My last month of NYC Marathon training
Here's what I did in Weeks 15, 16, 17, and 18
This morning, I will be heading to Fort Wadsworth for the TCS New York City Marathon. Things didn’t quite go as planned in my training. I talked here yesterday about how I’ve been super busy with my day job and my side hustles. I also didn’t lose any weight over the last 18 weeks (and put on a few pounds over the past month, unfortunately!)
But I did run over 416 miles in this training cycle. I had a lot of good training weeks. However, a few weeks busy with real-life obligations put my average miles down a bit. I also spent many hours on my Peloton bike (albeit not much over the last month) and did strength training. And I think I’m in a good place mentally after a rough last few months. Things are finally turning around for the better!
I have no idea how I will do today. I wilt in the heat, and this is by far the hottest the weather I have ever run the NYC Marathon in. I have run the race every year since 2016 (virtually in 2020) and I fully expect to finish, no matter what the weather conditions are. I also expect to have a great time in the race, as I always do.
I know my training wasn’t perfect, but I’m granting myself some grace here. I did the absolute best I could, given everything that has been going on in my life for the past 18 weeks.
On another note, this will be the last time Squawker Jon, my best friend, goes around the city to see me run. (He usually sees me in Brooklyn and two places in Manhattan to cheer me on.) Jon will be running the 2023 NYC Marathon for the first time himself, so this is the end of an era!
Here’s my training for the last month.
NYC Marathon Training Week 15
Day 1: I enjoyed Columbus Day off work! .47 mile light run from the bus to Wave Hill Public Garden in the Bronx, one of my happy places, and a lot of walking.
Day 2: 4.52 mile run with Turnover Tuesday, my NYRR training class, including the warmup and cooldown.
Day 3: Rest day — really this was to work at my side hustle jobs!
Day 4: I was supposed to do my Running Fundamentals class but it was cancelled due to thunderstorms. Bummer. So this ended up as a rest day as well.
Day 5: 2.5 mile run in Philadelphia — from the hostel I was staying at to the Philadelphia Art Museum. I traveled there to go to the Premier League Mornings Fan Fest this weekend. Earlier on Friday, I got to check out the scene outside Citizens' Bank Park for Game 3 of the NLDS. This was the Phillies’ first home playoff game in 12 years, and there was already a big crowd several hours before the game! They had a free Ferris Wheel for fans (I took a ride on it!) and a live band, food and drinks for sale, and big-screen TVs outside the ballpark. It was a great time. I saw a bit of the Yankee playoff game on the big-screen TV. Later, I ran from the hostel to the museum, which was a lot of fun.
Day 6: Rest day. I got up super-early to make it to the line to get into the Premier League Mornings Fan Fest. There were literally thousands of English football fans outside City Hall at 6:15 a.m. ready to see this TV show in person and watch soccer matches! I am rooting for Liverpool because of Mo Salah, my favorite player, and I love playing the fantasy football league for this sport. I had a great time at the event and got some cool swag. Afterwards, I went to Reading Terminal Market for lunch, visited the Liberty Bell and Ben Franklin Museum, and took the bus back home. Pretty action-packed rest day!
Day 7: 21.38 mile long run and 10-minute Peloton ride: This was my longest run of the training cycle. I ran in Hudson River Park and Central Park to get my mileage in. I felt pretty strong and was happy with my new running shoes and the way I felt afterwards. I was even able to ride my Peloton briefly when I got home.
NYC Marathon Training Week 16
Day 1 and Day 2: Rest days, doing my side hustle work and cleaning my apartment! I had a cleaning lady work on my apartment as well on that Tuesday, so I ended up skipping my running class that evening to get my place in order.
Day 3: 4.98 mile run. This was an evening run put on by New York Running Company in Columbus Circle, so it was fun to do this and get some miles in.
Day 4: 2.39 mile run as part of my Running Fundamentals class.
Day 5: Rest day doing my retail merchandising side hustle.
Day 6: 3.1 mile run in the Mile High Run Club/Puma 5K. I got a very cool MHRC/Puma moisture-wicking hat for doing this race in Central Park. It was not a closed course, but it wasn’t that crowded that early. I also got some Harlem Hills mileage in as part of the course. Cool morning.
Day 7: 3.68 mile run and a 10-minute Peloton ride: I did the Support Our Troops 5K in Staten Island in Wolfe’s Pond Park and a warmup before it to get to the bus there. I finished in 39:07 and was pretty happy with my time, especially given that this had some trailish parts to the course. Then I did 10 minutes on the Peloton bike that evening.
NYC Marathon Training Week 17
Day 1: Rest day.
Day 2: 2.17 mile run in Turnover Tuesday. Fun evening.
Day 3: 2.77 mile run and strength training. Squawker Jon does NYRR’s Mashup Wednesday. I had to make up one of my classes, so I took the class with him that morning. I really enjoyed the class and got a good workout. I then did strength training at my gym before going into the office.
Day 4: 3.40 mile run in Running Fundamentals. Another fun evening.
Day 5: Rest day doing my side hustle in retail merchandising.
Day 6: 3.77 mile run. I did the Gourdy’s Pumpkin Run Rocktober 5K virtually (got a cool medal for it!) and got a little more miles in. I ran to Round Pie, a pizza place I really like on Staten Island that just opened a new location. Great pizza and nice run!
Day 7: 4.09 mile run and a 10-minute Peloton ride. I did the Richmond Rockets Halloween 5K in Silver Lake Park and had a great time. It was a cool race. I also got a warmup in before the race. That evening, I did a short Peloton ride.
NYC Marathon Training Week 18
Day 1: Rest day. I went to the NYRR Member Mondays event at the NYC Marathon Pavilion near the race’s finish line. It was a great time with excellent speakers, drinks and snacks, raffles, and a free marathon pint glass. Nice start to Race Week!
Day 2: Rest day. I skipped my last NYRR training class of this cycle because I went to see the Grateful Dead Meetup at the Movies to see a Dead concert filmed on the Europe ‘72 tour. Pigpen forever!
Day 3: 2.23 mile run. I went to New York Running Company’s run in Central Park after work. The event was sponsored by Hoka and there was free pizza and beer afterwards! Raffles, too!
Day 4: 2.38 mile run. I picked up my race bib on the first day of the expo at the Javits Center. I was invited to an NYRR VIP event with Madison de Rozario. She uses a wheelchair and won the NYC Marathon in her division last year. Very nice person! The expo was pretty good, especially the Got Milk display, but it was much smaller than in previous years. After this, I went to a New York Running Company run. I was supposed to go to my NYRR training class, but I got there a little late and missed my group, so I did this instead. They had Smashburger for us as part of the New York Running Company run, we got to try out Asics shoes, and we got a free pair of Feetures socks, too! Raffles as well, but I didn’t win anything.
Day 6: .81 miles. This was my last run of the training cycle. I went to a Coros shakeout run in Manhattan in the afternoon. I got to try out the watch, but I cut the run short as I had to get ready to be in the NYC Marathon Opening Ceremony. It was great to be part of the United States contingent, and I had tears in my eyes when we got to walk in the parade. Afterwards, all the countries gathered together to talk and watch fireworks. Great event!
Day 7: 10-minute Peloton ride — just a light cycling ride after a Saturday writing about the last seven weeks of marathon training! I am as ready as I will ever be! Wish me luck.