Category: Runs

Now I have NON-RESPONSIVE legs! Ha! Today’s 10.01 miles over Queensboro Bridge and around Central Park was quite the contrast from yesterday’s shorter run. My legs just didn’t want to go as fast as they wanted to yesterday! No worries, though, since I probably didn’t load up on enough carbs to carry me fast for long. And lest I forget, I did do what is becoming the notoriously slow path of from-my-home, over-the-bridge, down-East-60th. I did the distance in 7:43s, which isn’t great, but it was 71 degrees which felt on the verge of warm, and my calves and ankles were pretty sore from running about 38.5 miles over the last 3 days. Here are the deets:

The highlight of this run was a small Asian guy who passed me on Great Hill. His physique suggested he was a much better runner than me. He got some uncatchable distance from me. Before that point, a tall possibly Indian runner passed me, who didn’t look all that better than me but was putting on a good show. I thought it was lost to reach both of them. THEN, though, they looked strikeable.

I set my mind to catching them. First, I timed in my head how many seconds it took me to reach the Asian fellow’s landmark. That is, he’d pass a pole, and I’d count how many seconds it would take me to reach that landmark. First measure? 24 seconds. Second measure? About 21 seconds. I kept lowering my measures. Over the course, the Indian fellow didn’t catch the Asian fellow, dropping out before he had a chance to. But I kept closing in on the Asian fellow. I was doing this intentionally. I wanted to see if I might possibly be able to pass him.

And sure enough, I got darn close. At one point, I was within 2 seconds of him. He was right there. But I was also picturing how much I had to keep up this huffy pace in order to stay in front of him. My will just wasn’t there, so I pulled back and slowed down. I did make an impressive catch-up, though, and over the course of a mile or so, I nearly caught the guy. Fun! This all happened in the 8th and 9th miles, starting just south of the Reservoir. I was doing somewhere between a 7:00 and a 7:21.

Man, my calves hurt, my ankles here, and my Achilles hurts, too. I’ve really pushed myself. And I’m thinking of doing candlelight yoga in the park tonight to get my stretch on. I’m not planning on running tomorrow, instead resting my body and prepping it for another long week on set. I’m having Oglio & Aglio with Chicken right now, plus a Double Berry Protein Zone Naked Juice to get up the glycogen stores that were probably depleted for today’s run, and build muscle. But all in all, it was another beautiful day in Central Park, and what a gorgeous, gorgeous weekend. Cheers!

Today’s run was yet again BEAUTIFUL. It was 69 degrees, it felt cool, and my body was actually RESPONSIVE after yesterday’s 23-miler. You’ll note from my deets that my pace was slow in the beginning. This was because I kept hitting lights in Queens and Manhattan. But once I hit Central Park for my last 1.7 miles or so, I flew. I did one of those miles in 6:59 and the last .57 in 6:43. My legs were taking off. Here are those lovely deets:

It should be known that my calves and ankles were sore, mostly my calves. I also had some hip soreness. But once I got that first block out of the way, I warmed back up.

I did this shorter distance because I did a longer-than-scheduled run on Friday. I was only supposed to do 8, and I did ~9.8. Today I was supposed to do 7, so I did a little less.

That’s about all there is to say today. But man, it was gorgeous. Happy Autumn.

Today I did the longest run of my training (23 miles on the dot), and what probably will be my longest run until the NYC Marathon. After this point, mileage will start to taper a bit in the training schedule, at least in terms of long runs.

The weather couldn’t have been better except for maybe a few degrees cooler. It was cloudless sunny skies and absolutely beautiful. The temperature was 71 for practically the entire run, yet it felt more like a cool 65. While there was no detectable warmth today, it probably had a slight impact on my speed. It certainly was weather that led to an abundance of dermal salt! I had salt coating my body in so many places today. One particularly gross place was on the front of my shorts, in a downward-traveling triangle–that got some looks! (I’m eating some Pita Chips right now to replenish my salt stores.) I achieved a realistic pace today of 8:23s, which included the Queensboro Bridge and Great Hill and Cat Hill 3 times. Here are the deets:

Considering that I did nearly a 10-mile run yesterday and that today was warmer, my slower beginning was expected (also considering I knew I was doing a long run). Still, I tried to practice some short-striding on downhills to prepare for race day. My speed and performance definitely started to diminsh over the course of the run, ending with a 10:25 final mile and peaking with a 7:25. I did a half-marathon somewhere around 1:41-1:42, but I wasn’t pursuing any goals there. That’s good to know as I prep for a half-marathon race in about a week.

My energy was deteriorating pretty steeply toward the end, but my brain was really keeping me going. I was thinking about stopping at 22 miles, but I rationalized, No, this is my only 23-miler, and I have the energy to pull it off, and its reward is its accomplishment. That worked and I made it all the way. While I didn’t have any specific injuries at the end of the run, I walked as if I had ridden a horse for a long time–sensitive, tired steps.

My reward, apart from the training achievement, was a Peanut Butter Moo’d at Jamba Juice. I walked there from Central Park after my run and got the largest size (770 calories), plus two whey protein boosts (100 calories) and one immunity boost (calories unknown). They gave me the excess they made, too. I probably consumed about 1,000 calories from that drink, which may sound grossly offensive, but note that Garmin said I burned 3,210 calories in this run! Even eating that caloric drink, I’m still very much at a calorie deficit today.

I fueled this run with a whole wheat bagel just before, plus two 2x caffeine Tangerine PowerGels. I also consumed two more during the run, somewhere around 14-15 miles I think. It’s hard to say their impact because I didn’t notice any performance improvements, though they may have just kept me running a bit longer. There were a lot of speedy runners in the park today and I was passed a nice amount of times, but mostly but fast people. I wasn’t trying to pass people, just set on getting to 23 miles.

Once home, I had an ice bath. I sure hope it helps for tomorow, and I imagine it will. I don’t have really anything to do tonight other than to relax near home. I can’t travel much because I’m hobbly and low-energy and a bit raw. I hope I sleep really well tonight.