New York City Marathon

I'm back from NYC and I'm back to reality. NYC proved to not disappoint - even with this being my second marathon there. I continue to be in love with Empire State and continue to be humbled by the marathon. It's definitely an unpredictable race because despite your training anything can happen. On Sunday, all of the stars aligned for me, and I ran a 3:43:36. A full recap will be posted soon. Until then, here are some pictures to enjoy!


Penny and I at the Finish Line the day before. It took us several hours to figure out that the finish line clock was the actual time of day :)

My race day outfit.

Views from the Ferry

More Views from the Ferry

Statue of Liberty - view from the Ferry

This seemed to be the trend all weekend :)

More to come!!!

New York City: Week 3 of 20 "Quality vs. Quantity"

What a crazy week! My schedule continues to get more and more hectic. One more week of my 35 minute commute and boy am I happy about that! I love everything about where I'm living, but knowing that I'll be able to start running in the morning again makes me one happy girl! :) These lunch time runs are exhausting, not too mention I am hating the treadmill. Due to the 95 degree + heat (hello Summer in KY), I'm really having no other option.

My mileage was down this week and I was really hard on myself and upset that I didn't hit the 38 miles that I had wanted to. Instead of continually beating myself up, I made a vow to myself that I would make sure that they runs I was able to run were of quality!!

Here's how the week went:

Monday - OFF

Tuesday - 7 miles in 54:44
Shoulders/Tris/Bis/Abs

Wednesday - 5.2 miles in 41:20
Legs/Abs

Thursday - No run :( Ran out of time at lunch
Chest/Back/Abs

Friday - 7 miles in 54:47

Saturday - 1 mile in 8:45 + 30 minutes of cross training

Sunday - 10 miles in 1:18:38

Total Mileage: 30.2 miles

It's still early and I'm hoping to INCREASE my mileage majorly ... but, all things considered, I'll take this week. I can tell I'm getting stronger :)

XOXO

NYC: Week 2 of 20 - Done.

This also marked week 2 of me getting my butt in the weight room. Like hard core weight room. I have three girlfriends at work that go to the gym everyday from 12-1 to lift. I've always wanted to add more lifting, but can never find anyone that can workout with my schedule. The lift, without break and with lots of reps! Just like I like it -My heart beats fast, my muscles get worn out and I leave feeling accomplished and all sweaty!

Funny enough, NYC training also started two weeks ago. With week one going almost as well as I could have imagined, it was only a matter of time before the lifting and running caught up with me. For this particular week, it was Friday.

Monday - OFF (running) - shoulders, bi's and tri's

Tuesday - 7.5 miles (dead garmin) + legs (thinks squats and lunges and leg press)

Wednesday - 7 miles in 58:18 + chest and back

Thursday - My own version of track - 4 miles worth of 4 minutes easy, 1 minute fast My easy pace averaged around 8:20 while my one minute sprints were all between 5:32-5:49 pace. This was a fun way to get some turnover without running crazy intervals on the track. Love track, but not solo track. Still working on that one. + more legs

Friday - Didn't get to leave in time to get my run finished before I met the ladies at the gym. Ran 1 mile (instead of 7); then lifted shoulders, bi's and tri's. David wanted wine after work and I couldn't resist :( On top of that, my legs were exhausted!! So, I took the rest of the day off.

Saturday - 3 miles in 25:02

Sunday - 11 miles in 1:38:49 (8:59 pace). Holy hills (mountains). We were at the lake house for the weekend. When my first two miles were 9:19 and 9:34, I quickly decided to turn my watch upside down and not look at it. My legs HURT. The hills were so tough. I decided to chalk up the pace and just try to reap the benefits of hill training! Somehow, I finished strong and it brought my average down.

Total - 33.5 miles (was supposed to be 39 miles)

I'll still call it a success. I even had a GREAT tempo run today to start off Week 3.

