to get my butt out of bed early, this time with a run planned. I drove over to my parent’s house to meet up with Dad, since it was an unseasonably warm morning for December. I got there around 6:30, and Dad pulled his bike around to the front of the house… but then discovered that he had a flat tire as we went to hop on. Not an issue though - he had a spare. We headed into the back yard to pop it onto the bike stand to change the tube…. only to have the second tube to refuse to fill with air. Upon closer inspection, we realized that there was a burr of metal near the stem, and without another tube the bike wasn’t going anywhere that morning. Womp Womp.

So, instead of a run/bike Dad cooked some eggs and bacon for breakfast, I used the stim machine on my knee, and cuddled with the cat for awhile. I texted Mike inquiring about his plans for the night, and he agreed to head to planet fitness with me after work to get in some treadmill miles.

Before running, I headed to the nail salon with my Mom to get pedicures, a pre-vacation ritual. She was heading to Florida on Wedensday, before the rest of the fam, so Tuesday was our best bet. Then I changed quick before meeting Mike, and we met at the gym. We even managed to find treadmills next to each other, and got to chatting as we started our miles. I started at an easy pace, but was feeling really good as I got moving, and after the first half mile kept turning the pace up. Mike and I were both planning to participate in the weekly BibChat session that BibRave hosts on twitter, so at 8:00 we hopped on twitter while we were running. Over the course of the subsequent four miles I upped the pace from a 10:30 to an 8:00 mile, and held that for about a half mile total before slowing down to cool down. I totaled five miles of running, and then walked on the treadmill for a few minutes while Mike made his way to 5 miles. Once both of our runs were complete we headed into the basement, where our planet fitness has their strength training equipment, and did about 20 minutes of mobility work, since both of us had knee pain over the weekend.

Since I ran Tuesday night, I wasn’t going to push it by running again Wednesday morning. Plus it had snowed a little overnight, so that made running a less of a choice anyway. So I had a lazy morning, sleeping in a little and then working on packing for my trip. My plan was to workout after work, and swap one of the five mile runs on my training for a swim. I had my company’s holiday party after work, and planned to head from there to the pool to meet up with some of my teammates from the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team at the pool - until I wound up with a flat tire. That, unfortunately, changed my plans. Instead of heading to the pool I got my car to the shop, where I hoped they would be able to fix it the following morning. I thought about running when I got home after, but my knee was aching so I figured it would just be better to call it a wash.

When I woke up Thursday though, my knee was still aching. I weighed my options, feeling guilty at the idea of not running another day in a row. Ultimately I decided to take another day off, reminding myself that the goal was to make it to the start line, and be able to participate. So I listened to my body, and once again took it easy. At least it gave me time to finish packing, and pick up my car, which had thankfully been repaired by my local mechanic.

Friday after work I headed to Disney with my family, for a Christmas trip! I was traveling with my husband Dennis, my parents, my Aunt Karen, and my cousin Ryan. We spent a total of four days in the park, taking in the new attractions and enjoying all of the holiday decorations. We even went to Mickey’s very merry Christmas party, which was a first for me!

Since we had Christmas party tickets for Sunday night, we weren’t heading into the parks that morning. So, I took advantage of the time I had and went for a run around the resort. We were staying at pop century resort, which has a shared running path with the art of animation resort. I got in a total of 6 miles, and my knee felt foot throughout, which I was really thankful for. My original intent had been to run 12 that day, but with the pain I had been feeling throughout the week, I figured it was a safer bet to keep it short, since I would be walking around the parks for the next few days. I explored the hotels as I ran, checking out all of the decorations that they had around.

I stayed in Florida with my family until Tuesday night, when we headed home. It was a great little trip, and we even got to meet up with our family that lives in Florida. I’m the “planner” for my family, so these trips can get a little exhausting at times, but at the end of the day I’m so grateful that I have the chance to spend time with the people I love, especially at Disney!