Monday, October 24, 2016

New York City Marathon Training Update - 2 weeks out!

The past months I have had very little desire to come here and post. I've been doing lots of other things besides writing here, which was sort of what I was expecting to happen at the end of training for and racing, Half Ironman World Championships.  This year wore me out. I've been tired.

Tired of being focused. Tired of training. Tired of having to say no to friends in order to go to bed early to get up and workout. I've just been tired of it all and going through a little rebellion period.

However, as a now 30 year old who has made fitness a part of her life... my "rebellion" period still consists of training and preparing for the New York City marathon. My routine has consisted of one easy run a week, one tempo run, swim practice, some biking, a little weight training and weekend long runs. Then there has also been a lot of meeting friends for drinks, trying to date more, sleeping in when I am tired, fried foods, pizza, beer, and way too much sugar in the form of ice cream, candy, and cookies. Way too much.

While I do not like how squishy I have gotten or how tight my pants are right now, I'm okay with it. I am enjoying the flexibility and am still making smart choices as much as possible. Lately I have been bingeing a bit more than I would like, which I need to reign in and get under control. But I am allowing myself some moderation right now in my life.


I'm feeling good about where I am heading into New York City Marathon, which is a little under 2 weeks away. I am not in marathon PR shape and I am not expecting to beat my time at Chicago next year. I haven't been eating or working out in a way that would have me prepared for that and I knew that this wouldn't be a race to race for a while. New York City is an iconic race and I have had an amazing year of training. Unlike any of the other marathons I have done, this is a race in a city I have a connection to. I have lived in. I have friends in. And that I feel at home in. I am excited to race NYC for the love of marathon and not for the hopes of a personal best. I still get a high and feeling of disbelief when I think of my race in Chicago last year. Maybe I'll go after beating that time in the future, but I didn't have it in me for this year.


That being said, I am honestly pretty happy with how my body is holding up through training and I think I will run a decent race, if all goes well. My times for my long runs are just a bit slower than the paces I was running last year leading up to Chicago Marathon. And honestly, my body has made it through all of training with no injury or pain or weird aches. During my long runs I couldn't help but think back to last year and how I injured myself during my 18 mile run, which really made my 20 mile run and last weeks of training a challenge.

Through all of my longer runs... 18 miles and 20 miles, the main challenge has been mental. My body has felt great and I have finished the runs feeling strong and with consistent paces throughout. During my 18 mile run, I actually extended it a half mile to 18.5 and my average  pace was 9:46 min/miles but my last 3 miles were the fastest of the whole run with 9:27/9:26/9:23 miles and the final half mile at 9:04.  My 18 mile run last year was at a 9:33 pace (which, holy cow, that was a good run!), but there I slowed as my run progressed.


This year's 20-mile run I did at a 10:13 pace, running the first 10 miles slower than what I normally would have run to pace with a friend. My 20-mile run last year was at a 9:57 min/mile. Figuring that my long runs have been about 15 seconds slower per mile than last training cycle, and that New York City is a more challenging course that Chicago... I will estimate that I will run about 20 seconds slower than Chicago. My pace for Chicago was 9:06 min/mile so if I ran 9:26 min/miles in New York, that would be a 4:07 marathon. I would love to be under 4:10 so I believe that's around where I will set my sights but who knows how race day will go!


Every training run that I have gone out for in the past couple months as I have been just focused on marathon training - whether it is 14, 18, 10 or 20 miles - I have told myself "just get through it." I've told myself it is okay if I walk, as long as I get the miles on my watch to hit whatever my goal distance is for the day. Then, multiple times, I have felt better than expected going out on the runs, and end up finish strong (for the most part - I have had a few crappy runs thrown in there, that's for sure!)

The weather has started to finally feel a bit cooler in Atlanta, which has led to some more comfortable running for this northern girl. The days are longer and the sun is rising later, so morning runs are darker and I've had to break out the head lamp a few times.


I also made my way up to New York and New Hampshire for some work and personal trips, which has truly given me a taste of chillier weather and a better feel for what race day will be like. For that I am grateful. The beautiful fall foliage that has graced my runs the past week hasn't been terrible either!



It's been a fun couple of months getting ready for this marathon and it is definitely a different attitude that I have had going into any of my races so far. I feel like I have barely talked about this race with my friends, family, coworkers, and certainly on this blog. It's hard to believe that this will be my 4th (!!!) marathon and as much as I can hardly believe it, I also can see that in my strength on my runs and my mentality going into the race. The countdown is on until November 6th!

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