Kelly’s Goofy Plan: Week 9

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.

Kelly’s Goofy Plan: Week 8

Monday: an actual rest day. I had plans to go to yoga, but they fell apart when a storm hit, and the messy roads made for a stressful, low visibility ride home from work. Instead, I took full advantage of the power of a night on the couch.

Tuesday morning was my first early wake up in a week, and my body felt heavy, particularly the giant bags under my eyes.

It was a windy morning, which obviously means I started with too many layers.

Kasey was waiting for me at the end of my block, and we chatted as the sun slowly rose in the sky. I like that this is the new normal, her humoring my chatting with one headphone off her ear in the morning. As we approached her house she commented about how we haven’t had a good since rise in weeks, since before daylight savings really - and what was the point of an early morning run if you don’t at least get a good sunrise?!

She finished her run shortly after that, and the morning view got a little better, as though it had heard her complaining. I headed towards my parents house to snag some water and drop a jacket, before turning to complete my round trip journey. Back to the apartment, picking up the pace as I went. I wound up with an unintentionally progressive run, for the most part, starting at 10:10 and getting down to 8:47 for the last mile. Five total to start the weeks mileage.

When I got back to the apartment it was so warm inside, even with the thermostat set as low as we can set it, they I stood out front to cool off for a minute, as the cats sat in the window wondering why I wasn’t getting inside immediately to feed them.

That night I headed to yoga with Sophie and Emily to make up for skipping our usual Monday class. And then Emily and I went again on Wednesday, that time to a restorative Yin class. Every time we do a yin class I feel like I blink and it’s time to go home, it is just that relaxing.

I passed out earlier than usual on Wednesday night, and was up on time Thursday for my run with Kasey, even if I did have the usual morning feeling of hope that she would cancel on me (she never does). We discussed how windy it was, but as usual Kasey motivated me to get out of the door. She always does.

We were fighting the wind anytime we headed west, but our paces were quicker than usual. My plan was run the usual route with Kasey, and then transition into a speed workout when her run was done. Looking at the paces the night before I felt like the 200m repeats were a little more than aggressive, but programmed them into my garmin nonetheless.

My schedule called for a warmup, 4x200m @ 6:48/200m recovery, 2 miles at 8:56, then another set of 4x200.

I hit the lap button, and went right into the 200 m repeats, which were basically a sprint pace for me. But they only lasted about a minute, so they were doable. I got though the first three, then quickly dipped into my parents house to drop off my light up vest, as the sun was up by that point. Dad poured me a sip of water, and I was on my way again. One more repeat in the first set, then a transition into the two mile set.

I got one mile into that set, and my stomach started cramping, insisting that another pass by of my parents house was necessary for a quick potty break. I got back to their house, headed for the bathroom, and got running again as quickly as I could. The second mile went MUCH smoother than the first, and rang in a little faster. At that point I was headed back to the apartment, and just had to get through one more set of 200m repeats.

As I picked the speed up each time, I counted the number of houses I ran by. I managed to hit my numbers for all of the repeats in the second set, and felt the sweet feeling of relief when the tough numbers were done, knowing that I could ease the pace as I just had to make it though a cooldown back to the apartment. Seven miles, at an average pace of 8:50, and boy did I feel good about it.

I rounded out the work week with a 5 mile run on Friday morning. Thursday’s wind had passed, and I got to take it easy this time around. Kasey had an early shift at work, so she met me at the usual time, and we headed out to get our miles done.

I had intentions of swimming after work, but wound up having to stay late to get a project out, so my plan fell apart.

On Saturday morning I headed to prospect park with Mike and Carson (one of the girls I work with) for the New York Road Runners jingle all the way 5k. It was my turn to drive, and I managed to miss an exit on the highway, extending our drive a little longer than anticipated. So, when we pulled up on prospect park Mike hopped out of the car to go grab all of our bibs while Carson and I looked for, and eventually found, parking. We then had to jog to the start area, where we tracked down Mike, and managed to check our bags before heading to the start line - and we got there just in time for the start, bells pinned on and all.

I had forgotten just how hilly prospect park was, and an easy summary of this race is “it was three miles of me swearing the hill was almost over (it was not).”

When we first crossed the start line it was crowded, but as we worked our way into the first mile the road opened up, and it no longer felt like we were at risk of being elbow checked. We joked around and sang made up songs, and were through the first mile before I knew it.

