Cycling at Summer Streets, a trail run, and a very slow long run
Week 5, Days 5, 6, and 7 of NYC Marathon Training: 2 botanical garden visits, 16.2 miles on an outdoor bike, a 2.81 mile trail run, a 14-mile long run, and a 15-minute Peloton ride
I have been very busy both professionally and personally over the last few weeks, in addition to my marathon training. Every day I’m hustling, as the kids say! (An aside: Whenever slang has trickled down to me, it’s probably on the way out. Just saying!)
Anyhow, I’m going to write a bunch over the next few days so I can get caught up on my marathon blog writing. So please bear with me if I blow up your email box over the next few days!
Here’s what I did for the end of Week 5 of my marathon training. On my Summer Friday on August 5, I ventured up to the Bronx to visit two of my favorite places: Wave Hill Public Garden and Cultural Center and the New York Botanical Garden. It was relaxing to see the latest blooms. No running to the gardens this time, though.
On Saturday, August 6, I went to Summer Streets, when New York City closes Park Avenue so people can frolic and cavort. They held it on three Saturdays this summer, and it’s one of my favorite things to do in the city.
For the first Saturday of Summer Streets, I didn’t run (although I did see a slew of running groups out there, taking advantage of the open streets to get their long runs in!) Instead, I rented a bike twice for free, thanks to Unlimited Biking, and I cycled the entire route and back.
The course went all the way up to 108th Street this year, and down to the Brooklyn Bridge, and it was a lot of fun to ride my bike the whole course. I also enjoyed getting the freebie snacks and energy drinks on the route.
I took the bus back to Staten Island that Saturday after a busy morning, and then immediately went to do another fitness event. A new running group called Asian Trail Mix was hosting a free trail run in Willowbrook Park on the island, and they invited Staten Island runners to join them. So I went to check it out.
The event was really well-organized and fun — check out their Instagram post on it here.
I ran a little less than 3 miles in the Greenbelt that afternoon and got to check out On Running’s trail shoes on the run. (A rep from the company was there with dozens of new pairs for us to check out!)
The race organizers also had free Supergoop! bottles for everyone, as well as Gnarly Nutrition hydration, and Oishii strawberries samples. Oh, and free beer afterwards. It was nice meeting some runners who ventured out to my home borough to do this!
The next day, I still had to do my weekly marathon training long run. I got a late start on the day, and it was hot, and I was very slow. It took me wayyyy too long to get 14 miles done, but I did get the miles in the books — and also got some Shake Shack and a passion fruit Italian ice afterwards!
Later on that evening, I rode 15 minutes on my Peloton bike — something I haven’t done enough of lately!
More blog entries coming soon, documenting my next two weeks of NYC Marathon training!