NYC Marathon Training Wk 15

AIN’T NOTHING GOING ON BUT THE RENT

Over the weekend, I wanted to run 20 miles for my “last” long run for this marathon training season, but that did not happen *insert frowny face*. However, I did make it to about 15 miles so that’s something. I’m going to try again to hit 20 miles this weekend. If it happens, GREAT. If not, oh well. I really hope to make the 20 miles because that will give me a bit more confidence in completing NYC’s Marathon. You know, if I can run 20 miles then I can run 26.2 miles.

NERVES KICKING IN:

A couple of days ago, we received our wave, corral, and bib info.

At first, I was a bit disappointed to learn that I’ll be in a green wave because the green wave is the only wave that does not run on the upper level of the Verrazano Bridge at the start of the marathon. Now that I’ve gotten over the shock, I think it will be fine. One of my friends is running NYC, so I think I’ll try to figure out if I can start in her blue wave since her corral is higher than mine. I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that greens could not move to blue and orange waves unless you move to a later wave.

All of that said, I am fine if I cannot change wave colors. In fact, I’m so fine with the wave color that I even bought a new pair of GREEN shoes.

Before anyone flips out over me buying brand-new shoes a couple of weeks before a marathon, this pair is the same brand and model that I have been training in. Joe’s New Balance Outlet says that I should get them by Friday. Hopefully, I can put a few miles in them before 11/06, which should not be a problem. Going forward, I think that I will continue to buy my shoes from Joe’s Outlet. Since I require a wide toe box for my right foot, I tend to have very limited options for “fun” running shoes. It actually has gotten to the point where I always prepare myself to expect ugly colors before going shoe shopping. Looks like this will not be a problem, now that I have found Joe's NB Outlet.

Side shoe rant: While I ordered these shoes online, I like to shop in brick-and-mortar stores for these types of things. Actually, I cannot remember the last time I purchased a pair of shoes online. It must have been at least 10 years ago. Anywho, I stopped by a local shoe store, and the salesperson had such a nasty, know it all attitude. I pretty much told him that I was interested in one type of shoe because of the upcoming marathon. I’m not really sure why he was telling me everything that was wrong with my current shoes and made recommendations of things that I did not want.

1. This is my 6th or 7th marathon. While I’m nowhere near elite runner status, I have a pretty decent idea of what works for me.

2. There is no way in hell I’m going to try something different regarding my footwear three weeks out from a marathon.

3. Isn’t the customer always right? I was like Sheree from Real Housewives of Atlanta.

RUNNING A MARATHON WITH SOMEONE:

If you have been following this blog for a bit, most know that I’m a fairly independent runner even if I try attending group runs. However, one of my friends wants to run NYC Marathon together. However, I’m a little nervous about doing this because she is a way better athlete than I. Also, she has been taking her marathon training quite seriously, while I have not. On top of that, she has been training in Colorado so I’m sure her cardio fitness is pretty top-notch compared to my training at sea level. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that I will not keep up with her, but I do not want to slow her down. Like I mentioned in a previous update, my plan pretty much is to alternate between running 2 miles and walking 0.2 miles for the entire marathon. It would be great to have someone to chat with (and boy can she chat), but I’m not sure that I want to chat with anyone for an entire marathon. I’m pretty much a blast my music through my earpods kind of runner.

AVOID POST-NYC MARATHON TRAINING BLUES:

During November and December, I’m going to reattempt The November Project VB’s RUNGO. Hopefully, I’ll stick with this and meet other runners in the area.

NYC Marathon 2022 Training Plan:

Image from Hal Higdon Training (Link ***)

Goals for the week:

-Finalize my NYC Marathon Playlist. I think that I’m off to a good start.

-Make a checklist of all the things that I need to pack for the trip.

-Resume first thing in the morning and nightly stretching.

-Start making plans for NYC shenanigans. Word on the street is that the crown of the Statue of Liberty has been reopened.

Long Run Playlist:

NYC Marathon Training Wk 11

Planned Miles: Who knows?

Completed Miles: Who cares?

Adding more crap to the sh*tstorm

Last week, I mentioned that I am pretty close to my breaking point since moving to Virginia. I guess the universe was like let's add some more BS to KOS's plate. Sunday night, the husband woke me to inform me that the ceiling was leaking from the evening's storm. Ugh, and I was having a good post-bottle of Chardonnay nap.

So on top of all of everything, I now have to deal with a leaky roof. On Monday, the roof guy gave me a quick assessment of what might be going on since he repaired the roof (and kept very detailed notes). After giving his assessment, he highly recommended that I put a bucket into the crawl space to collect any additional water that might continue to drip from the roof to the second floor's ceiling because Wednesday was the earliest that he could return to repair the roof. I did as he instructed and did not find a leaky roof, BUT I found this instead.

