Running a little extra in the Bronx
Week 11, Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of NYC Marathon Training: Strength training on Days 1 and 3, 1 20-min and 3 30-min Peloton rides, 2.76 miles on Tuesday, 1.57 on Thursday, and the Bronx 10-Miler!
A total of 10 weeks of my marathon training is in the books. I haven’t lost any weight this summer, but I haven’t gained any weight, either. (Trying to look on the bright side!)
This past week also marked my starting my fall New York Road Runners two-days-a-week training classes. For the next eight weeks, I will be taking Turnover Tuesday and either Running Fundamentals or Tempo Thursday classes in Central Park after work.
I talked the other day about how I was falling behind in my Tempo Thursday class, and decided to try the Running Fundamentals — a class designed for new runners and those returning to the sport — on that date to see how that would work for me. (I am sticking with the more advanced Tuesday class, as it’s interval training and shorter distances.) So here’s my report!
On Turnover Tuesday, we did intervals on the lower loop of Central Park, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover later that I got several PRs, including the Tavern on the Green Flyby! I did this .26 mile segment in 2:48, which was my best out of 66 (!) tries!
I also got a PR with my 2:22 speed for the .22 mile segment called “West Drive passed Hecksher Fields” after 66 tries as well.
I am still among the slowest in the Tuesday class, but this is what makes Strava great — seeing that you’re making progress, even when it seems like you’re staying the same!
On Thursday, I did my first Running Fundamentals class. We did the run/walk method around one of the ballfields in Central Park, with one minute of running, and 40 seconds of walking.
Ironically, I was one of the faster people in the class, which was weird! And we only did 18 minutes of the main workout, which was a lot less than the Turnover Tuesday. Hopefully, we will get more mileage in this week.
What I liked most about this class was that the pace meant I got the chance to talk to other runners, and to compare notes. One of the class members was talking about how she still needed to get her +1 NYRR volunteer session in, and was having a hard time finding a spot. Not sure what the reason is, but so many of the NYRR volunteer spots were booked quickly this year.
I normally volunteer at the NYC Marathon expo for fun each year. (I usually earn my +1 at the Brooklyn Half Pre-Party, so it’s out of the way early, and I get automatic entry to that race.) But this year got booked up so quickly that I never had the chance to volunteer!
As for the rest of my workouts for the week, I did strength training on Monday and Tuesday, a 20-minute Peloton ride on Monday, and 30-minute rides on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with Friday being my 500th Peloton ride! (I did 84 classes in person at the Peloton studios before getting my own bike in March 2021, so it’s only 416 on this bike, but that’s still a cool number!)
I took the 500th class live with Cody Rigsby and was hoping for a shoutout, but I didn’t get one as far as I know. Oh well!
I had Saturday as a rest day for Sunday’s NYRR Bronx 10-Miler, and was hoping to do well in that race. The Bronx race is one of my favorites, especially since I’ve been spending a lot of time in that borough this year!
It was also the first time I’ve done that course since before the pandemic, (In 2021, I ran Tunnel to Towers instead of this race.) And the last time I ran it, in 2019, I had like four hours of sleep and jet lag after flying back from a trip to France the day before. That year, I finished in 2:15:01 (my PR on the course is 1:59:01, back in 2016!)
This year, I wanted to do at least better than I did the last time I ran the course. And I did for the first few miles, and then at the end, where I got a PR for this race for the last mile.
But in between, my feet were starting to ache, and I’m not sure if it was due to my running shoes or just the pounding of the race. (I am going to switch running shoes for my next long-distance race and see if that makes a difference!)
At the end, I was flying towards the finish line, though (especially since it’s downhill!) I did see some moron walk across the course when I was trying to finish the race. Normally when I encounter that, I say something like “Watch it!” but for this jerk, I yelled at him to “Get the **** off the road!”
I finished in 2:19:18, though, which was a little disappointing. But then yesterday, NYRR sent out an email announcing that the course was actually .13 miles longer than it should have been, which means my finish time was more like 2:17!
The weird thing is that I noticed the course difference during the race, but thought it was me not doing the tangents right.
I heard a lot of caterwauling online about NYRR’s screwup here, but while it was unfortunate, it was actually a pleasant surprise to realize that my finish time was actually better than it was!
Squawker Jon, my best friend, also did the Bronx 10-Miler, and earned his 9+1 and got to ring the bell! He got a PR for his race! We had a nice celebratory brunch at Bluestone Lane on the Upper West Side afterwards.
When you do as many races as I do (I only realized after the fact that the Fifth Avenue Mile was my 50th race of the year — the earliest I’ve ever reached that number!) you get a lot of race pictures. I try to pay attention to the cameras and try not to look stupid, but it doesn’t only work!
Anyhow, I was happy with MarathonFoto’s shots of me at the Bronx 10-Mile Race. Although I do feel a little bad that I cut off this guy’s head in this photo with my arm, after we both crossed the finish line. I’m not used to other people being that close when I finish, so I guess I am making a little progress!
I also ran the Bronx 2019 jetlagged after returning from Europe the night before. It was a snap because I woke up at 3:00 a.m. anyway. This year I came back from Washington State. *That* jetlag was challenging!