M minus 1... 0... oh no, wait a minute...

so. when last we left our protagonist (me), she was two weeks away from the marathon she'd been training for. let's take a look at what happened next:

M minus 1:
monday - rest
tuesday - rest (cheater)
wednesday - 5mi (treadmill)
thursday - 6mi (treadmill)
friday - rest
saturday - 3mi
sunday - 10mi

on sunday i ran the last 10 miles of the marathon course with my friend & teammate penny -- great idea. felt confident that on race day, i would remember that i had done this before & could do it again, and would know what was coming up (as in, yes, the uphill is going to suck, but it IS going to end so just keep on moving).

mileage this week = 24
mileage this cycle = 552

M minus 0:
so close now! with hurricane sandy taking aim at NYC, some nervous days this week.
monday - rest
tuesday - rest
wednesday - 4mi
thursday - 3mi
frid----- *record scratch*

marathon: CANCELLED. womp-womp. sad face. family had already arrived for the weekend to support me, pre-marathon meals were planned, how can this be? disappointment. tears. sulking. cursing. more tears. all this training, wasted? all that time, wasted? all that work, wasted? despair. sleep.

saturday - 4mi

maybe it isn't all wasted. maybe i can find another marathon? googling. pondering. registering for richmond in exactly one week.

sunday - 6.5mi

mom generously offers to pick up my richmond race materials. plans are made. fingers are crossed.

mileage this week = 17.5
mileage this cycle = 569.5

M plus 1:
so what do i do now? my training plan didn't cover this delay. more googling. anxiety. find advice online. decide i can't possibly lose that much fitness in one week. resolve to quit whining and run richmond.

monday - rest
tuesday - rest
wednesday - 5mi (treadmill)
thursday - rest
friday - 2mi (treadmill)

drive to VA. get butterflies. hug family. get excited. get nervous. dad maps out driving route to race start & spectator cheer zones. try to sleep.

saturday - 26.2mi -- HOORAY!

finish first marathon. rejoice. eat. nap. eat more. hug family. sleep.

sunday - rest

drive home.

mileage this week = 33.2
mileage this cycle = 602.7

M minus 2 weeks

D-day or M-day inches ever closer. starting to feel a bit wiggy but trying to keep myself under control. at least i have plenty of distractions. :) i was in new orleans this week so i switched a couple workouts but nothing major.

monday - rest
tuesday - 5mi (treadmill)
wednesday - 5mi (treadmil)
thursday - 6mi
friday - rest
saturday - 4mi
sunday - 12mi

mileage this week = 32
mileage this cycle = 528

M minus 3 weeks

my last 20-miler this week. eeeeeeeeeeep! this is getting scary. i decided to go 21, because i didn't want to have a mental block about that big 2-0 sign during the marathon. let's hope it helps!

3 weeks to go, all taper. let the madness begin!

monday - rest
tuesday - 5mi (treadmill)
wednesday - 8mi (treadmill)
thursday - 5mi (treadmill)
friday - rest
saturday - 5mi
sunday - 21

mileage this week = 44
mileage this cycle = 496

M minus 4 weeks

something of a rest week, but with travel and a cold, it was more challenging than expected. only one month til the marathon, YIPES!

monday - rest
tuesday - 5mi (treadmill)
wednesday - 5mi (treadmill)
thursday - 5mi (treadmill)
friday - 12mi (moved from sunday)
saturday - 8mi
sunday - rest

mileage this week = 35
mileage this cycle = 452

M minus 6 weeks

only 35 days til the marathon! yipes! somehow my weekly count in my post titles is off. i guess i should have started with M minus 17. oh well. this week brought my second 20-miler* which was another group run with VCTC peeps, who are awesome. i am back on track with a tuesday run this week as well. lots of treadmill time, unfortunately. with the shorter days, it's tough for me to get home and out for a run and back before dark.

monday - rest
tuesday - 5mi (treadmill)
wednesday - 8mi (treadmill)
thursday - 5mi (treadmill)
friday - rest
saturday - 5mi
sunday - 20mi*

mileage this week = 43
mileage this cycle = 417

*my garmin actually says 19 miles for this run. i didn't get it started right away (locating satellites...) so that was a minor problem. but i compared with others in my group today and everyone else's gps had 20+ so i'm counting it as a 20-miler.

