One City (Half) Marathon Training Wk “2”

PLANNED MILES: 18

COMPLETED MILES: 19

Since I switched my full marathon registration to a half marathon, things have been going pretty nicely. For instance, when waking up in the morning I’m like: Let’s go and kill this run instead of Ugh, I gotta run today.

RUNNING/SPINNING:

While it was easier getting out to run, I will admit that my running workouts have not been super intense. Like some folks have said, perhaps doing something other than running will help me find my motivation for running. Taking that advice, I decided to take another crack at spinning.

After one of my lower back issues many years ago, I really got into spinning as an alternative to running. I was pleasantly surprised that I found my old pair of biking shoes. I had no clue that: 1. I still had them and 2. they made it in the NYC to Va Beach move. While I haven’t attended a spin class since moving to the area, the rec center has a couple of spin bikes. For my ‘spin routine’, I did intervals of 3 minutes of seated flats and alternating 30 seconds of seated climbs and standing climbs. It felt kind of nice working out my legs in a different format compared to running. Since I was sore the day after my first spin workout, there definitely are some weak muscles in my legs that I should focus on . . . at some point.

ZUMBA TIME:

Ok, so something weird happened this week. One night, I had a dream about Zumba, and I’m not sure why. Maybe the melatonin caused it.

BTW, these gummies are DELICIOUS. I almost wanted to eat about 5-6 of them at once. Ok, back to Zumba. I found a Zumba class at the local rec center and had a BLAST. Man, the folks here take Zumba very seriously. The Friday class started at 5:30 pm, so I figured that I would go to the rec center around 4:30 pm to stream one of my Beachbody on Demand yoga workouts before the Zumba class. That plan was a ‘hell to the no’ because folks were already lined up for the Zumba class when I arrived at 4:45. From my understanding, the first 35 people are allowed into the class. I think that I was number 21 or 22 in the line. In my head, I was like no one is going to attend at 5:30 pm Zumba class on a Friday . . . I guess that I was wrong.

The class was nice; however, I think that I’m going to try and get a spot closer to the front so I can see the instructor and her moves. While everyone else in the class knows the moves, I prefer to follow the instructor over my fellow classmates.

Actually, going forward, I’m going to try to attend the Wednesday class instead of the Friday one. I had to sit out my Saturday long run because my legs were super sore from the previous day. I figure if I do the Wednesday class, that will give my legs a few days to recover before long run Saturdays.

LONG RUN CHRONICLES:

Although I could not do my long run on Saturday (due to my post-Zumba soreness), I did manage to get my run in on Sunday. Like most of my long runs, I pretty much ran a bunch of loops in Mt. Trashmore State Park. In the near future, I need to find another spot for my long runs.

Actually, it was a perfect day for a run. While my plan was to run 7.5 miles, I really had to fight myself not to run any further. To be honest, I cannot remember the last time that I wanted to run a longer distance than what was in my training plan.

INTERMITTENT FASTING:

Last week was my first week of fasting for 16hrs on a daily basis (not counting the weekends). Since returning to intermittent fasting, I have been gradually increasing my fasting window – 10hr, 12hr, 14hr, and now 16hr. LOL. Due to an unexpected long-ass meeting on Friday, I actually ended up fasting for 17.5 hrs instead of 16hrs. I wonder if this means that there will be 18hr fasts in the near future.

Eh, let’s stick to 16hr fasts for at least 4 weeks before moving up to 18hr fasts because I was super angry and cranky because of the 17.5hr fast on Friday. Now, that I’m at the 16hr mark I hope that I’ll start becoming full with less food. At least that’s what happened with I first started intermittent fasting back in 2017.

TRAINING PLAN:

Goals for the week:

-Keep on keeping on.

-Nightly stretching and foam rolling.

-Update my Spotify running playlists.

-Random: Buy more underwear.

Long Run Playlist:

One City (Half) Marathon Training Wk 1

PLANNED MILES: Who cares

COMPLETED MILES: I dunno

Like Missy Elliot once said (sometimes) you gotta flip and reverse it.

In last week’s “training” update, I mentioned that I was having a lot of trouble finding my WHY in regard to training for the One City Marathon.

I have to give a shout-out to my readers who provided some great advice about losing and (more important) rebuilding one’s motivation for running and taking much-needed breaks from running when life hits you hard. In terms of my decision to run or defer, most folks recommended going the deferral route. From that advice, I decided to take the best of both worlds. Instead of running the full marathon, I’ve decided to change my registration from the full to the half marathon for the following reasons:

will still have a running goal for the spring:

I can be pretty hard on myself whenever I cancel half or full marathons for reasons other than injury. Changing my registration option will still give me something to look forward to in March. Hey, running something (13.1 miles) is better than running nothing.

Low-hanging fruit:

Having worked in Higher Education with a focus on DEI for the past five years, I kind of have grown to hate this term, but I think it’s fitting here. Although my training motivation for the full marathon has been kind of low, I have been doing “longish” weekend runs ranging from 8 to 12 miles. Ok, I haven’t done a long run in two weeks, but the distance is still there . . . somewhere. Since I’m already (more or less) at the half marathon distance, I can use this month and a half to focus a bit more on speedwork and strength training. Oh, I’m gonna add really getting on with a nutrition plan. Part of my reduced motivation has occurred because I have gained some weight over the past few months. Simply put, this weight gain does not make me feel like a runner.

