OMG HOW I LOVE THE SUMMER!! I can’t even do a tiny recap without getting excited about all the things that happen in the 2-3 hot months we get. June was a blur! I have a feeling I am gonna close my eyes and it’ll be October in a NY minute, ugh. So I signed up for a marathon… we’ll see if I end up actually racing it (aka, last years’s botched Philly Marathon) but we’re going with it for now. I did make myself a very fancy training plan with all the stuff and then I forgot I was training for a marathon and carried on with my life. Until last week, then I did a long run. Anyway, June was cool, I did not do a lot of miles which means… I did a bunch of races! I started the month with the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge, then the awesome Mini 10K (which I was horrible at), then the Queens 10K, and then the Achilles Hope and Possibility. There was a lot of cross-training in the stairs, lot of coaching workouts and lots of Tuesday speed. I just can’t miss anything in the Summer. The math for the monthly mileage must be wrong!
- Total Miles: 127. how? too many races!
- Races: 4. 1 automatic PR and one where I placed 1st in my AG. Wohoo!
- Ups: YES TO LESS LAYERS!
- Downs: I am now training for a marathon?
- Balance: let’s go!
May
started with me pacing the 1:55 group at the Shape Half. The next weekend I paced a New Balance run from Brooklyn to the Run Center, as a training run for the Airbnb Brooklyn Half (a 10 mile run). The next weekend (see a theme here? there’s always a run/race!), I raced the Japan Run 4 miler in Central Park. That was a bit painful (I didn’t fuel properly, ooops). There were a few stairs workouts, and speed workouts and I coached a few training runs per week… then the big day came along: the Airbnb Brooklyn Half! It all started with the 3-day Pre-party. Race Day was a fun riot. No PRs in May, but it was definitely “active”.
- Total Miles: 148 (biggest month but not that many miles this year)
- Races: 2 racing, 1 pacing.
- Ups: managed to get enough miles
- Downs: my race speed is MIA
- Balance: I had fun!
April
April was an interesting one… the month started with the Run to Breathe 4 mile race. That went quite well. So well, I came in 3rd in my AG, 4 seconds away from a PR and got super excited about my fitness level… The first Monday of April, I started the new session of Stairs of Fire, a workout just on stairs designed to kill your legs… it killed MY legs… I was beyond stiff and sore for 3 full days… OUCH. Of course, I still coached that week, did speedwork and run a lot so by Friday I was feeling ALL THE NAGS. Luckily, I was to be locked indoors all weekend at the Road Runners Club of America Coaching Certification, which got my legs some rest. They were still not great after that, my feet were iffy and tight… so I just took it very easy for 3 full weeks until it was all back to fighting shape, yes, I AM THE OPPOSITE OF EVERY RUNNER. When there’s a nag, or a little nothing, I try not to “run through it”, I STOP, to make sure it doesn’t turn into something bigger down the road. Luckily, I don’t have to do this often. Last time it happened was in September and was back on the horse after 2-3 weeks. I had very tight calves and it was making my feet super tight (pre-Achilles tendinitis!!!) so those 3 weeks I run very little and very slow, did Epsom salts bath almost every day, I stretched twice a day, slept, got massages, and voilaaaaa. Good to go! The stairs workout did me in. My legs weren’t ready for that hot mess of a workout! My goal for May is to stretch every day (after not stretching for …5 years?)
I missed out on coaching for a full week but I did so many other things, like a biomechanics running event at the Hearst Building, a few fun events (like a Gala and a staycation) and I paced the 1:55 finishers at the Shape Women’s Half this past weekend. Not a lot of mileage or quality work but got out of it unscathed…!
- Total Miles: 109
- Races: two! 1 great time, and 1 pacing gig
- Ups: Pacing was fun… the rest was a bit tentative!
- Downs: mileage and workouts went DOWN!!!!
- Balance: I am ready to ramp up now!
Here is my training for April…
March
Didn’t I just write a Feb recap?? Is this what happens when you get older? Times really flies!
The month included a lot of coaching, loads, a few miles, lots of work hours, a November Project workouts, a visit to the Asics showroom, my birthday celebrations, a few Facebook Live Chats, the big United NYC Half Weekend and race, Club Night, lots of runs with friends, and two races: the United NYC Half and the Central Park Spring 10K this past two weekends. Now that I think about it, I see why my mileage was so low… makes sense!!!!!!!!!!!! Hoping Spring makes things easier and I can get out there more. I need to figure out a way to not need that much sleep…!
Here is my training for March:
March pictures:
- Total Miles: 127
- Races: two! (6 total for the year!)
- Ups: had fun. The NYC Half!!!
- Downs: Not super up there with the splits or the mileage.
- Balance: move on March, April is coming!!!!!!!!!!
February
hello March! I have no idea where these weeks go!??! I actually freaked out a couple of weeks ago, because I realized it was too late to train for the United NYC Half… these weeks are faster than any of my races!
Well, the month started with the Gridiron 4 miler, which I totally phoned in. What a loser I am sometimes. Actually, that’s why I freaked out, because, seriously Elizabeth, get it together! Why show up at a race and not even try? UGH. I frustrate myself so much sometimes! The next weekend, pre-Valentine’s Day, Juan and I spent some romantic time in the city, NO MORE DETAILS of course. The weekend after that, we raced a relay triathlon, as a Valentine’s Days Weekend thing: the Lovie Dovie Triathlon at Chelsea Piers. That Thursday was Club Night. a fun event to celebrate NY’s runners. Fun. And last weekend I raced the Al Gordon 4 miler, which went a bit better than the first 4 miler this month. Very busy weeks with lots of events and work and life stuff. All of it fun.
Here is my training for February:
- Total Miles: 131
- Races: three!!!
- Ups: it was almost summer.
- Downs: I need more time before the NYC Half PLEASE!!!
- Balance: Someone please slow down time. seriously.
January
went by ridiculously fast. So fast I didn’t even notice I didn’t post a recap for the Half I did. I literally started the year racing. Or running on a race course.. We did the Midnight Run, which happens right at the stroke of midnight on January 31st. I was signed up for the Kleinerman 10K because I had a little head cold and decided to focus on my health first. I was moving two days later so I didn’t want to overdo the weekend. So, I changed apartments, and I also started a new job (and career). Life got busy. I am also still coaching a lot. I renewed my CPR and AED cert. I led a few runs and coached many biomechanics 1x1s. Then we went to vacation to Antigua, which was more necessary that I had time to realize. January was a bit crazy. But we made it, with decent mileage, 118 miles in. The United NYC Half is dangerously close…
- Total Miles: 118
- Races: one (Manhattan Half) though I wasn’t really racing.
- Ups: a vacation. And feeling the need to RUN on vacation. Who does that?
- Downs: January was busy so I wasn’t really paying attention…
- Balance: meh, in a holding pattern for now
runningandthecity 