A Hot Seven-Miler

Because I had friends in town this weekend, my planned seven-miler didn’t happen. Tamsin and I fully planned on going Saturday morning, but we I made excuses, and we didn’t go. While I didn’t get my long run in, or any running for that matter, it was definitely an active rest day: we walked all around the city and my poor directional skills meant that I got us lost in Central Park. Last night, I was just way too drained for a run, so I went for a bike ride instead.

I snoozed on my alarm again (le sigh) this morning, so my only choice was to run tonight. I got changed at work and set out running west on 50th Street toward the West Side Highway. There was just enough shade from the buildings to keep me from getting really hot until the West Side Highway. By the time I got to the West Side Highway and out of any shade, I was DRENCHED.

It wasn’t an easy run; I stopped to walk pretty often. It was hot, I definitely didn’t take care of my body very well over the weekend, and I don’t think I was hydrated enough. But, I did it. It wasn’t one of the terrible runs either. Once I was halfway done, I felt much better. Part of this is mental, part of this is hitting my stride, and part of this is because it was cooler by then. Going forward, I think I need to drink more water (and some occasional Gatorade/G2 on hot days when I have a long run planned) and stick better to my training schedule. Making sure to get all of my shorter runs in will make the longer runs easier. Good thing this week is a step-back week already!!

Part of marathon training involves cross-training. Before I started my new job, I bought a bathing suit to swim in the pool at the gym near work (though I haven’t yet…), and I recently got a bike. Since the weather is nice(ish), I want to stay out of the gym as much as possible. So, I’m going to be doing biking, swimming (plus yoga and strength training) as cross training.

I originally was going to write here that I was going to do the NYRR Sprint Triathlon since I was going to be biking and swimming, but then I looked at the price. It’s $95. So I’m just going to *pretend* I’m doing it and swim and bike a bunch as cross-training.