M minus 7 weeks

less than two months to go. crazy! i've noticed i often don't feel like running on tuesday after a long run, even with monday as a rest day. maybe i just need more recovery, i don't know. or maybe it's tough to get back in the swing of things after a day off. anyway, i didn't run tuesday so ended up moving everything one day later, which meant i ran five days in a row this week. was dragging a bit on sunday but all's well that ends well. the knee seems to be much less sore now that i figured out to concentrate on landing on the ball of my foot, especially on inclines. so that is good!

monday - rest
tuesday - rest
wednesday - 5mi
thursday - 5mi (treadmill)
friday - 5mi (treadmill again)
saturday - 8mi
sunday - 13mi

mileage this week = 36
mileage this cycle = 374

M minus 8 weeks

inching closer to the goal. my running club organized a few long training runs, the first of which was 20 miles this weekend, so i adjusted my training plan a bit to take advantage. took an extra rest day early in the week to try and heal the wonky knee, but made up the miles elsewhere during the week.

monday - rest
tuesday - rest (knee)
wednesday - 8mi
thursday - 8mi
friday - rest
saturday - 8mi
sunday - 20mi

mileage this week = 44
mileage this cycle = 338 (three hundred miles?! i think i need new shoes)

M minus 9 weeks

single digit weeks left! whoa! big build this week, ending with a 17 mile long run. i was nervous about this, and ended up tweaking my knee a bit, but i think it will be ok.

monday - rest
tuesday - 4mi (treadmill)
wednesday - 8mi
thursday - 4mi
friday - rest
saturday - 8mi
sunday - 17mi

mileage this week = 41
mileage this cycle = 294

M minus 10 weeks

happy labor day! I'M HALFWAY TO THE MARATHON! HOLY CRAP! this was a cutback week, and good thing too, i'm exhausted. sunday was supposed to be a half marathon race, but i didn't race, just ran the distance on my own.

monday - rest
tuesday - rest
wednesday - 5mi
thursday - 4mi
friday - rest
saturday - 4mi
sunday - 13.1mi

mileage this week = 26
mileage this cycle = 253

M minus 11 weeks

more traveling this week, but stuck to all my workouts. no yoga since the studio is closed for a couple of weeks.

monday - rest
tuesday - 4mi
wednesday - 7mi
thursday - 4mi
friday - rest
saturday - 7mi
sunday - 15mi

mileage this week = 37
mileage this cycle = 227

M minus 12 weeks

WHAT ONLY 12 WEEKS LEFT??!?! holy crap.

switched a few things around this week to allow for a longer-than-called-for long run on sunday, for my second organized long training run. schedule called for 14 but because of the course, 16 works better. so i moved 2 miles from saturday to sunday.

monday - 4mi
tuesday - rest
wednesday - 7mi
thursday - 4mi
friday - rest
saturday - 5mi
sunday - 16mi

mileage this week = 36
mileage this cycle = 190

M minus 13 weeks

slight cutback this week, which was nice. still failing at yoga though...

monday - rest
tuesday - rest (long day at work scuttled my evening run)
wednesday - 8mi (5 scheduled plus 3 from tuesday)
thursday - 3mi
friday - rest
saturday - 6mi
sunday - 9mi

mileage this week = 26
mileage this cycle = 154

M minus 14 weeks

my first 30-mile week. whoa. failed at yoga again though.

monday - rest
tuesday - 3mi
wednesday - 6mi
thursday - rest
friday - 3mi
saturday - 6mi
sunday - 12mi, in a thunderstorm

mileage this week = 30
mileage this cycle = 128

M minus 15 weeks

this week i did my first organized long training run, which included pace groups with leaders as well as fluids, fuel and bathrooms, plus medical support (if needed). i found i really enjoyed running with the group and having the pace set for me was really useful. i have another one of these coming up next month, and if all goes similarly well, i will probably try to go with a pace group in the marathon.

