Marathon Training: Week 2

Phew, it's been a crazy busy week, yet again! I'm officially 2 weeks into marathon training, so let's recap how it went:

Monday: Rest-I planned on doing a short recovery run in the morning, but was out past my bedtime Sunday night and opted for sleep instead!  Awesome decision.

Tuesday: 3 miles (1 mile warm-up,1 mile @ 8:50pace, 1 mile cool down)-I'm still adjusting to running with a Garmin to check my pace, and ended up running the 2nd mile at 9:10ish pace.

Wednesday: Rest. 

Thursday: Unplanned rest day.  Worked late on Wednesday evening, trying to get sleep when I can! 

Friday: 3 easy (with 5x 30 sec pick-ups)-The weather finally broke and this run was luxurious!!!

Saturday: 8 mile long run-Let myself sleep in and started my run around 8am, so it was a little warmer than I'd prefer.  I ran along the Queens waterfront to Queens Bridge Park and back.  10:43 pace.

Sunday: Yoga (30min) and lots of foam rolling. 

Total weekly mileage: 14

This week was less than ideal for my training.  I worked a lot and this tired little RD/temporary waitress had to chose getting some sleep over running.  I'm really looking forward to week 3 when I can (hopefully) get back on track! 

Stay tuned...How is your training going? How do you manage when you're pressed for time/sleep?!

Philadelphia Marathon Training: Week 1!

As of last Monday, I'm officially in training for my first marathon!  I'm absolutely terrified but I WANT this!

via Pinterest

I'm definitely thankful to have a great runner support system including my new coach, Abby! She's so close to being certified and I have no doubt she will be soon.  I told Abby about my lack of running through May/June and my fear of pushing too hard and building up too fast, putting me at risk for injury (I had a stress fracture 4 years ago and never want to deal with that again).  Since she's awesome, she took all of this into consideration when creating a plan for me.  We're doing 18-weeks (the marathon is November 17th), so I have plenty of time to build up mileage, get strong and run long. 

I've been insanely busy during July, so kicking off Week 1 of training has been rough, but I got it done!  Here's how it went...

Monday: 3 miles (easy)-Easing back into early morning runs, kept around 9:50min/mile.

Tuesday: 60 min walk-Was going to be a rest day but I wanted to get out and moving so I took a long walk through the park.

Wednesday: 3.5 miles (easy with 5x 30-sec pickups)-Ugh. So hot and humid, pace was SLOW even with the pickups.

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 3.25 miles (easy)-Easy pace doesn't feel so easy! It is so hot.  Is it fall yet?  How am I ever going to run 26.2 miles?

Saturday: Rest-I've been working a lot and definitely needed to sleep in and not run today!

Sunday: Queens 10K-Abby had a 6-mile long run scheduled, so I figured why not sign up for this race, get another 9+1 credit, hydration along the course and awesome T-shirt?  I didn't race and stayed within my LR pace...Check out my recap here. 

Total weekly mileage:  15.5 miles

I definitely should have fit in some strength/cross training this week, but I just didn't make the time with my hectic schedule...and I really needed to take my rest days when I could.  Stay tuned as my training becomes more intense and things get really fun!

Are you training for a fall race?  Tell me how your training is going! Are you getting beat by this heat?!

Race Recap: NYRR Queens 10K

After looking at the training plan Abby created for me and seeing my long run of 6 miles this weekend, I decided to sign up for the NYRR Queens 10K.  Six hot, lonely miles vs. six miles with a few thousand motivators, ample water supply and an awesome neon green tee shirt?  Simple decision.  I just had to remember that this was a long run for me...not a race.



Super bright tech tee. Thanks, NYRR.



I love running races in my borough.  I live about 10 minutes away from Flushing Meadows park, so there was no need for a crazy early alarm.   Which was especially nice as I was running on 5 hours of sleep and sore feet from waitressing the night before.  All the more reason to follow my training plan and not "race" this race.

Beth (who is currently rocking her own marathon training) texted me bright and early to wish me luck and reinforce the importance of just running this as my long run.  My goal pace for long runs is somewhere around 10:30 min/miles and having Beth's voice in my head during the run definitely helped me slow it down to that.  Thanks, Beth! :)

So...the race!

I've run several races in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, which mostly all follow the same route, but this one was different!  It almost went in the opposite direction as I was used to running the park, which was a welcome change! Mile 5-6ish included an out-and-back section by Citi Field, which usually I hate, but as there were so many runners, I found myself easily distracted with "people watching".  NYRR made sure there were plenty of fluid stations and sprinklers along the course to help manage the heat.  There was also a good amount of music, DJs and spectators. 

Mile splits (based on Garmin):
1-10:02
2-10:08
3-10:10
4-10:38
5-10:30
6-10:06
0.3-9:32

I have to admit that I sort of hated having to constantly look at my new Garmin to see what pace I was running.  I don't know how some people are so dependant on it!  It did end up being helpful to keep my pace in check, but I definitely don't love it.  Hopefully as I get more used to running with it, I'll get better at feeling out my pace and not have to look at it so much.

My official time was 1:04:43 (10:26 pace).  This is my slowest 10K time ever, but I'm okay with it because I know it's all part of "the plan".  All in all, a nice easy 6 mile run! Oh, and I'm one race closer to guaranteed entry to the 2014 NYC Marathon!

Did you run the Queens 10K?  Are you doing the 5-Borough Challenge?  Training for a race? Let's talk about it!