NYCM Training: Weeks 3 and 4

Thanks so much for the birthday wishes, everyone! So far, 30 has been treating me okay. :)

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Since I never got a chance to recap my New York City Marathon training for week 3, I thought I’d go ahead and give you an idea of what I’ve been up to the last two weeks!

WEEK 3

Mon., July 28: Taekwondo class

Tue. July 29: 3 miles

Wed., July 30: 4 miles

Thur., July 31: 5 miles

Fri., Aug. 1: Taekwondo class

Sat., Aug. 2: Rest

Sun., Aug. 3: 8 miles

Total weekly mileage: 20 miles

WEEK 4

Mon., Aug. 4: Taekwondo class

Tue., Aug. 5: 4 miles

Wed., Aug. 6: Taekwondo class

Thur., Aug 7: 4 miles

Fri., Aug. 8: Rest (I ended up having to miss my karate class — sadness)

Sat., Aug. 9: My birthday weekend — REST!

Sun., Aug. 10: My birthday weekend — REST!

Mon., Aug. 11: 10 miles (since I couldn’t do it over the weekend!)

Total weekly mileage: 18 miles

I ended up missing one scheduled 5-miler last week, and we had to push our 10-mile long run to Monday since we were out and about all weekend for my birthday. So I ended up taking three consecutive rest days (GASP!) which just does NOT happen…I’m lucky to get one rest day each week. And let me tell you, I enjoyed it. I’m not even a little bit sorry. :)

We went to the beach during the day on Saturday.

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About to turn the big “3-0″

Then out to a comedy show that night.

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On Sunday morning, we went to breakfast.

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Then we visited a couple of wineries — since I’m something of a connoisseur now, LOL…

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And went out to dinner that night — Cuban, my fave! — where we had (you guessed it!) more wine. Gotta love sangria.

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And that was all before I stuffed my face with chocolate mint chip ice cream cake. :)

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So, all in all, it was a good birthday. I guess I expected some sort of earth-shattering change to occur the second I hit 30, but I still feel pretty much the same. I can’t believe I let myself get so worked up about turning THE BIG 3-0 for so many years. Plus, I got carded at one of the wineries, so that pretty much made my whole weekend, LOL.

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As far as running is concerned, I’m still trying really hard not to let the heat get to me. But some days — especially when I have no choice but to squeeze in a mid-day run, or it just happens to be one of those 90-degree days — it really does suck. I just do the best I can on those days, and try not to obsess too much about my pace. That’s all you can do, right?

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BOO to summer running…

However, I’ve found that running right before it gets dark whenever possible makes a huge difference. Also, my little puppy is helping me along the way — if it’s not too hot, he’ll join me for a mile or so on a weekday run. I mean, he’s still in the phase where he’ll chase anything that moves — squirrels, birds, bugs, a leaf — so he definitely keeps things interesting. It makes that last mile of a ho-hum training run go by so fast!

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On Monday, we couldn’t start our long run until after Todd got home from work, so we ended up starting our 10 miles after 6:30pm…which meant that we were finishing in the dark. It was our first time running a long run that late on a weeknight.

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First double-digit long run of this training cycle! :)

But I gotta say, I think nighttime running might just change my life this summer. Not only was it an overcast afternoon, but then when the sun went away completely and there was a cool breeze, it just felt MAGICAL. I don’t feel comfortable running by myself at night, but as long as I have my running partner-in-crime, I will DEFINITELY be doing that again.

Let’s see, what else is new? Yeah, so, I am officially addicted to Sparkle Skirts. They are TOTALLY saving my life this summer. For the first time, I don’t have to run in hot, black compression capris and sweat my ass off just to avoid that discomfort of my thighs rubbing together. Shorts have NEVER been an option for me because my thighs have always been on the larger side, and this is the first time in my life I managed to find a running skirt with shorts that don’t ride up. For my birthday, I pretty much just asked for Sparkle Skirts, and I got a few more solid ones (since they’ll match with everything), plus Todd got me the New York-inspired skirt I really wanted — I can use all the motivation I could get! IMG_5526Plus, the HUGE pockets hold my keys and my gels and my phone and everything else I could ever possibly need, and they keep me so cool and comfortable on these miserable summer runs. I. CAN. NOT. GET. ENOUGH. OF. THESE. SKIRTS.

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10 miles in my new skirt!

Do you ever run at night to avoid the heat?

What’s your must-have summer running gear?

Did you feel “different” after turning 30?

Comments

  1. happy birthday! all of your outfits from that weekend are so cute :) and running at night is my favorite! it’s the best way to avoid the heat, and around here, most of the crowds. i am NOT a morning person, so it means i’m happier if i’m running at night too haha

    • Thanks so much, Brittney! :-D I think running at night is going to be my new favorite, too…at least until it starts to cool down!

  2. I can’t enough of my Running Skirts. I don’t like shorts since I started wearing those, so I understand your Sparkle Skirt obsession.

  3. happy birthday again-it looks like you had so much fun! I went wine tasting over the weekend and it was great.

    I also love sparkleskirts and i LOVE that NY one!

    • Thanks, Juliana! Wine tasting is, quite possibly, one of my new favorite activities, haha.

      I LOOOOOOVE my Sparkle Skirts now, and it’s nice to be able to look down and get that little extra boost of motivation! :)

  4. Happy 30th!! You look beautiful and I’m in love with that polka-dot dress!

  5. Happy Birthday friend! Love all your cute pictures! The only time I ran in the dark was back in December during my 22 miler. It was only 5:00pm or so but it was like pitch black. I wouldn’t mind running at night during the summer. It could be refreshing!

  6. Happy birthday!!! Looks like you had a great time.

    I love running in the dark. I live in AZ and the sun is just so incredibly intense. The only problem is that we’re also a “heat island” in Phoenix, so in the summer in can still be 105 at 10pm. Getting up before the sun is out is usually the best solution since the temp drops more over night.

  7. First off, happy birthday!

    Second off…THANK you for this post! Training for my first half and actually starting a few months early because PARANOOOOOOID!!!! And also I hate the heat and it’s killing my training.

    When I started running two years ago I ran in the evenings, and my brain is just trained that way now. Recently met a marathoner who told me the reason my pokey puppy speed isn’t getting better is because I need to run in the mornings. I tried and believe it or not, had a complete panic attack!

    So THANK YOU from an evening runner for making me feel not so crazy for my nighttime runs!

    • Thanks, Tabitha! Hey, you’re totally badass for 1.) starting your training early and 2.) braving the insane summer heat. You’ve got this! The summer months can be brutal, whether you run in the AM or PM — so whatever works for you, right?!

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