No New News

Nothing out of the ordinary to report here, just wanting to check in ...

Louisville is still hilly and on most days has only grey skies. Yesterday, I was able to sneak in a 7.5-8 (Garmin was dead) mile run in the sun!! This made me smile.

I've been working out at lunch (lifting weights) with three other girls from work. I'm happy that I'm reforming this habit and have some ladies to hold me accountable.

Otherwise, I've been working a TON of hours.

Tell me something fun to make me smile on this beautiful Wednesday!!

NYC: 1 week down, 19 to go!

Week 1 is in the books and it was a success. For the first four weeks, I'm building my base back up. Here's how the week went:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 7 miles - 58:17 (8:20 pace)
Wednesday: 7 miles - 59:29 (8:30 pace)
Thursday: 4 miles - 33:12 (8:18 pace) --> This run also had 2 400m sprints in the middle of it.
Friday: 7 miles - 56:17 (8:02 pace)
Saturday: 3 miles - 24:39 (8:13 pace)
Sunday: 10 miles - 1:24:36 (8:28 pace)

Total for the week: 38 miles

I was pretty sore on Wednesday and Thursday, but by Friday I was feeling really good! Suprisingly good. That carried over to my easy 3 miler on Saturday, too! Both Friday and Saturday I ran when it was probably 80 degrees out.

This morning, I set out for my 10 miler and was very tired. I didn't even wake up until 9:15AM and then managed to lay around and drink coffee and watch tv until around 11:30. When I finally got out the door, I just wasn't into it, but was determined to finish and complete my long run. I ran through the neighborhood and somehow managed to find 10 miles. I climbed many hills and even one mountain. I kept telling myself that this was hilly than NYC and would be good training. I didn't let myself look at my Garmin for the first six miles.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my week! 19 more to go!

The hardest part is the first step ...

I dreaded my run yesterday from the moment I woke up! I was incredibly sore and tired. When lunch time finally came, it was drizzling and I found myself still unmotivated. I changed clothes, hopped on the treadmill and knew it was going to be a long 7 miles. Within .1 miles, I knew that I didn't have the mental strength for almost an hour-long run on the treadmill. So, despite the drizzly rain, I headed outdoors reminding myself that it was an "easy" run and that the goal was to go easy and to complete the distance.

After a mile, my legs started to warm up and my calves loosened up and felt almost normal. I never looked at my watch until the last mile. The rain felt amazing and my lunch time run left me refreshed the rest of the day! :)

It's true, no matter how bad I've ever not wanted to run, I've never regret a run once finished!

7 miles - 59:29 (Day 2 of NYC training)

PS: Check out www.amandavanvoorhisphotography.com for my wedding pictures preview. Love love love!!!

20 Weeks Until NYC . . .

For the next four weeks, I'm re-building my base. I never quite lost my base, but now I have a schedule and am not cutting my self any slack. No more saying "It doesn't really matter if you sleep in today," because it does. The truth is NYC is 20 weeks away. My plan is to run 38 miles, 39 miles, 38 miles, 42 miles for the next four weeks so that I can begin NYC training with a bang!!

I'm excited to have a schedule to follow again, though a little nervous. I'm trying something completely new this time and am writing my own schedule. I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of what I need to be successful. That, along with a lot of research and reading, should help me put together the perfect plan for NYC.

I'm trying something new this time around - Sunday long runs instead of Saturday. I'm not a stay up all night kind of girl on Friday's but I figured with moving to a new city and working full days on Fridays now, it will be good to cut myself a little slack on Saturday AM. That way, I can make plans for Friday nights, too! It's not like I have a group of people meeting me on Saturday mornings anymore :( I'll have to have all of my online friends help keep me accountable! That, and daily calls/emails to Penny :)

I joined the gym yesterday but I'm hoping for some sunshine today! It's been grey skies and raining since I moved to Louisville. I'd love a little blue skies. Please!!

XOXO