Couch to NY marathon

ellie_sun

Wednesday

Distance: 5.01 mi
Time: 51:28
Avg Pace: 10:21 min/mi

5 miles this morning, nothing out of the ordinary to report. Had a deep tissue massage last night, nice treat to sort out the pains from Sunday but think I preferred the sports massage - more elbow action!

Really can't believe that its taper time, am ridiculously excited and ridiculously nervous at the same time!

ellie_sun

Thursday

Distance: 4.20 mi
Time: 42:00
Avg Pace: 10:00 min/mi

Just over 4 miles this morning. Foot pod is driving me crazy, haven't been able to get in in sync for a few weeks. Thought I had it yesterday but it was still about 0.05 miles down per mile today. Really need to get it sorted so I can fix my pace for the big day.

My legs are tired this week so might skip tomorrow. Need to move my 12 miles back to Saturday as I'm traveling the next two Sundays and need to get in sync with the Sunday marathon!

ellie_sun

Saturday

Distance: 11.01 mi
Time: around 2 hours

Last long run DONE!! Change of scenery this weekend, really lovely to mix it up a bit. The route was quite flat and along a river so nice and scencic. Its funny being out of New York, lots of runners we passed said good morning, I entertained myself counting how many I could get. 16 for the record!.

I'm officially tapering now - 4,3,4 and 8 this week

ellie_sun

Piriformis muscle is playing up again so no running this week Have been stretching, icing, heating and foam rolling and will go for a sports massage at the weekend if I need to.

I had it really bad in August and was out for 3 weeks. The pain radiates down into my ankle and knee, I'm convinced its because I land on the outside of my left foot and this is something I intend to work on after the marathon. Hopefully its just inexperience/overuse and I can fix it. It really is a pain in the a*$ and I can't believe how much airtime I have given said a*$ in the last few months, a bit embarrassing!

Really hope that no running this week doesn't have a huge impact, hopefully I will get back to it on Saturday.

ellie_sun

After being totally relaxed about the marathon all week (more preoccupied with the weather) I have just been hit with the massive realization that I am apparently running a marathon on Sunday.

Last night I spent about 2 hours really the race reports from the Dublin marathon novice thread. I think this might be equivalent to reading child birth stories before having a baby, probably not recommended.

Dory Dory

Nearly there....

Hard to imagine they can move forward with the marathon considering the hurricane mess they are faced with, but from a business side of things they may not really have too many options. Best of luck to you at the weekend, and enjoy the experience. I'm sure there will be a little more emotion on the day, everything considered.

ellie_sun

Dory Dory wrote: »

Nearly there....

Hard to imagine they can move forward with the marathon considering the hurricane mess they are faced with, but from a business side of things they may not really have too many options. Best of luck to you at the weekend, and enjoy the experience. I'm sure there will be a little more emotion on the day, everything considered.

I'm not convinced that they can do this or if it is even appropriate to do this but as you say there's a lot at stake so I'm sure they'll do whatever it takes.

ellie_sun

Just saw on the news that Bloomberg said the marathon was on.

NERVOUS!!

pgmcpq

Glad to hear you are ok.

ellie_sun

Thought I would be writing a different post tonight.

I believe Bloomberg/NYRR made the right decision but their execution was unbelievable. I have followed the story closely this week and was surprised when they made the decision to go ahead and even more surprised at the way they canceled it.

I know there a lot of strong and divided opinions on the marathon and I don't believe that my training log is the place to get into the whys and why nots. However, I am supporting all efforts to help those impacted by the storm and cannot believe the devastation it caused. We are lucky to live in a high rise in midtown and to be honest it is like a different world, completely untouched by the storm.

On a personal note I am absolutely gutted. I chose not to run in Central Park this morning, I have spent many many hours running through Central Park training for the marathon but for some reason I couldn't do it. I think that this was to be my first marathon had a lot to do with it. I am keeping it in mind as an option for later in the week but this morning I choose to support the runners instead. The atmosphere was really good and I was delighted for those that took part.

Have signed up for a million bootcamps this month, starting at 6am tomorrow morning Am looking into another marathon and have decided that I'll be aiming for a sub 4 hour since I've got the extra time to train

ellie_sun

Needed a little encouragement to start running again so I just signed up for a 5k run in the dark next week and I liked the cause behind the run so thought it would be a good way back in.

Have been rebelling against running for the past few days while enjoying a liquid diet but I miss it now and its not runnings fault the marathon got cancelled! Not that its anyone fault, I just needed a few days to get over the disappointment.

pgmcpq

ellie_sun wrote: »

Needed a little encouragement to start running again so I just signed up for a 5k run in the dark next week and I liked the cause behind the run so thought it would be a good way back in.

