Theme for this past training week was "Change of Scenery"
This week was pretty productive in my opinion. In my last training summary (***), I mentioned that I was somewhat frustrated with my lack of enjoyment training for this marathon. This frustration could have been the result of boredom, lack of motivation, and/or burnout. To fix some of those issues, I decided to mix up my routine a little bit, and I think that it may have worked. Yay, me!
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: Planned - 5 miles | Actual - 5 miles
Change of Scenery #1
For my treadmill recover run, I visited another Crunch Fitness just for a change, in terms of the gym facility and the members of the gym. Actually (and "secretly"), I made plans to meet a friend for drinks in Williamsburg after my run, and the gym is really close to the bar. Although it was a recovery run, I pushed myself during the last 400 meters of each mile, and it felt grrrreat.
I treated myself to a couple of drinks with my friend. At Sweet Science, one of the restaurant's most delicious beverage is the frozen slushy. They normally come in one color, but you can ask the bartender to give you a tri-colored slush.
A nice frozen treat.
Wednesday: Planned - Zumba and Weight lifting | Actual - Zumba and Weight lifting
Change of scenery #2.
Last week, I mentioned that I wanted to mix up my Zumba class because the routines have been come too predictable in my Tuesday class. I visited another Crunch Fitness in Crown Heights to attend a different Zumba class. Man, that class was so much!!! It's not that the Zumba class in Crown Heights was better than the one in Ft. Greene. The classes were just different in terms of music, choreography, and instruction. The Crown Heights class has some abdominal components to it, because my obliques were sore the next day. Going forward, I think that I will alternate Zumba workouts between Crunch Fitness in Fort Greene (Tuesdays) and in Crown Heights (Wednesdays).
Speaking of Crunch Fitness. Although I liked my Zumba class, weight lifting was not a productive as I would have liked. I think that this Crunch Fitness Express is so poorly designed, because there is no room to lift. Plus, the equipment is so close together that you are literally on top of each other; it scares me to death doing bench presses. During prime time hours, you have to work in your sets with 3-4 other people. It makes no sense when you have three people waiting for a single incline bench. I'm one of those folks who likes to do supersets back to back, targeting two muscle groups while lifting (e.g. bench press set followed by back row, dumbbell curl followed by tricep dips). Doing these supersets is pretty much impossible at this Crunch location. During that workout, I lifted for only 20 minutes because I was getting annoyed and frustrated.
My Lame Attempt at a Workout
Conclusion: I will visit this particular gym only for Zumba and simple cardio work.
Thursday: Planned - Six 800 meter intervals with 90 second recovery | Actual - Five 800 meter intervals.
Man, how do early risers do it? I woke up at 5 AM to do my 800 meter interval run, and it was very "painful". I woke up early to do this workout, because I had plans to see "Aladdin" on Broadway later on in the evening. It felt nice doing some speed work again, but it was not so nice at 5:30 AM. Since I am not used to waking up that early, my body was super exhausted and I could not finish the last interval set - my body was "one and done". After this workout, I realized that I really have to stop skipping out on these interval and hill workouts. During the racing season, I know that my body will thank me for these workouts.
Slappy the Seal and I
Clearly, the early start affected me later on, because I feel asleep during "Aladdin." Do not worry, I am pretty sure that I know how the show ended ;) Yes, money well spent.
Friday: Planned - Static Stretching | Actual - Not a d*mn thing.
I kind of had a "fat boy" day on Friday. After a very long (and useless) day at work, I had a HUGE craving for fried chicken and made a nice trip to Popeye's. One just "reopened" in the neighborhood!!! I kind of lost my mind, because I ordered chicken tenders, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, AND french fries. Yes, I ordered two sides of potatoes . . . and I'm not ashamed for doing so.
Saturday: Planned - 5 mile race | Actual - 5 mile race.
NYRR Team Championships - I will post a race report later.
Sunday: Planned - 12 miles | Actual - 12 miles.
Change of scenery #3.
I decided to mix up my long run by running over the Brooklyn Bridge and through the West Side of Manhattan. Originally, I wanted to run 6 miles into Manhattan and 6 miles back to Brooklyn. OMG. I feel in love with this run so much that I decided to keep going along the West Side for the entire 12 miles. It has been a while since I have ran along the West Side Highway. I believe running the Manhattan Half-Marathon, two years ago, was the last time I did this.
Brooklyn to Manhattan
This run was so amazing, I felt strong and energized. I did not think that I would have been able to pull it off, because of the 5-mile race the day before. I think the combination of the nice weather (mid 70's) and the scenery of lower Manhattan and the Hudson River really made the difference.
Some pics from the run:
After my run, I rewarded myself with a nice pint of Shocktop ale and a burger (I passed on the fries) at McKenna's Pub. My beer tasted like pure nectar from the gods, but the burger was not so great. ;) McKenna's is a somewhat shady bar, BUUUUUUT it has 2-4-1 drinks all day and music from the 90's and early 00's rule the jukebox.
Favorite tunes from the run:
Goals for the upcoming week:
- I do not know, I think that I may do a trail run next weekend.
- Core work, because the folks at Runtastic sent me this email.