The second mile got challenging fast, as we began an upward climb that felt never ending. Carson told me that she was going to need to take a break, and I told her she wasn’t doing that- peak run bully performance. But Mike agreed with me, and we rallied to all keep going, counting out “One! Two! Three!” to check that we were all together, even if sometimes Carson replaced her shout of “three” with assorted other noises.

The downhill that I swore was coming lasted about two seconds before we were climbing uphill again, but the best part about a 5k is that it is only three miles long, so soon enough the finish line was upon us, and we picked up the pace for the last stretch, coming in at just under 30 minutes. We filtered through the finish line, collecting our apples and bagels, which were shaped like candy canes and wreaths.

I promptly orchestrated a photo shoot with our festive bagels, each of us in turn posing as the letter “Y,” with the bagels serving as our J and O- spreading JOY!

After the long ride home from Brooklyn, I headed out for three more miles with Sophie. Both of us felt like we just couldn’t get moving, and we’re glad when my watch ticked over to the three mile mark.

I had originally intended to get my long run done after the race on Saturday, but I felt like crap and knew that it wasn’t going to happen. In this case, feeling like crap was a headache that I just couldn’t shake, that was tied to feeling nauseous.

Sunday morning thunderstorms were on the forecast, and I was still feeling fatigued. Unlike past training cycles, this one has me doing a long run every weekend, just getting a little longer each week, and honestly, I was at a point of mental fatigue this weekend, and just couldn’t talk myself into an 18 mile treadmill run.

So, I looked at my training schedule. The following weekend I was planning to do a long run with Mike on Saturday, by adding a few miles to the race we had scheduled - the Ted Corbitt 15k. Realistically, I should be doing back to back long runs to prepare for Goofy, so I resigned myself to get in the long run after the 5k I was racing Sunday, since I only had three miles scheduled that day.

And just like that, I pushed my 18 mile run back a weekend, and headed to planet fitness for a lower mileage day, thanks to Emily agreeing to go with me- my motivation was seriously lacking.

We hung out on the treadmill for a little more than an hour, and I got in 7 miles, before having to move on to the rest of my plans for the day, which were distinctly non-running related.

I beat myself up a little bit for changing the plan, but sometimes you have to roll with the punches, and my mental fatigue was real this week. But I did what I could, and sometimes that’s the best I have.

Kelly’s Goofy Plan: Week 7

The week was off to a good start, with a Monday night yoga class with Emily and Sophie. We headed to Vanessa’s late class, move and meditate. She kicked our butt with an intense series of core movements and lunges, and I was blissed out by the time I reached savasana. I got home with enough time to eat dinner before promptly passing out.

Tuesday morning was a struggle. Kasey got out the door before me as usual, and before I even got out the door texted me that she had wiped out.... and then promptly proceeded to not answer my texts. But the “find my friends” app told me she was still moving closer to me, so I headed out the door to find her, and she was just up the block from my house.

We continued on with our run, which I was very overdressed for. I slowly began to melt, but at least we chatted about the impending holiday as we got through our miles. I kept telling myself the run would get better, and pushing myself forward. I just couldn’t seem to catch my breath though, and then I remembered the air quality warning that my phone had sent me.

Kasey finished her miles, and as I moved forward from her house it started to rain a VERY cold rain. And you know who didn’t have a hat? Me. At this point I was just really over this run. It sucked, I was sore, I couldn’t breathe, and my apartment was miles away. So I did something I don’t often do - I ran to my parents house, and I stopped. I was supposed to be doing a track workout anyway, and with how I was feeling the paces I wanted to hit weren’t going to happen, and it still sucked after two miles, so I called the run, and hung out with my dad for a bit before hitching a ride back to my apartment. I told myself that I would head to the gym after work, and get the track workout in then. 

So I made plans with Sophie to head to the gym when we were both done with work. I got on the treadmill, and committed to getting my speed work done. It was hot in the gym, and I quickly became a sweaty mess, but I stuck to my paces for the most part. The plan was for a 1 mile warmup, then 1 mile at a 7:43 pace (1:30 jog), 2x800 @ 7:29 (2:00 jog) then one more mile at a 7:43 pace before a cooldown. I managed to hold the pace for both miles, and the first 800m repeat, but had to back off of the pace a little for the second 800m repeat to avoid puking on the treadmill. I got a total of 5.6 miles in, and Sophie hit her goal too- 5 continuous miles so that she would feel ready for the turkey trot we were running later that week.

