This week marked the halfway point in my 16-week NYC Marathon training plan!
We got a burst of summer weather after a relatively cool August, so running this week was rough. Luckily by the time I did my long run on Sunday, the humidity had subsided and it was a little more comfortable.
Monday – 4 miles, super humid recovery run at Gerard Point (one last sunset run here before heading back to NYC on Tuesday!)
Tuesday – Pilates class
Wednesday – 5.7 miles (60 min) easy + 4 x 20-sec strides
Thursday – 6.3 miles at the East River track: 2 mile warm up, 4x 800m (with 400m recovery), 2 mile cool down
I joined a group workout on the East River track and was definitely pushed to run my 800m repeats faster than I thought I could. It was really difficult, and I’m pretty sure my legs still felt the effects during my long run on Sunday, but I was delighted with my splits and the fact that I kept up with faster runners!
Friday – Vinyasa yoga class
Saturday – Restorative yoga class (Rest day)
All the pasta. All the cheese. Carbing up for Sunday’s long run.
Sunday – 16 miles in Rockefeller State Park with Prospect Park Track Club
This was my longest run ever, in distance and in time. It was my first time running for 3+ hours and my first long run on trails. I went to Rockefeller State Park with Prospect Park Track Club for a fun long run excursion out of the concrete jungle.
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The trip was a lot of fun and the park was beautiful. It was a lot hillier than I’d expected (check out that elevation!) and I ran it a lot slower than I’d hoped. Almost immediately after starting to run, my legs felt heavy and weren’t feeling it.
The saving grace was that I found two teammates running at my pace, who were also both doing their first ever 16-milers, and we were reassured by other teammates that everyone’s pace slows on trails, especially hilly ones.
The scenery was beautiful and kept me pleasantly distracted for most of the run: we ran through woodsy paths, past a lake (called Swan Lake!), a creek, and farms with horses, geese, sheep, and cows.
Afterwards, we hobbled our way to a well-earned brunch in Sleepy Hollow.
Then naptime, of course.
Total – 32 miles
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Where’s your favorite “destination” place to run?
Do you prefer running in a group or on your own?
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Filed under: Goals, Running, Running Away, Scenic Runs, Training, Travel Tagged: Autumn, First Marathon, Marathon Training, PPTC, Prospect Park Track Club, Rockefeller State Park, Running, Running Away, Training