It seems that the central air unit, not the roof, was the problem. Water has been accumulating in the unit's reservoir for god knows how long considering the amount of rust inside of it. Also, it looks like the person who installed the unit (about six years) ago forgot to take his empty cans of beer with him.

When I thought it was the roof issue, I had a few choices to make:

1. Have a meltdown of epic proportions

2. Drink a bunch of booze

3. Go for a run

Random fact, it is 3,755 miles from the Waterside District (Norfolk, VA) to Norfolk County, England.

I think that the run went well because I was too exhausted to worry about the roof for a few hours. I guess at the end of it all, I worried about the wrong thing.

I think that the run went well because I was too exhausted to worry about the roof for a few hours. I guess at the end of it all, I worried about the wrong thing.

NYC Marathon 2022 Training Plan:

Image from Hal Higdon Training (Link ***)

Goals for the week:

-Get the damn central air unit fixed.

-Do a 15-mile long run.

-Look into adult swimming lessons. Yes, I know how to swim but I would like to learn how to properly do all four strokes. Well . . . technically, I have the front stroke down, but I would love to learn how to do flip turns.

Long Run Playlist:

NYC Marathon Training Wk 10

Planned Miles: 23

Completed Miles: 12

Getting back into the saddle

We're in a new month so that means there are new goals to screw up. ;) At this point, it looks like I will not conquer my 2022km in 2022 resolution.

Trying to kick out some negativity during my Core De Force Workout

While I hardly did anything this past week for marathon training, I managed to squeeze in a 10mi long run. Unfortunately, I was supposed to do a 17mi long run. However, I thought it would be best to reduce my long run distance since I have skipped the last three long runs.

On Wednesday, November Project VB did a combined run with the Big Ugly Running Posse (BURP). I wanted to check it out because I would know (or recognize) people from November Project VB participating in this group's weekly run. On a few occasions, I've discussed my frustrations with visiting and engaging with a new running group for the first time. So yeah, that plan did not work out so well. November Project VB's IG said the running group was going to start at the Big Ugly Brewery at 6:30 pm. I arrived at the brewery about 9 minutes late and did not see anyone. I was like Dang, this group really starts their runs on time. I was thinking there would be at least a few minutes of announcements before the run. After seeing a couple of folks at the bar, I asked if the run had started. They responded that there was some confusion because the run was going to start at some park nearby and end at the brewery. All was not lost because I had the opportunity to have a nice chat with the other confused November Project VB folks while waiting for the other folks to finish the run. Also, there was beer. :)

While RUNGO officially ended on Monday, I think that I'm going to keep visiting other running groups in the area. I need to make more friends. ;)

LOL: I joked with one of my friends by saying the suburbs are weird because I drove about 13 miles to the meetup to run only 5 miles, which did not even happen.

Long Run Chronicles:

On Sunday, I had to drop the hubby off at work in downtown Norfolk so I decided to do my long run in that part of town. Fortunately, Strava hooked me up with a nice 10mi loop. While it was pretty warm outside, I thought it was a nice run that took me through my birth city of Norfolk. I saw it all - the chic Waterside District, sections of historical Norfolk, a taste of bougie Ghent, and a few less desirable sections of the area.

Random fact, it is 3,755 miles from the Waterside District (Norfolk, VA) to Norfolk County, England.

A LOL moment:

Since I had an issue with the City of Norfolk's parking app, I decided to park in a parking garage. I was very annoyed when I found out it would cost $10 to park. I guess I was paying $10 to run 10 miles. After my run, I was glad that I parked in the garage because the water in the Nalgene bottle that I left in the car was not 3,000 degrees like it normally is when I park outside in direct sunlight. Oh, there was another slight meltdown getting out of the parking garage. For whatever reason, the parking garage's machine was not accepting any of my credit or debit cards. Of course, this upset the folks in the cars that were lining up behind me, which was frustrating me. I had to call the assistance hotline at least 5 TIMES. After the 6th time, she finally open the gate and let me pass without paying.

NYC Marathon 2022 Training Plan:

Image from Hal Higdon Training (Link ***)

Goals for the week:

-Try to go for a daily 2-3 mile walk. Since moving to VA and having to drive everywhere, I noticed that I have been walking way less here than in NYC.

-Learning how not to sweat the small things . . . I already have enough grey hair. ;)

-I think that I want to start a plank and crunch challenge this month.

-Since NYC is more of a walking/taking public transportation town; whereas as my part of Va is more of a drive everywhere kind of place, I would like to add daily 1 – 3 mile walks to earn some passive miles for my 2022 km in 2022 challenge.

Long Run Playlist:

NYC Marathon Training Wk 7

Planned Miles: 23

Completed Miles: 12

Now that I was supposed to hit 14 miles for my long run, I think it might be time to start focusing on improving my speed. While I have speedwork and tempo runs on my training calendar, I have been brushing them off by telling myself that I’ll do them the next day.