I had good intentions of going to yoga on Wednesday night, but while Emily, Kasey and I were on our way to pickup the turkey trot bibs we got a call from the studio letting us know they were cancelling the class that night. So instead we just took it easy and had a girls night in at the apartment, and Sophie joined us as well.

Finally Thursday rolled around, and it was time for the third annual running of the Garden City Turkey Trot! It was the third year for Ryan, Hallie, and me, the second year for Kasey, and Sophie’s first year joining us! It was COLD on thanksgiving morning, like less than 20 degrees. So we layered up, and sat in the car for as long as possible leading up to the race- we may have had to run to the start line to avoid getting run over by the front runners.

When we did get to the start line, we began our race almost immediately. Kasey and her siblings quickly pulled ahead of Sophie and I, who stuck to a pace around a 10 min/mi. For me, holiday races are usually about spending time with your people rather than finish times. About a mile into the race I had to fanagle removing a layer while running, because I was overdressed, as usual.

Sophie and I ran along together and just before mile 2 I got a text from Kasey asking where we were- she had ran ahead of her brother and sister and was bored of running alone. We were running through the first water station, and told her as much, but by the time she got it we were passed it, and spent the rest of the race trying to spot each other- Kasey finished less than a minute after Sophie and I, so I’m pretty sure she was right behind us as we tried to find each other.

Hallie and Ryan came in a few minutes later, racing each other to the finish line in full force. We stopped to take a few quick photos together, then quickly headed for the warm car, happy to get out of the cold weather.

My next run was on Saturday night, on a treadmill. I managed to put this run off all day. When I woke up I started working on some Christmas gifts, and told myself that I would go out to run at 9. At 8:45 I called dad to see if he felt like biking, but he was in the process of hanging Christmas lights alone, as my brothers were still asleep. I had a pretty free schedule all day, so I agreed to help him hang lights, and we did that until Sophie and I headed to yoga at 12:30.

By the time we finished yoga I was hungry, and headed back to the apartment to grab lunch. I then continued to procrastinate, and made 4:00 the new time that I needed to get my butt to the gym. I was successful this time around, and my plan for the treadmill was a threshold run- 2 mile warmup, 2 miles at 8:54, 1 miles at 8:06, 1 mile cooldown.

I’ve been listening to Harry Potter and the deathly hallows during easy treadmill miles lately, and tuned in as I got the warmup done. When I switched to the harder paces, I flipped to a fast paced playlist on Spotify, and got moving. It was a little rough at times, more mentally than physically, but I got through the three times miles at the prescribed paces, and then trotted through my cooldown, happy with myself for getting to the gym and putting in work.

The last run of the week? Sunday Runday.

Dad agreed to ride along, and Mike needed to get an 11 mile run in, so the three of us made plans to head to jones beach. I needed to run 18 miles, so Dad and I headed to the beach about an hour before Mike, so we could get the first 6 miles done. I managed to keep them at a sub-10 pace, so that I would have a little buffet when I inevitably slowed down at the end of the run. We headed west first, returning to the new area we had run the weekend before, then back to the parking lot to find Mike. A quick Gu stop, and we were headed out on the path towards tobay beach.

The miles slipped away, as they always do with Mike and Dad, as Dad encouraged us to keep moving. The weather was perfect, with not too sunny skies and a nice breeze (did I manage to get a sunburn? I don’t want to talk about it.). When we got to tobay it was time for a quick bathroom stop, and another round of Gu. As we headed back towards the boardwalk I marveled over the sky, which was a beautiful blue with picturesque clouds. 

When we finally made it back to the boardwalk we only had two more miles to go, and as Mike started to feel fatigued I encouraged him to take one more Gu. I felt better than I had in a long time running this distance, and was coming up on 18 miles feeling strong. We started the final decent to the car, hit our mileage, and then discovered that the underpass we needed to go through to get to the car was entirely flooded. So, we wound up with a nice long walking cool down, as we took the long way to get to the other underpass.

I had been nervous going into the 18 mile run, but finished it feeling strong and optimistic about the marathon that my future holds.

Kelly's Goofy Plan: Week 6

A lot of “weather” happened this week, which lead to me being stuck on a treadmill more than I would prefer. Here’s hoping that this isn’t a trend that continues as we get deeper into winter.

