Is running a Labor of Love? I did a 5k with that name!
Week 9, Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, and Week 10, Day 1 in NYC Marathon Training: Strength training, two "rest" days, 2.84 miles, a 5k, more strength training, a 15-min ride, and a 10-mile run
Strength training is something I haven’t done enough of as of late. So I recently decided I needed to get back on track about that.
So in Week 9 of my NYC Marathon training, I did strength training at Retro Fitness that Monday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I was very busy with a slew of work projects, so I didn’t have time to work out.
On Thursday, I did my New York Road Runners Tempo Thursday class after going to a workplace happy hour. The class was held by Engineer’s Gate in Central Park on the Upper East Side as opposed to the usual location, by Columbus Circle, so this was a nice change of pace.
On Friday, I did things around my home, and rested up for the SITRAC Labor of Love 5K, a race happening on Staten Island on Labor Day weekend. This Clove Lakes Park race is a replacement on the SI race schedule for the legendary 4-mile Celic Run, which was held on the island for an incredible 43 years. That race always had hot FDNY firefighters doing a cookout afterwards for runners at the local Marine Corps League across the street from the park.
This race is a little shorter, and we had sandwiches afterwards (and no hot firefighters were involved!) but it was still a lot of fun.
It is part of our local Staten Island Triple Crown series on Staten Island. Last year, I placed in my age group category for the first and only time, and got a nifty plaque.
This year, I not only had no chance of winning anything, but I wasn’t even able to do the last race in the series, as it was going to be held the same day as the Bronx 10-Mile Run. Oh well.
I enjoyed running the Labor of Love 5K, but I didn’t like that I had to dodge two idiots standing on the course just when I was about to finish — one wielding a tennis racquet!
This is a common problem when you are a back-of-the-pack runner. Some act as if the race is over and think it’s perfectly okay to literally stand in the way of someone trying to finish. I shouldn’t have to essentially play Frogger in order to complete the race. Geez, people, use some common sense and stay off the course when the finish line clock is still up! Thanks!
After the race, I noticed a tall man wearing a recent race shirt from Australia. I struck up a conversation with him about it. Turns out that Andrew was in Manhattan for business for two weeks and decided to seek out local races. So he made the trek out to Staten Island for our 5K. How cool is that?
And he even got a medal for his journey to Staten Island to do the race!
On Sunday, I got a late start and decided to skip doing my long run that day, instead doing strength training and a Peloton ride. So on Monday, I did my long run on a very hot day, mostly in Clove Lakes Park up and down the hills in the trails, with around 600 feet in elevation. I was only able to get in 10 miles before I had to head back home to do my NFL Fantasy League draft. I am in a league with British fans of American football from my agency’s parent company, and we had a live draft that afternoon. I am happy with the team I picked (I have both Lamar Jackson and Tom Brady as QBs, as well as Saquon Barkley and Cooper Kupp!)
Monday marked the end of the first half of my marathon training. I’m still not where I need to be, but fortunately, there is still time to improve!