NYC Marathon Training Recap – Week #3

SOME MOTIVATION:

Besides, Madrid and NYC marathons, I have signed up for a couple more races. Maybe doing this will light the fire in my belly to get out and run. Also, it will help me burn off some fat from my belly. 

NYCRuns Ice Cream Social 10K

 
NYCRuns Manhattan Ice Cream Social 10K
 

Fun! Running and ice cream. I think it will be a cool race because I have never visited Governors Island.

 
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Actually, I hope they have lactose-free ice cream or popsicles. Now that I think about it, having ice cream after running 10K does not sound like that much fun.

Rock n Roll Va. Beach (Half Marathon):

 
Rock n Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon
 

I forgot that I purchased a three-race pack from Rock n Roll race series so I decided to make my first selection and run Va. Beach’s half marathon. It will be kind of nice to run a race in my home state and home city. I have not run a race in Virginia since my high school cross country days back in the late 90s. Hopefully, it will not be hot or humid as hell during Labor Day Weekend

BOULDERING:

To improve on my technique, I signed up for a footwork lesson at my bouldering gym, and the class was just ooook. The instructor provided some nice tips, but he seemed very distracted. The instructor’s cousin was visiting the city, and he seemed more interested in catching up with his cousin than in teaching the class. I mean, I’m all for family reunions, but not when it’s on my dime. The cousin was also attending the class, but at one point the cousin was kind of over climbing about 30 minutes into the 90-minute class so the instructor became quite aloof. At one point, he was explaining some balancing techniques when you scale the wall without using your hands. I asked if he could demonstrate how to do it because it was a new concept for me. He was like I cannot give you all the answers and started talking to his cousin again. Actually, writing this has gotten me all pissed off again. So after that, I was done. I told him my arms were tired, thanked him for his time, and bounced. In his defense (slightly), he mentioned that he taught two other classes before my class. Buuuuuuut, that is kinda your job.

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NYC Marathon Training Recap – Week #2

Since I had a bit of a family emergency last week, I did not log a whole bunch of miles. Then again, do I ever log a whole bunch of miles? I was supposed to run Front Runners NY’s annual LGBT Pride Run over the weekend, which would have been my first real race since March 2020, but I just had way too much on my mind. But, I guess there will be other races in the future. Speaking of future races, this reminds me that I have some unused race credits with NYCRuns.

Motivation:

Normally, I am not a fan of inspirational posts because I am a hater. However, I saw this IG post on someone’s feed, and it really touched me for some reason.

 
Motivational meme
 

I think this message hit me because I saw it a couple of days before my birthday, which was on Friday. You know that folks like to restart things on New Years and birthdays. To be honest (and slightly depressing), I have more years of life behind me than in front of me. According to the CDC, the average life expectancy for an African-American man born in 1980 is 63.1 years (Link to the study: ***).

MARATHON TRAINING:

I will say that I’m looking forward to training for NYC’s Marathon. As some might know, I’m kind of doing an easy-breezy training method by following a couch to marathon training plan. It looks like this week begins the second phase of the training plan – 5K to 10K.

 
Couch to marathon training plan.
 

MADRID MARATHON:

The organizers of Madrid’s Marathon have rescheduled last year’s marathon for Sept. 26, 2021. It was originally scheduled in April last year, but it was canceled because . . . you know, COVID. The hubby and I are planning to go to Madrid, Santander, and Barcelona in September. Unfortunately, I cannot change my registration from a full marathon to a half-marathon because of capacity issues. BOOOOO! I’m not too sure that running two marathons within 1.5 months will be good for me. Madrid’s Marathon is Sept 26; and NYC’s is Nov. 7. I guess that I have a few options for Madrid:

  1. Run the marathon as a VERY easy long run. According to my training plan, my long run should be 16 – 18 miles during the week of Madrid’s Marathon. What’s 10 more miles?

  2. Run 12-18 miles of the marathon’s course, take a subway to the city’s center, and take a DNF.

  3. Skip the marathon all together because I’m sure that I can find OTHER things to do in Madrid on Sept. 26. Fortunately, Madrid’s marathon (~$90) is pretty cheap compared to NYC’s ($255). To be perfectly honest, I was not THAT interested in running Madrid’s Marathon last year. I only registered for it because I did not win a spot in London’s Marathon, which was supposed to be held during the same week as Madrid’s marathon. Speaking of things to do in Madrid: I wonder if the restaurant that has 1 Euro mimosas is still around.

 
Course for Edp Madrid Half Marathon