Emily, Sophie and I started the week off with a yoga class, heading to emerge on Monday night. Sophie is my brother’s girlfriend, who finally moved to Long Island, so you can expect to continue hearing about her, as I rope her into whatever plan I come up with. We opted for the more challenging of the classes offered that night, and I was ready to pass out as soon as I got home after class.

Kasey and I texted back and fourth Monday night debating what to do about Tuesday morning’s run – it was supposed to be cold and rainy, a combo that we do not enjoy. We bit the bullet and agreed to meet at planet fitness the next morning, although by the time I got there Kasey was almost done with her workout, as she has to be out the door to get to school much earlier than I have to leave for work. I got in a 5.5 mi speed workout, and then a quick core workout once I got home from the gym.

That night I headed to the gym once more, this time to meet Allison for swim. We planned to meet at 7, so I headed over a little early to sneak in some strength training before jumping into the pool. Remember when I used to be good at getting in strength training twice a week? Yeah, me too. When Allison got to the gym we swam 1000 yds total before calling it quits.

With Wednesday came another yoga class, this time a Yin/restorative one. I was ready to get moving on Thursday morning for my run through, feeling refreshed from the class. Kasey and I met up as usual, and it was one of the first mornings that really felt like winter this season. I broke out the heavy jacket, and one of the many ear warmers that I own, all of which make my forehead look very strange.

By the time Friday rolled around, I was feeling fatigued – more mentally than physically, and talking myself into getting out to run on Friday morning did not go well – by which I mean that it didn’t happen. So after work I had a date with a treadmill. I dragged myself to the gym, thinking that I if it realllly sucked then I only had to run five miles, and that was the perfect trick to get myself moving. It was the kind of run that I needed help tuning out, so I pulled up Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows on my iPhone, and the miles began to slip away. Before I knew it my tiredness had slipped away, and I hit a groove in my run. So I made it to 7 miles without dying, and was even happy about it by the time my miles were done.

You would think that procrastinating my run on Friday would have motivated me to be more on top of things Saturday, but it did not. When I got up I lazed about on my couch, and eventually Dad invited me to join him and mom at the beach for a walk, as Dad wanted to check out the new addition to the bike path that they just opened at Jones beach. Dad also wanted to complete the miles for a virtual 5k that we signed up for months ago – the NYPD tri team virtual 5k, the proceeds of which benefited the families of fallen officers. When we saw the event we signed up, got our medals and bibs in the mail, and then the race supplies sat around my parents house for a few months while we stressed out about the allll of the wedding things that needed to get done – but now that the wedding is in the past, we finally had time for a Saturday morning walk.

Once we finished up at Jones beach a ran around doing errands, the 7 mile run that I needed to get done still on the back of my mind. Eventually I texted Sophie to see if she would go to planet fitness with me, and she agreed to come along. By the time we got on the treadmills it was 5:20, and workers at the gym came around firmly reminding us that the gym was closing at 6. Crap. Something I had totally forgotten about. So 7 miles was out of questions. Sophie had wanted to run 5, and as we commiserated I said to her “I don’t think that I could even run 5 miles in 40 minutes!”

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew that I had to try. Was it a fast pace for me to hold? Yes. It was 5 eight-minute miles in a row after all. But my 10k pr was at an 8:14 pace, and that was over a year ago - but I was feeling strong, and i got after the pace. The magic of the treadmill keeping pace for me, and the miles ticked away. After I hit the 5k mark I eased up the pace a little, thinking that was good enough…. but just a few seconds later found myself cranking the pace back up, chasing that goal I set. And sure enough, I somehow pulled it off - 39:54, 5 miles. Honestly, I felt great about it. I may have sweated more than a human really should, but still, it was great.

The week ended with a long run, accompanied by Dad. We headed back to the Jones Beach bike path, intent on running to the end of the new area this time. We had some beautiful weather, with minimal wind, which is always a gift when running that close to the beach. We started the miles at the board walk, then headed west and did manage to get all the way to the end of the new path. We got to run through all of the “holiday lights” festival that Jones Beach hosts, and even though it wasn’t lit up we discussed each of the displays as we ran by. I was feeling sluggish by the time we hit 13 miles, was beyond ready to be at 16 miles. Dad reminded me to pick my feet up, and I reminded myself to focus on the mile I was running rather than the miles ahead.

