Last week was a weird week for my marathon training.
I started the week off thinking I was training for Wineglass but not being totally sure how I felt about it since I had some knee issues.
But by the end of the week, I knew I shouldn’t run Wineglass as my goal race any more and switched to NYCM as my goal race.
Confession: while I had decided it wouldn’t be my goal race, a small part of me held on to the idea that I could maybe run it “for fun” anyway. (This is what happens when one of your friends is about to break a Guinness world record to be the youngest woman to run 100 marathons. You think you can do crazy things like this.) While I probably could have done this safely and slowly, the idea of running a “for fun” marathon a month before my goal race was too stressful an idea for me, especially since this is something I’ve never done before. I kept the deferral link open in a tab last night, got distracted by being super productive and finally clicked over just after midnight last night to definitely defer. (The link still worked FYI.)
So, I guess I was training for two different marathons last week?
Monday: 3 miles to test out the knee + strength. No pain!
Tuesday: planned rest day
Wednesday: accidental rest day
Thursday: yoga day! Took Sun Celebrations at Laughing Lotus with Justin Ritchie. I was all blissed in for the rest of the day. I’ve usually taken evening or lunchtime yoga classes, so starting my day with yoga was pretty awesome.
Friday: Ran 6 miles with Jen. It was cool but humid out but it was fun to catch up with her.
Saturday: Summer Streets!!!! This was such a fun run. Great company and a great route. I met up with Fiona, Steph and Shaya (all of my favorite running buddies) and we ran up Summer Streets, into the park and straight to Levain. They were all done so stopped for cookies and to discuss where to brunch, but I still had two more miles to go, so no cookie for me. I ran into Riverside Park and then met back up with them at Jacob’s Pickles for a total of 10 miles.
Sharing the route because it was a fun one and awesome boredom buster.
NYC FRIENDS: if you have not been here yet for brunch, get yourself here. The food is absolutely freaking amazing. I had the Coop breakfast, which was eggs, sausage, bacon, a biscuit and grits. I did not eat all of it, but I did put a decent dent in it. You know, in the spirit of recovery and getting some protein and all that.
If you are into Bloody Marys (I am not), this is their Bloody Mary. A pickled egg and bacon. Tons of protein, so it must be a great recovery beverage.
Sunday: evening 3-miler.
Last week was a really low mileage week since I was coming back from an injury. This week will be slightly higher but still easy (no speedwork) to really get back safely to where I need to be. Which means next week will be an ass-kicker, I presume.
BUT, I finally feel like I’m actually back in the game and I’m genuinely excited to run, rather than trying to trick myself into enjoying it like I did for all of July. Today is a yoga day, and I just want to run.
How was your week of training last week? How do you get your running groove back when it’s gone missing?
Also! Another chance to win an NYCM bib! Asics and Foot Locker are hosting a sweepstakes.
This week starts my “real” marathon training (last few weeks were just base building) and I’m excited / nervous. I had a great week last week running while on vacation but am going away again this weekend and hoping I can stay motivated to run while out of town. Luckily, my boyfriend will be with me and is a runner as well!
When I lose my running groove, I do find it tough to find it again. This past spring, just taking some time off and not thinking about/worrying about running was really the best mental & physical break. After a week or so, I ended up itching for an easy run…and when I took that easy run (note: NOT an all-out killer run!) I remembered why I love running so much–it’s so relaxing, and the feeling of accomplishment when it’s done. If I can’t take time off, I just try to take my runs nice & easy so I don’t stress myself out; or meet up with friends so it’s more of a social thing rather than pressure to run fast, or something I “have” to do.
Hope you’re gettin’ your running groove back!
You inspire me to sign up for my first half marathon! I have only been running for about a year and I am still learning the ropes! Thanks!!
Awww thank you for the shout-out! 🙂 You know I am very excited for you either way, and I hope I wasn’t putting too much pressure on you for this year’s Wineglass. Wineglass 2014 will be epic!
While training for Chicago last year (also in Oct) I had SUCH a hard time getting in gear – something about the July NY heat, plus I was just burnt from spring half marathon training.
Gearing up for NY has been great so far, the extra month off really helped!
I had so much fun running with you on Friday! It seriously helped a struggle of a tempo run.
Probably a good plan to defer. Nice job being smart about it! I don’t like bloody mary’s either. Here is Wisconsin you practically get a whole meal in a bloody mary and some beer to go with it. Makes no sense to me but people seem to like it. There is even a place that has sliders on a stick in a bloody mary. Sheesh.
Great Info. makes me wanna run! Thanks for the great information!
http://newdiets.ibyrd.com/
Getting back in the groove for me requires a new playlist and talking to running friends… that can usually motivate me. Plus reading running blogs – like this one! 🙂
right now I am babying a tight hip flexors, I am having a hard time getting back. You inspire me.
Wineglass training. My favorite type of training for anything lol. I have just started yoga and it is so much harder then I expected. I need to loosen up A LOT. x
The great thing about trading and losing weight in London is the the amount of Clubs you can try out. Each with its own way to get youbfit . For example boxing, martial arts, gymnastics…
I toyed around with running Chicago “for fun” before NYCM… then decided that 1) that was stupid and 2) I don’t want to pay $180 to run a “fun” run 3) I will have WAY more fun spectating. I think watching/cheering will be some good motivation for NYCM! (related: buy a plane ticket and come watch with Leticia and I!)