Have been rebelling against running for the past few days while enjoying a liquid diet but I miss it now and its not runnings fault the marathon got cancelled! Not that its anyone fault, I just needed a few days to get over the disappointment.

Having the same problems getting restarted myself. I know it's basically mental - the mind is saying "Wait ... wasn't the body promised a nice break around now"

Have you seen this ? Might be a nice way to get restarted .... an easy < two hour ride out of Penn Station. Find a nice hotel. Easier course than NY...

http://www.philadelphiamarathon.com/nyc-marathon-lottery-info

ellie_sun

pgmcpq wrote: »

Having the same problems getting restarted myself. I know it's basically mental - the mind is saying "Wait ... wasn't the body promised a nice break around now"

Have you seen this ? Might be a nice way to get restarted .... an easy < two hour ride out of Penn Station. Find a nice hotel. Easier course than NY...

http://www.philadelphiamarathon.com/nyc-marathon-lottery-info

I'm due to be sipping a cocktail and lying by a pool that day (well hopefully, given the crazy weather of late I'm not convinced it'll be sunny!). I saw you signed up for another full, which one was it? I read earlier that they're trying to do something with the Brooklyn marathon and will maybe announce something tomorrow if that's any use for you.

ellie_sun

Am currently trying to convince Mr ES to do Rome in March but its 18 weeks out on Sunday and he's not convinced that he's ready to follow another marathon training plan so soon. I'm not convinced either but I've taken a shine to Rome and I'm more of the book it now, think about the reality of a winter training plan later. The exact kind of thinking that led me to the NY marathon in the first place!

zooming

Gutted for you!!
Im not sure what the story was in Central Park on Sunday, a fella I know had gone over to do it from Dublin and ran round Central Park and got a medal? I didnt think the marathon was on?
Crazy.

ellie_sun

zooming wrote: »

Gutted for you!!
Im not sure what the story was in Central Park on Sunday, a fella I know had gone over to do it from Dublin and ran round Central Park and got a medal? I didnt think the marathon was on?
Crazy.

The park run was an informal run, a lot of people went up and did halfs and fulls, lots of the international runners were there. I think the travel partners were letting people know about it so that got a good crowd. But it wasn't chipped or anything, more like a pop up marathon! Some people did show up with signs and I saw supporters with slabs of water, giving them out to the runners. It was a really nice atmosphere.

The NYRR are letting people pick up the medals, presumably because everyone paid for the marathon and they have 50,000 medals sitting there that are no use because the year is on them! If that guy was running with an organized group that had traveled over I'd imagine the organizers got the medals and used them as an incentive for Sunday morning's run. I picked mine up from their office and I haven't ran since last week!

pgmcpq

ellie_sun wrote: »

Am currently trying to convince Mr ES to do Rome in March but its 18 weeks out on Sunday and he's not convinced that he's ready to follow another marathon training plan so soon. I'm not convinced either but I've taken a shine to Rome and I'm more of the book it now, think about the reality of a winter training plan later. The exact kind of thinking that led me to the NY marathon in the first place!

Mr ES might like to to think about doing a short 10k program then switching to a 10-12 week marathon program. The 10k program is refreshing physically and mentally, even if you do not intend to run a 10k. 18 weeks is a long time to focus on one goal.

On Rome - serveral people have told me that this is difficult enough as there are long stretches over cobbles stones. I think I have read reports in here but you can also read reveiws at marathonguide.com

If you have some flexibility in your work hours so you are not runnng in the dark then training over the winter is not too bad. You need to invest in decent gear and have access to treadmill. Running in snow can be a fun (after it has fallen is a different matter).

Dory Dory

Regarding winter training - I prefer it over summer training, and as mentioned above, proper winter gear is key. I hate being cold, but I have found there are excellent brands made with excellent materials to keep you warm....and they aren't bulky either! I do at least two runs a week at night under the street lights, and it's a nice change from running during the day. But, as mentioned above, access to a treadmill and daytime running will help you get through the long cold winter. Options and diversity are good for the mind and body!!

ellie_sun

5k Run on in the dark

Tonight was my first run since what I have christened as the non marathon and it was hard!! I was thinking a nice little 5k would be a walk in the park. Though I finally broke 30 minutes for 5k, came in at 29 minutes 48 seconds, really pleased with myself. It was like an Irish convention in New York, so many Irish accents I thought I was back home, loved it!

pgmcpq

Congrats on the PB. Often once a big barriers go it amazing the progress that follows.