only bummer this week was not making it to yoga class.

monday - rest
tuesday - 3mi
wednesday - 6mi
thursday - 3mi (treadmill)
friday - rest
saturday - 11mi
sunday - 6mi

mileage this week = 29
mileage this cycle = 98

M minus 16 weeks

still traveling at the beginning of the week, so switched some days around, but got everything in! plus 2 yoga classes.

monday - 3mi
tuesday - rest
wednesday - 5mi (treadmill) plus yoga
thursday - 3mi
friday - rest
saturday - 5mi plus yoga
sunday - 6mi

mileage this week = 22
mileage this cycle = 69

M minus 17 weeks

i was traveling this week so i had to switch some workouts around but i got almost all my miles in. i had to cut one run down from 5mi to 3mi, i was just beat. and i only got in one yoga class. but i'm still calling this week a success.

monday - rest
tuesday - 3mi
wednesday - 5mi plus yoga
thursday - 3mi
friday - 3mi treadmill (should've been 5mi)
saturday - rest
sunday - 9mi

mileage this week = 23
milage this cycle = 47

M minus 18 weeks

first week of marathon training! i'm starting off with hal higdon's intermediate 1 plan but may switch to novice 2 depending on how i feel. i plan to incorporate yoga twice a week in lieu of (or as, depending on your perspective) cross training. i'll be running five days a week and resting two.

monday - rest
tuesday - 3mi
wednesday - 5mi
thursday - 3mi plus yoga
friday - rest
saturday - 5mi
sunday - 8mi plus yoga

mileage this week = 24
mileage this cycle = 24

spring training week 11

last week of spring training. next week i start my 18-week marathon plan. yipes! i only ran once this week, for 10 miles. took it easy for several reasons: 1) it was really hot, 2) figured i'd enjoy the flexibility (read: being lazy) ahead of marathon training, and 3) i wanted some rest post-race.

monday - rest
tuesday - rest
wednesday - yoga
thursday - rest
friday - rest
saturday - yoga
sunday - 10mi

spring training week 10

well my spring training time is winding down and i'll be starting marathon training in early july. yikes. this week i acquired some freak strain in the arch of my left foot so i had a bunch of unplanned rest days and was worried i might not be able to run my race on sunday. but the rest paid off and i did complete my 5k. total mileage for the week = 5k or 3.1mi.

monday - rest
tuesday - rest (foot)
wednesday - rest (foot)
thursday - rest (foot)
friday - rest (foot)
saturday - yoga
sunday - 5k race

spring training week 9

18.5 for the week. i was traveling the early part of the week which threw things off a bit. but pulled it together. and i'm finally back to ending weeks on sundays. :)

tuesday - rest
wednesday - rest
thursday - 4.5mi plus yoga
friday - 5mi
saturday - yoga
sunday - 9mi

race report: mini 10k

i was looking forward to this race as i thought i had a shot at a PR, but as it turns out, it wasn't meant to be. but i had a good time and enjoyed meeting up with my VCTC teammates post-race, so all is well.

did pretty much my usual pre-race routine. saw this lady painting her nails on the shuttle train. random.

arrived at central park with what should've been plenty of time to get settled before the gun. but i apparently forgot how much slower/longer the bathroom lines are for all-women's races. for the first time ever, i missed the start while waiting in line for the bathroom. but, it couldn't really be helped, i knew i couldn't do a 10k needing to pee the whole time, and with chip timing, a late start doesn't count against you whereas stopping mid-race does. so i opted to stay in line and take care of things before beginning. i made friends with two ladies behind me who were doing the race on a lark (their husbands signed them up for it apparently).

i headed toward the start and was able to jump in without having to go all the way to the back of the pack, but still much farther back than i would've been had i gotten to my corral on time. it was crazy crowded, and runners were behaving quite poorly, walking in the middle of the course, jogging slowly three abreast, texting & futzing with their ipods, holding up phones to take pictures. really bad. so at this point, all hopes of a PR had evaporated and i decided to just chill out and treat this as a regular run. despite that, it was really frustrating trying to run an even pace in the crowded conditions with people to whom "race" and "pace" are at best abstract concepts. because of this, i'm not sure i will/would do the mini again.