Upcoming struggles:

Lately, my sleep schedule has been kind of loopy, which has been affecting some of my morning runs and eating.

The hubby recently obtained a sous chef position at one of the major hotels in the area, which is wonderful. However, his schedule is from 2 to 11:30 pm. The thing about my part of Virginia is that you pretty much need to drive everywhere, but the hubby does not have a license just yet. This means that I have to take him to and from the light rail station. I do not mind this, but my sleep schedule has been thrown out of wack.

According to my chronotype, I'm supposed to prepare myself for bed around 10 pm and be asleep by 11 pm. With the hubby's schedule, this is impossible. After picking him up from the train station, we arrive home by 12 am. Since I want to hang out with him for a bit, I now get to sleep around 1 - 2 am. As one can conclude, going to sleep around 1 - 2 am makes it a bit difficult to wake up around 5 - 6 am to go for a run or do a morning workout. To make matters a bit more struggle, I have noticed that I have been eating (eg having a second dinner with him) around 1 am, which screws up my intermittent fasting plans. We all know that late-night eating/snacking is not good for weight loss goals. However, I cannot blame my failures on late-night eating because that's more of an issue with my lack of self-control. One workaround: I think that I'll prepare bottles of warm seltzer to have for my "second dinner". The bubbles in the seltzer tend to make me think that I'm full.

Hopefully, we can enroll the hubby in Drivers Ed sometime this week so he can start driving himself to work. He told me that he has not driven since 2010!

Trying to kick out some negativity during my Core De Force Workout

NUTRITION PLANS:

Ok, this week has been hit or miss, which mostly misses. Last week, I mentioned that I was going to start another round of 21-day Fix. While I have been preparing food and somewhat following the plan, I have been cheating way too much. Right now, The Waffle House has been the biggest thorn in my side. Last week, I ate at the Waffle House THREE times. Put it like this, the Waffle House probably does not have any healthy items on its menu. For my guilty pleasure, I usually get the All-Star Breakfast, which includes a waffle, two eggs, four strips of bacon, toast (drenched with butter. . . margarine, of course), and hashbrowns. Going forward, I will have to put myself on Waffle Hosue restriction.

Long Run Chronicles:

Unfortunately, this week’s long run (14 miles) did not happen, and I’m still a bit bummed out about skipping this run. On both Saturday and Sunday, I woke up EXTREMELY exhausted. It was really bad because I did not wake up until 10:30 am on Saturday. Even when I do not have early morning long runs, I still wake up around 6 or 7 am on the weekends. On one hand, I was a bit disappointed with myself for not attempting my long run. However, it’s good to listen to your body, and Kwame’s body was telling him to sleep in. Although I did not run, I did Bodybody’s Core de Force and 3-Week Yoga retreat on Sat and Sun, so I guess that should count for something.

ETC:

-I will say that I have been enjoying swimming laps 1-2 times a week. While I’m not focusing on speed or anything, it’s nice just to use that time to somewhat relax and be in my thoughts since I cannot listen to music while swimming.

-While I did not go for a long run over the weekend, I did spend a few hours doing some yard work on Sunday. I mowed the grass, edged the lawn, pruned bushes and small trees, and did some watering.

I’ll say that the edging itself was an intense workout because my biceps and triceps were so sore the next day. Note 1: I know that it’s not perfect, but I did the 1st run on Sunday and probably will clean it up today or tomorrow. Note 2: Doing this with a manual edger was not fun, perhaps, I should invest in an electric or gas-powered edger in the near future.

-I wonder if I should run my high school’s 5K fundraiser in October.

NYC Marathon 2022 Training Plan:

Image from Hal Higdon Training (Link ***)

Goals for the week:

-Start focusing on nutrition and eating a bit better. For this goal, I have restarted Beachbody’s 21-day Fix.

-Figure out my daily running and workout schedules. I wonder if I should take an evening nap (say 8:45 – 10:45 pm) and then pick up the hubby around 11 pm.

-Go for a run with one of the local running groups. The Va Beach chapter of the November Project has been doing this RUNGO challenge until Labor Day. The challenge is supposed to help folks meet new people in the community through running. LOL at the disclaimer “We are not responsible for any injuries to yourself or your feelings during this challenge”. Hopefully, I can run with the Kempsville Run Club this week since it’s the club closest to my neck of the woods. Ohhhh. The Garage Run Club looks fun because it combines beer and running.

-Since NYC is more of a walking/taking public transportation town; whereas as my part of Va is more of a drive everywhere kind of place, I would like to add daily 1 – 3 mile walks to earn some passive miles for my 2022 km in 2022 challenge.

Long Run Playlist:

N/A