One week flows into another, and somehow, we are more than a month into this! I am still wrapping my head around the fact that we are halfway though August and starting to look forward to the cooler temps that will come along with fall running. Heck, I will even take frosty winter mornings over humid hot ones!
Monday was a rest day, and while I was supposed to run Tuesday morning, it just didn’t happen. My alarm woke me up, I texted my parents about the crap night of sleep I had spent tossing and turning, and rolled over and slept for the extra hour. I’m not proud of it, but we all have mornings where the bed wins over the run.
I did get my run in Tuesday though – just as the sun was going down. When I got home from work I painted the bathroom that was renovated last week (the only part that wasn’t done by the construction crew was the paint), and once that was done I changed into my running clothes and hit the road. I did another one way trip to my parents house, this time with a quick loop near my house at the start to make it a little longer, since I would need to use their shower after. It was warm out, but the humidity wasn’t bad and there was a little breeze as I ran along. The sun got lower as I got closer to my parent’s house, but I managed to make it there while it was still day light. Once my three miles were done I headed inside and knocked out 10 minutes of core work before hitting the shower. Dennis met me at the house so he could shower too, and we headed home together. Hopefully when this paint dries we will not need another coat, and will be able to pull down the plastic and actually use the new bathroom!
I promised myself that I was going to get up and run Wednesday morning, so I went to bed early. Despite this, my body was not agreeable about being asleep that night. I woke up groggy on Wednesday morning, but still got up and made myself go through the motions of getting dressed, putting my running shoes on, and driving to my parents. I went for another 3 mile run that morning, just focusing on forward motion as I put one foot in front of the other. Sometimes marathon training is about showing up and getting the run done, even when you don’t feel like it.
Thursday morning I planned for my longest weekday morning run so far in this training cycle – 6 miles. I got to my parent’s house a little later than planned but got on the road as quickly as I could. I focused on getting through one mile at a time, and at mile 4 asked my dad what the latest time he could bike along until was – he said he had maybe another 10 minutes that he could be out for, and I let him know that I would be running for at least another 20, so he should break off as needed before I started looping. I worked on picking up the pace a little bit for the last two miles, and mom and dad both stuck with me until the end of the run. It was then a mad scramble for me to get ready for work and get out the door on time, and I mentally resolved to not do this to myself again – If I needed to run further in the mornings, I had to get up earlier.
Saturday I was registered for the NYRR 12 mile training run, which consisted of two loops of central park. I had volunteered to drive my friends in, so I rolled out of bed when my alarm went off at 4:45 am, and got ready to go. I had packed all of my gear the night before, so I just needed to get dressed. Once I was ready I took a ride to the bagel place around the block from my house, and picked up breakfast – a plain bagel with peanut butter for me, and a cream cheese bagel for Mike. Michal met me at my house, and the two of us rode to pick up Mike and then head to central park.
When the NYRR races are on Saturday’s street parking can be hard – on Sundays there are more spots available, as a lot of “no street parking” signs are suspended on Sundays, but that is not the case on Saturdays. So I usually use the spot hero app to book a parking garage near the start, and was able to snag a place to park for $15 – well worth the time saved, which we would have spent looping city blocks and hoping we would not have to sprint to get to the start on time.
Once we were parked we walked the few blocks to central park. Race day central was at the ball fields, and we even had gotten there early enough that there was no porter potty line (a rare runner “treat”). After using the bathrooms we picked up our race bibs, and had a little under a half hour to kill before the race was set to start. Michal had to get in 16 miles, as she is training for the Chicago marathon, so she headed to sneak in some extra mileage before the start, while Mike and I headed to our corral and hung out there, stretching as we waited for the race to begin. I took a Ucan gel, a brand that I decided to try last month after hearing the Ali on the Run show talk about it. I ordered a case of gels and a case of bars to sample.
Michal got back to the corral just as we were starting to move forward towards the start line, and the three of us crossed the start together. It was a warm and muggy morning, and Michal and I had decided to try using base salt for the first time, at the suggestion of our friend Katie. We took salt as we crossed the start line, then planned to take more every other mile as our run progressed.
The first mile was spent dealing with runner congestion, as we headed downhill before arriving at Harlem hill for the first time. By the time we made it to the top of the hill we were sweating, and the crowds had started to spread out a little as everyone found their pace. There were aid stations every mile or so, and at the second one I was already glad to see cups of water, and took salt for the second time as I chugged a cup of water.
After Harlem hill we headed to the three sisters, a set of rolling hills in central park. I was already feeling the heat of the day as we approached the aid station after mile three, and could feel a little numbness in my hands, which sometimes happens when I am not fueling well on hot days. I decided to take a gel at mile 3, in hopes of getting ahead of this, even though it was earlier than I would usually take nutrition. Soon after, I realized that when I pulled out my gel, I managed to knock the salt out of my pocket – so the salt experiment ended abruptly for me.
We continued around the Central Park loop together, chatting as we made it to the south side of the park, climbed cat hill, and finished the first loop. It was a humid day, and we were all feeling the impact of the heat. I continued to take a gel every 3 miles, because I could tell my body needed it. Around mile 9 my knee started to bother me, so I pulled my knee strap out of my pocket and pulled over to quickly pop it on. At least we were nearing the end of our slog.
We took to walking through the aid stations to make sure we were taking in enough water, and when we finally hit mile 12 and crossed the finish line there was a huge sense of relief…. For mike and I. Michal was aiming to finish 16 miles, so she ran on to complete her final 2 while Mike and I took our time stretching and having post-race snacks. Once she was finished with her run, we walked together back to my car, and headed home.
The hills and humidity took a big toll on me that day – I wound up falling asleep on our couch around 6 pm, and den tried to wake me up to move me to bed to no avail. When I did wake up, it was around 9:30 pm, and I had a quick snack before moving to bed for the night.
I was glad that my long run was done on Saturday, because it meant I could use Sunday to recover. I headed to a yoga class in the morning, and then had an acupuncture session, where they focused on hamstring release. I felt so relaxed and my legs felt so much better by the time I was done at the yoga studio.