my official time was 54:23 for a pace of 8:46. not earth shattering. we got a pink carnation, a medal and a popsicle, in addition to the usual post-race goodies. :)

my time in this race last year was 54:22, and i bonked pretty hard in that race, so that was disappointing. but so it goes! incidentally, my garmin put my distance for the race at 6.35mi, an indication of how much extra distance i ran thanks to weaving through traffic. my splits were actually pretty decent, so i am pleased with that. and i'm proud of myself for not sulking about the less-than-ideal conditions the whole time and letting it ruin the whole run. and i enjoyed sporting my new singlet & having people to chat with post-race.

spring training week 8

just over 16 miles this week, plus two yoga classes.

tuesday - rest
wednesday - yoga
thursday - 5mi (treadmill)
friday - rest
saturday - 6.2mi race (garmin measured 6.35) plus yoga
sunday - rest
monday - 5mi

bib pick-up: mini 10k

picked up materials today for this weekend's race, the nyrr mini 10k. some 40 years ago, this was the very first organized road race for women. back then, it was called the crazy legs mini marathon. women obviously couldn't run a full marathon, so a "mini" version was made just for them and their "mini" abilities. and of course, any woman who would want to do such a thing was crazy.

40 years later, we dropped the crazy part and the marathon part, but it's still called the mini and it's still just for women. lots of women run it in mini skirts. i did it last year and despite bonking out, enjoyed the race. so i signed up again this year!

like the more/fitness half, since this is women only, i get a lower bib number :) red corral! in addition to a tshirt (a lot like last year's but orange instead of pink), we got a mini tote bag, lara bar samples, mini sunscreen, mini soap and mini hairspray (??), instant tea mix and a nyrr hair tie.

this will be my first race since joining a running club, the van cortlandt track club! looking forward to wearing my team singlet!

spring training week 7

20 miles this week, plus two yoga classes! yay! ended up splitting sunday's long run into two shorter ones on sunday & monday because at the last minute i volunteered at sunday's riverdale ramble, a race organized by the running club i just joined. next week i'll get back on my regular monday-sunday schedule. also have a 10k next saturday!


tuesday - yoga
wednesday - rest
thursday - 5mi
friday - 5mi
saturday - yoga
sunday - 5mi (treadmill)
monday - 5mi (treadmill)

spring training week 6

another week with 17 miles. but this time i made it to yoga! i also got a parking ticket while i was in yoga class. the nerve!! boo.

monday - rest

tuesday - 5mi
wednesday - rest
thursday - 3mi
friday - rest
saturday - yoga!
sunday - rest

monday (memorial day) - 9mi

spring training week 5

total mileage = 17. failed to go to yoga this week but stay tuned. i did stick with my 3 days of running plan.


monday - rest
tuesday - rest
wednesday - 5mi
thursday - 5mi
friday - rest
saturday - 7mi
sunday - rest

spring training week 4

14 miles again this week (ok, 14.3 by my garmin). i'm modifying my schedule a bit, feeling overtrained and think i should mix it up a bit before marathon training.

monday - rest
tuesday - 3mi
wednesday - 5mi
thursday - rest
friday - rest
saturday - 6.2mi race
sunday - rest

so my new plan is to add yoga once or maybe twice a week, plus hopefully swimming once a week. keep running at 3 times a week, but add miles to get back up near 20 per week. we'll see!

race report: UAE healthy kidney 10k

race day was warm and sunny! headed down to the city and subway'ed over to the west side based on the course map showing the bag drop on that side. arrive to the park to find out the bag drop is on the east side. sigh. boogied over, dropped my stuff, used the "royal flush" then back to the start. on my way back to my corral, i saw abdi abdirahman, ryan hall and meg keflizighi (aka the US olympic mens marathon team) getting ready at the start! very exciting. got in my corral just before they started pre-race announcements.