Soon enough the run was over, and Dad and I took a traditional trip to the diner to refuel. I broke tradition slightly by ordering a tuna melt instead of two over-easy eggs, but I would consider it a successful training run nonetheless.

Kelly's Goofy Plan: Week 5

Dennis and I flew home from NY the same day that I ran the Wine and Dine half. While I was disappointed to miss the after party, I was happy to be home and back with our cats after a week in Florida.

Monday morning came like a rude awakening, with a return to work after a week and a half off. Since we had been away from home for so long I didn’t manage to make time for a workout that day, as I had to grocery shop and set myself up for the rest of the week.

But I got to work on Tuesday, which was both my birthday and election day. Kasey, Dad, and I met up and ran to the polling place that we all were assigned, doing our civic duty bright and early. We may have gotten some funny looks for our athletic wear while voting, but it was well worth it to have our voices heard. I ran a total of 6.28 miles before heading to work, and then celebrated my birthday with family that night, going out to dinner at seasons 52. After dinner I had an unplanned visit from Kasey and her family with Emily at the apartment, and it was nice to be reminded that I am loved.

I wasn’t scheduled for any miles on Wednesday morning, but it was so beautiful out that I was itching to get moving. So, I texted Dad and since he was awake as well, we met up for a short journey around the neighborhood. We were rewarded for our morning miles with a good sunrise, which would be a part of our morning routine for a little longer since the clocks went back an hour the weekend before. Emily and I headed to a yin yoga class after work, and in the spirit of overbooking myself, I went right from Yoga to LA Fitness, to meet up with a co-worker for a swim. We got in 1000 yds, and then I headed home, VERY ready for bed.

Old habits died hard Thursday morning, since my run ended with a waffle at my parents house. I headed out and quickly found Kasey, and we ran the usual route together until she was finished with her miles. Dad rode along with us, and when Kasey finished her miles we continued for another three, and were done early enough that there was time for breakfast. So like I said, we finished the morning run with a big plate of waffles, and Dad gave me a ride home so I would be able to get into work on time.

I actually managed to swim two nights in a row this week, since after work on Thursday I met up with Allison at LA fitness, and we swam just over 1000 yds and then called it a night.

For the weekend, my running calendar said that I should run 7 miles Saturday and 7 miles on Sunday, but since I had gotten in an extra three miles earlier in the week, I opted to consolidate the runs into one longer run, since Mike was planning an 11 mile run for Sunday.

We headed out just before 10 am, starting the run with some Gu, that way Mike could get used to fueling for longer runs. We stayed local for this one, since Mike had to get to work around 1 pm, so it would save us some travel time to stay local. As always, the miles with Mike slipped by in no time, chatting as we went. From just a few weeks ago, when we ran 10 miles together, mike has gotten so much stronger - it is always amazing to me how much stronger runners get as they build up their training mileage. On our last long run, he was struggling to hit that 10 mile mark, but this time he soared right to 11. We made one pit stop for water at my parents house, but other than that it was non-stop mileage.

It felt good to get back into my regular routine, and it was nice to finally be beyond the stress of wedding planning. We had so much fun on our wedding day, but all of the planning was stressful leading up to the big day.

Kelly’s Goofy Plan: Week 4

Week four of training for the Goofy challenge brought Dennis and I to Florida, since we were honeymooning in Disney World!

I mean, are any of you surprised by this?

We were staying at the beach club resort, tucked away just behind Epcot, with one of my favorite running trails on Disney property, so of course I managed to sneak in a few training runs during the week, when Dennis was opting to sleep in.

On day three of our honeymoon, I got up a little earlier than I needed to to get out and run. I had finally gotten used to the nice, fall weather in NY, and Florida was a little bit of a rude awakening, still warn and humid.

Den and I had reservation at Le Cellier in Epcot at 11:15, so I figured I would get some miles in and let him sleep. I had 7-8 miles on my schedule that were meant to be speedwork intervals, but I decided to take them easy and save the speed work for the wine and dine 10k, which I would be running on Saturday.

So I laced up and began running loops- around the board walk, then to Hollywood studios and back. At first it wasn’t too hot out, but as the sun rose higher into the sky, the air got thicker and I was glad that I had used my inhaler that morning.

