An ice cream social, the Grateful Dead, and two training classes
Week 8, Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 in NYC Marathon Training: A 2.87 mile walk/run, 2.44 miles, a rest day, 2.97 miles, 45 minutes of cycling, a 10K, and a 13.17 mile long run
I have had a lot on my mind this summer, and sometimes, I’ve been doing dumb things. Here are a few recent examples!
The first was when I didn’t pay attention to what race I was signing up for. I am not a huge ice cream fan — sorbet is more my thing — but I still signed up to do the NYCRUNS Ice Cream Social 10K on August 27. I have done the race in the past, and I also thought it would be a nice morning at Governor’s Island.
So I used my volunteer credits from helping out at other NYCRUNS races, and signed up for the race not so much for the ice cream, but because I wanted to do another race at Governor’s Island.
But wait! There were actually *two* ice cream social races this August, and the “Manhattan” (actually Governor’s Island!) NYCRUNS Ice Cream Social race was held three weeks earlier.
Instead, *this* race was the Brooklyn Ice Cream Social, held in Prospect Park. So I had to head up super-early to Brooklyn that Saturday for the race, leaving my home a little after 6 a.m.
I had also misplaced my safety pins (another blunder) so I had to make sure to get there early enough to get the pins for my bib, and walk the 3/4 mile from the race table to the start line.
Another blunder of mine: I had gotten a new pair of running shoes — the Saucony Freedom 4 — on Friday, and stupidly, I thought that I would be okay to do the race in these. (So much for that whole “Nothing new on race day” thing!) After all, the shoes seemed comfortable when I tried them on at Fleet Feet.
What a bad decision!
These race shoes hurt my feet terribly when trying to run fast. (I have used them since then for longer runs, and they were fine, but they didn’t really work for a 10K, especially when brand-new.) So I was feeling meh for most of the two loops around Prospect Park.
In addition, it was very hot that day, so I was REALLY looking forward to that ice cream afterwards to have something cool.
Fortunately, there was plenty left of both chocolate and vanilla Haagen-Dazs when I finished in 1:36:12. My friend Tina, an NYCRUNS employee, later mentioned she heard me call out to the volunteers after finishing, asking if they still had ice cream. Hmmm. Maybe I like ice cream more than I will admit to!
As for my race time, I was initially hoping to finish under 1:30, but my sore feet and the hot weather put an end to that notion.
Later on that day, I bought a new mobile phone, swapping out my old Samsung Galaxy Note 20 for a Google Pixel 6 and switching from Verizon to T-Mobile. (Important later on in this story!)
The next day, I wore different running shoes, as I did my weekly long run for marathon training. I ran from my home all the way to Clove Lakes Park.
So I was listening to the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast for most of my long run. IMHO, I think 1972 was the peak of the Grateful Dead, and their Veneta benefit show on August 27, 1972, to help the Springfield Creamery (makers of Nancy’s Yogurt) was perhaps their best concert ever.
I listen to that concert a LOT on long runs, especially “Deal,” “Promised Land,” and “Bird Song.” (Read more about the reason behind the show, and see some cool pix, here on the Nancy’s Yogurt website!)
So the podcast went into great detail about the history of the show, and how it ended up being released as the Sunshine Daydream movie. Fun fact: Huey Lewis was part-owner of a natural foods company that delivered Nancy’s Yogurt, among other things, to health-food stores on the West Coast back in the day. He is interviewed on the podcast, and apparently he wrote his hit “Workin’ for a Livin’” about his experience driving that truck, among other things to make a living before he hit it big! (That song is kind of my life now, but I digress!)
Listening to this very long, two-part podcast (it was longer than even a typical Dead show!) was a good distraction in my long run.
So were these slices of Round Pie pizza, which I stopped to get after Mile 10. (I was starving, and it was hot, so I had this when I ran by the pizza place, and then did three more miles!)
I was initially planning on running more than 13+ miles, but my new phone unexpectedly ran out of power. (I am still trying to tweak it so I get more power out of it!)
I had gotten a late start to begin with, it was hot, and I just wanted to go home. Not exactly eye of the tiger, I know!
So I took the bus home from the park (actually, two buses and a train) and went back home.
As for the rest of my marathon training, earlier that week, it was relatively uneventful. On that Monday, I ran and walked around Bayonne as part of a side hustle job. On Tuesday, I took a New York Road Runners Turnover Tuesday class in Central Park, making up for a Thursday class I missed, and ran a little under 2.5 miles. On Wednesday, I was involved in side hustle work, so I didn’t get to work out.
On Thursday, I did a little over 3 miles for the NYRR Tempo Thursday class in Central Park. Then on Friday, I did a total of 45 minutes (and 5.76 miles) on my Peloton bike, with a Matt Wilpers and a Cliff Dwenger class. Cliff does the class in German, but he has such a good personality, I still get a lot out of it!