then we were off. i felt i ran well, walked through two water stops but really pushed hard at the end. came in at 51:50. not a PR but not too shabby, definitely my best 10k time in central park! gives me something else to push for at my next 10k, the NY mini in june.

here i am (in the aqua colored shirt and gray hat) all blurred in the background of this shot of some of the awesome volunteers behind the finish line.

walked back across the park to get my bag and decided i'd just pick up the subway on this side instead of walking west again. got to the station only to find no trains running downtown. great. so i walked the half mile or so to grand central. meh. at least i got this great view out of the deal:

bib pick-up: UAE healthy kidney 10k

this race has some big prize money, sponsored by the UAE (as in the country). it's also a fundraiser for the  kidney foundation. the US men's olympic running team is registered! so i got a lower than usual bib number what with all the fast folks turning out for this one. also got a nice tech tee (and they had my size). sweet!

spring training week 3

bit of an off week. mystery heel pain and general fatigue have convinced me to take it easy. 14 miles total.

monday - rest

tuesday - 3mi

wednesday - 5mi

thursday - 3mi

friday - rest

saturday - 3mi

sunday - rest (unscheduled)

spring training week 2

building my mileage back up, total of 20 for this week.

monday - rest

tuesday - 3mi (in san diego)
wednesday - rest
thursday - 5mi
friday - rest
saturday - 3mi
sunday - 9mi

spring training week 1

now that the half is behind me and i don't start marathon training til july, i was at a bit of a loss as to what to do, not wanting to lose fitness or backslide on mileage. i need to maintain or build both for the next few weeks til marathon training. so i looked up some "spring training" programs and may use some parts of those in the upcoming weeks. i also have a couple of 10ks coming up to focus on. for this week, i was recovering from the half and trying to let my giant blister heal, so i had an easy week. total mileage = 16.


monday - rest

tuesday - restwednesday - restthursday - 3mifriday - 5misaturday - 3misunday - 5mi (in san diego!)

race report: more/fitness women's half marathon

official finish time: 1:58:16 with a pace of 9:02. i had been hoping for a new PR but when race day dawned warm and humid, i was skeptical about that possibility. as it turns out, it didn't happen, but i still finished in under 2 hours.

after long lines at the potties pre-race, i barely made it into my corral in time. one fun thing about women-only races is that i get bumped up closer to the start -- red corral! the national anthem was quite awful. we had a few sprinkles spritzing us in the corrals but that stopped with the starting horn. i crossed the start line about a minute after the horn. i saw my parents & sean just after the start but they didn't see me.

i planned to take the first 3 miles easy. there was plenty of traffic but not much pushing or passing really. skipped the first couple of water stops, then hit the one at the north end of the park just before the Big Hill. this is where some rude woman dumped her cup of water on my legs and feet. boo.

at this point, i was comfortable with my pace but definitely not speedy. i decided to stick with it through the next couple of miles, which are very hilly and always challenging for me. someone near me told her friend they were running 8:30's and she wanted to stick with that. i wasn't really keeping track of my pace, but running more by effort, so i wasn't sure what my speed was until i heard that. (though clearly i could've checked my garmin at any time.)

sure enough, the west side hills were taking their toll. but there were more spectators in miles 4 and 5, which was distracting in a good way to hear the cheers, read the signs, and watch the people. then we were approaching mile 6, the not-really-halfway mark. this was the point of the race where i planned to evaluate my pace and decide whether to push or just hang, knowing the next few miles were the easier part of the loop. i was looking for my parents & sean in the crowd but hadn't seen them yet and wasn't sure where they might be. then, a little before mile 7, i saw them and was able to come over and wave.

then we came up to the point where we'd be splitting off from the course to head to the finish (in another 6 miles of course). the sun was up, it was hot. i was comfortable with my pace, but not feeling too springy, so i sort of decided to hang. in worse news, i was developing several hot spots on my feet, which i attributed to having wet feet & socks thanks to the water-dumper back at the north end water stop. boo. most women around me seemed to be running comfortably, no pushing or passing, so i settled in as well, knowing the hilly part of the course was coming up one more time.