There is a ton of construction going on near the entrance to Hollywood studios due to the new gondola system, so I wasn’t able to run all the way to the front gate like I usually do when running in the area of this resort. Instead, I turned around when I reached the construction fences, as it was too crowded to continue to the bus area. I was feeling good on this run, and it was my first run since getting married! It was nice to not feel stressed out about the wedding while running, for the first time in a long time. As I finished a loop I was just at 6 miles, and considered calling it a day, but committed to finishing the full distance, and got in one last loop.

I was sweaty and happy as I finished this run, glad that I can finally focus on running again now, without having to make as many sacrifices for other things that are going on in my life. Plus, I knew I had a yummy lunch ahead of me at Epcot, so that was a mood booster in and of itself.

On Halloween Den and I had tickets to a nightmare before Christmas Halloween party at the Edison in Disney springs, so it was a late night for us. We had a great time though, and I even won a nightmare before Christmas vinyl in the costume contest they hosted, for placing in the top 10!

We didn’t set any alarms Thursday morning, since both of us wanted a chance to sleep in - and we were rather successful! I didn’t wake up until 10:30, and I honestly can’t tell you the last time I managed to sleep in that late. Den was still fast asleep, so I took this as an opportunity to get the run in that my schedule called for - 4 miles. The weather wasn’t too bad, which was a relief. High 70s and low humidity.

The disadvantage of running this late? Lots of foot traffic on the boardwalk. But all in all it was still a good run. I had a podcast to listen to - the wine and dine preview from not real runners - and just settled into a easy pace and got moving. At first my body was a little hesitant to be out there, but I told myself that if I wanted to stop after one loop, I could, but I needed to get through at least one loop.

But sure enough, once I was through one loop I had found a groove, and was enjoying my podcast enough to keep moving forward. I was listening to the wine and dine preview episode that not real runners released a week before the event, and I hadn’t found the time to listen to.

The loops slipped away and I reversed the last one to keep the run to 4 miles. When I was done I was once again very sweaty (thanks, Florida), and very happy to hop in the shower. The plan for Thursday? A quick trip into Epcot to grab some lunch and our annual pass holder cutting boards, then we would head over to the race expo!

The rest of my honeymoon running was in the form of races, so make sure to check back later this week to read my recap of the wine and dine 10k.

Kelly's Goofy Plan: Week 3

On Monday night, I was in the midst of wedding preparation, and knew that I needed to be up past my normal bedtime. So, instead of subjecting myself to a torturous morning, I texted mike to see if he was down to run Tuesday night, and he agreed.

A storm was rolling in as we headed out to run, and we spent a large part of the run talking about wedding plans. He’s engaged to be married next July, so is just beginning to plan as I rapidly approach the big day. Before the run was done the skies were starting to open, and we sprinted the last block to get back to the apartment before we were really soaked. My legs did not want to be running that day, but I got out there and got moving.

Tuesday was my last day of work for the week, and the plan was to do lots of wedding prep with the two days I had off before the wedding- and boy, were those days filled up.

I didn’t get out to run again until Thursday morning, when Kasey and I headed out for a slightly later than usual run- no work and no school meant we got to sleep in a little. The weather was crisp, although a little windy.

Kasey even chatted with me again, something I am more than happy to get used to. With all the time we have spent planning for the wedding in the last two years, it was surreal that it was this week at long last. When Kasey had finished her three miles I headed home, to get in a yoga class with Rachel, Liz, and Emily before beginning a jam packed day full of pre wedding activities.

The first item on the itinerary? The last mile before the aisle. I had most of the bridesmaids plus my brother Kevin and a few of the guys assemble at my parents house, and I decked out myself in some bride gear for the occasion. We were just doing a one mile loop near my parents house, and I was so happy to be out there with so many of my people. About 3/4 of the way through the loop dad rolled up on us in the car with Den, Emily and Tommy on board, holding a speaker out the window and pumping the rocky theme song- this may have been the best part of the whole event. And of course, there was a sprint to the finish line as we rounded the last corner to my parents house. Greg won, but in my defense he is almost a foot taller than me.

That was all the running a got in this week- definitely a bit lower than my usual weekly mileage, but I did get married, so I think that’s a pretty good excuse. Now, we’re off to Disney world to honeymoon, and I mayyyy even be sneaking in a race- the wine and dine two course challenge.

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.