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

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

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):

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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Just checking in

I have to say that there have been a few downs over the past couple of weeks. Nothing too serious - no illnesses, no deaths, no insane fights, etc. It seems that I have lost motivation and general joie de vivre. Perhaps, this is just the Monday blues talking.

Running:

Eh, running (or the lack thereof) has been pretty much a sh*tshow. I think that I just need to start from the basics and build up my running prowess. I pretty much should a running reset and start running as if I'm training for my first 5K and go from there. In my opinion, I think that I have been setting my expectations a bit high and disappointing myself when I do not meet them. While I'm waiting to hear if I am running this year's NYC Marathon, I found a 24-week couch to marathon training plan that I'm going to do. Yes, most may consider 6 months a bit much for training for a marathon, but this plan starts off very easy. Also, the plan is broken up into distinct goals: 5K to 10K; 10K to half marathon; and half marathon to full marathon. Let's see what happens.

Weight loss journey:

HA! See above.

Bouldering:

I have been going strong (at least in my mind) with bouldering by hitting the bouldering gym 2-3 times a week. Unfortunately, I have not been progressing that much in my new sport. Maybe 2021 is just going to be the year where I suck at everything. I think one of my issues is not planning out my routes (or beta) on the wall.

That said, I do have an intro to bouldering technique class on Friday, which hopefully will help out. Also, I think that I need to watch some videos to see how the pros handle those weird grips. Right now, I'm still going back and forth between V0 and V1 walls. Perhaps, I should still to this V -500 wall. ;)

Plans for the week:

-Since I pretty much live and die by Google Calendar for work, I should set up a fitness Google Calendar. As a matter of fact, I can begin populating it with workouts from the couch to marathon training plan.

-Figure out why I have been so 'zestless' lately. Maybe it's because summer is around the corner, and I am nowhere where I want to be physically. Then again, that is 100% my fault . . . no one made me eat crappy takeout during this pandemic. Hey, admitting that you have a problem is the first step.

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Trying Some New Things

Running:

I have mentioned a few times that one of my 2021 goals was to run 2021 miles this year. At this point, there is no chance in hell that I’m going to meet this goal for my NYCRuns challenge.

According to the plan, running 2021 miles over 365 days averages out to about 5.5 miles per day. Looking at my standings for this challenge, I’m supposed to be at 566.5 miles at Day #103. Cleary from my status report, I’m am nowhere near this distance so another blogger gave me an excellent idea to run 2021KILOMETERS instead of miles. If I make this switch, I think my daily mileage would be about 3.6 miles over the remaining 365 days. So yeah, I’m going to go that route.

Let’s get social I:

For quite some time, I have been interested in getting more engaged with the running community in NYC (and beyond). With my low numbers of followers on Instagram and Twitter (I think that I’m doing social media wrong), I do not think that social media engagement for running is the way to go; perhaps, face-to-face interactions are better for me.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to participate in one of Run & Chug’s fun runs. Pretty much, members meet in different locations around the city, run about 3 to 5 miles, and have a couple of beers in a nearby bar. Although I arrived late and missed out on running with the group (I did a solo run), it was quite nice to hang with a new set of runners.

Everyone in the group was quite welcoming to a “newcomer”. Technically, I have been a member of this group for about six years, but I think that I participated in only one or two runs. My limited participation was because of location. When I was working and living in Brooklyn, it would be next to impossible to meet this group in someplace like Union Square Park by 7 pm for a run. Hopefully going forward, I can participate in more of the group’s runs since I live and work in Harlem. Actually, lemme see where the next run is located right now. Oh cool, the next run will start in Central Park (near Columbus Circle).

Let’s get social II:

Recently, I have been trying to get more involved with my other running group, Front Runners NY. Although I have been running for years and have conquered multiple full and half marathons, I decided to sign up for this group’s running clinic. I thought it would be nice to get back to some of the foundations/basics of running. Like Run & Chug, I have been a Front Runner for years, but I do not know anyone in the group because I do not participate in many of the group’s sponsored events. I did find it a bit strange that I was the only black person at the clinic with about 50 attendees sponsored by a group promoting diversity within the LGBTQ+ community.

I think the running clinic will help with this problem because my participation will give me a chance to meet new members and work my way up the group’s social calendar. Also, I did sign up for the Cheer Committee (even though I’m not the most cheerful person). The Cheer Committee pretty much makes sure there are at least three folks available to cheer (or in my case, modestly clap) for members running races, or doing weekend fun runs and long runs.

You are not a social runner?

Since I started running back in 2011/12 as a means to decompress, I never saw a reason to run with groups or participate in running clubs. Back then, my reason for running was to get away from people and work. Now, I have been missing some sort of interactions with folks who might have similar running goals. I think the pandemic has something to do with this feeling because I have not had that many opportunities to hang out with my regular friends.

Bouldering:

Walking up and down W125th street for the last three years, one may see some pretty interesting things. For me, I saw a bouldering gym (The Cliffs at Harlem) and would think to myself: I should check it out. Last week, I finally bit the bullet and gave it a whirl. Note: bouldering is pretty much rock climbing, but you do not climb as high because there are no ropes involved. After my first lesson, I gotta say that bouldering is way harder than it looks. Even as I type this entry, I can still feel the soreness in my fingers, hands, and forearms. Bouldering definitely awakes those unused muscles and tendons in your arms.

I got a month to figure out if I will continue with the sport. The bouldering gym in my neighborhood has a pretty nice deal for Harlem residents. For $49 bucks, Harlem folks get 1) 30 days of unlimited climbs; 2) two bouldering lessions; and 3) two guest passes. Also, if you decide to upgrade to the yearly membership, the initiation fee of 99 bucks will be waived.

Plans for the week:

-Sitting down and planning out my weekly fitness routines. I want to have a set schedule because I feel like I’m being pretty random with my workouts. Perhaps, I should dedicate a Google calendar to fitness.

-Have a heart-to-heart with myself about my eating habits. While I have been intermittent fasting, I’m not losing a significant amount of weight because my eating habits during my feeding window are crap.

-Stretch more. I want to start doing yoga in the morning and 15 - 20 minutes of stretching before going to bed.

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