no surprises there, just kept pushing through, over the west side hills. now i was just waiting for the mile markers... 10... 11... i felt like at 11, almost all the hills would be behind me, and i could push harder. the hot spot on my left foot was becoming more painful but at mile 12, i knew i only had a little while to go and i wanted to finish strong, so i focused on the finish.

arrived at the split and veered left onto the 72nd st transverse, where we could see the finish. best part of the race! ha. and yes we got medals. i leaned forward for the volunteer to place the medal around my neck, which seemed to surprise him. i figured, hey, i worked hard for this, man! he did figure it out and hung the medal over my head for me. :) in the finish area, there was very little space and it got crowded fast. there also weren't many refreshment tables so people were doubling back, it was a bit chaotic. oh, and they had heat sheets which made me laugh because it felt like 80 degrees.

met up with my parents and sean. i felt a little deflated about my finish time, but it wasn't a surprise as i knew from the clocks along the course that i wasn't even close to pace for a PR. it was really neat to know they were there on the course, and i was surprised how emotional this made me at points during the race. thanks mom & dad & sean for coming to support me!!

as usual, zoe was less than impressed with my accomplishment.

post-race foot evaluation confirmed a LARGE blister on the ball of my left foot right beneath my big toe. ouchy. at least it hadn't burst.

splits from my garmin. miles 4/5/10/11 include harlem hill & and the west side hills, you can see what they do to my pace. yipes.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	1:58:18.2	13.16	9:00
1	8:54.8	1.00	8:55
2	8:31.3	1.00	8:31
3	8:06.6	1.00	8:07
4	8:58.2	1.00	8:58
5	9:07.9	1.00	9:08
6	8:45.9	1.00	8:46
7	8:47.6	1.00	8:48
8	9:12.5	1.00	9:13
9	9:10.4	1.00	9:11
10	9:36.3	1.00	9:36
11	9:47.1	1.00	9:47
12	9:10.3	1.00	9:10
13	8:50.4	1.00	8:50
14	1:19.0	0.16	8:27

HM training week 12

this is it!! 20.1 miles this week, plus a shorter tempo run, and the big race sunday!

monday - rest
tuesday - 4mi (treadmill)
wednesday - 30min tempo (treadmill)
thursday - 3mi
friday - rest
saturday - rest
sunday - 13.1mi race!

bib pick-up: more/fitness women's half marathon

bib pick-up for this race was at a special Expo rather than at NYRR headquarters. there were all kinds of exhibitors and race sponsors there, with raffles and give-aways and tons of stuff for sale, in addition to registration materials, t-shirts and goodie bags. i wandered around a bit to check out the goods and came home with a ton of stuff.

the t-shirt is kind of boring, but apparently it's at least a women's cut, so yay for that. and i bought some bondi bands (sporty head bands). i haven't tried them out yet but the colors/patterns are pretty cool at least. i'm not usually big on head bands but maybe these will help keep the sweat outta my eyes...

freebies included copies of more, fitness and eating well magazines; coupons and flyers; snacks; aveeno products (nice); hair ties; a cheer sign; a cute pink tote bag; and tampons. lol.

finished cheer sign, courtesy of my mom and sis:

my sis also sent the most awesome runner prep package ever assembled! tons of snacks (not pictured: chocolate squares that i devoured before managing to take a photo); all types of running fuel to sample; blister pads (*note: i used several of these in the days after the race); beer!!!; adorable water bottle; assorted sore muscle and foot care products; pack towel; LAZER FINGERS; motivational magnet; and PILAF!

it all came neatly packed in its own beer box. :) thanks marisa!!

HM training week 11

massively unmotivated this week but got in all the miles. next week: the half! w00t!

monday - rest
tuesday - rest (hauled home 30 lbs of cow)
wednesday - 5mi (treadmill)
thursday - 10x400 intervals (treadmill)
friday - 3mi
saturday - 3mi
sunday - 12mi