It was cheap:

Changing my registration was only 20 bucks. I would have preferred a freebie since I’m going from a higher distance to a lower distance, but I think those days are long gone.

Concluding thoughts:

Even after changing my registration option and writing about it, it feels like a HUGE weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. While I’m not a huge fan of quitting (one of the reasons why grad school became a hot mess for me), I guess sometimes you have to take a few steps back to move forward.

One other thing. In these parts, the Shamrock Marathon and Half Marathon are super popular. I wonder if it would be crazy to register for the Shamrock (technically Anthem) Half Marathon which is a couple of weeks after the One City (Half) Marathon? Would running two half marathons in one month count as running one full marathon?

TRAINING PLAN:

Goals for the week:

-Simple, start running!

-Come up with a 1.5-month training plan for my upcoming half marathon.

-Up my intermittent and nutrition game. For the last couple of weeks, I have been fasting for 14hrs, I guess I crank it up a little and start my 16hr fasts.

-Find a race to volunteer for. I loved this suggestion that was made by one of my readers. I will admit volunteering to hand out bibs for one NYC Marathon made me that much more excited to run it the following year.

-Update my Spotify running playlists.

Long Run Playlist:

Race Report: Chartway Norfolk Harbor Half Marathon

DATE: NOVEMBER 20, 2022; 7:30 AM

DISTANCE: 13.1 MI

PLACE: NORFOLK, VA

WEATHER: 37F, WINDY AF

OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: 2:27:12 / 11:15 MIN/MI

SWAG: COZY SWEATSHIRT, MEDAL, 4 BEERS, PIZZA & TOTE BAG

While I can be a bit of a hater, I will say that I thought J&A Racing did an AMAZING job organizing and running this race. Honestly, I cannot say a single thing that I had a problem with for this half marathon.

Expo:

I’ll admit that I have been someone affected (not sure if this is a good or bad thing) by running races in NYC that have been organized by large entities. I enjoyed the low-key vibe of the expo because bib pick-up was a complete breeze (ie there were not 80 thousand people crammed in one space). I think that I was in and out in about 5 minutes. Normally, I do not buy extras at expos because the prices typically are sky-high, but the prices at this expo were very reasonable. So reasonable that I even picked up a pair of running gloves that were only $10. Thinking back, I’m glad that I purchased those gloves because it was quite chilly on race day.

Since registration for the half marathon included FOUR Blue Moon beers or White Claw Hard Seltzer (yuck), we issued wristbands during bib pickup. Note, I picked up my bib on Friday for a Sunday race. Do you mean to tell me that I have to wear a wristband that implies that I’ve been out clubbing or raving for the entire weekend?

Case in point: On Saturday morning, I grabbed breakfast at a local diner, and the waitress mentioned that I must have had a ‘fun’ night as she gestured to my bright blue wristband. Hey, at least this race’s wristbands were for REAL beer as opposed to nonalcoholic beer that was provided for Rock n Roll Va Beach’s Half Marathon. Not that there is anything wrong with nonalcoholic beer, but it was kind of funny receiving a wristband to indicate that I was older than 21 for “beer” that probably contains less alcohol than vinegar or apple juice.

Let’s get into the half marathon:

Do you know what’s funny? I was complaining about the cold 37F temperature, but I had to check myself. Why? While living in NYC, I have run races in temperatures WELL below freezing. I think living in suburbia has made me a bit ‘weaker’ when it comes to cold temperatures. Actually, I take that back. I think the issue is when I drive the temperature inside my car has to be drastically opposite to the temperatures outside.

-In the summer, my car’s interior temperature has to be the same as the North Pole.

-In the winter, the car’s interior temperature will be about 5 degrees above HELL.

By the time arrived in downtown Norfolk from Va Beach (about a 20 min drive), I was nice and cozy. Whereas in my NYC days, I would have to leave the cozy apt and brave the elements by walking to the subway, taking the subway, and walking to the location of the race.

Not sure if this is snow or snot.

Going into the half marathon, I pretty much was planning on doing the very bare minimum. I had this attitude for a few reasons: 1. I still had a bit of a back injury from NYC Marathon. 2. Honestly, running just has not been doing it for me later (more on that later). 3. I was dealing with a little GI issue. 4. I was not really prepared physically for this race.

The course:

Overall, the course was pretty easy and flat. The only real difficulty with the course was the random gusts of winds from the harbor . . . especially at the beginning. I know that some folks do not like this, but I love courses that have several twists and turns.

I mean this course took us all through Norfolk, and it seemed like every new twist and turn opened up new scenery. I think switching up the scenery allows me to mentally reset every few miles or so. I LOL’d to myself because this course had me like Tommy Lee Jones’s character from The Fugitive because it seemed like we were running past every gas station, outhouse, henhouse, doghouse, crackhouse, train house, and warehouse.

The only thing I did not like about the course was having to run alongside traffic for certain parts of the course, but it was not too bad. I wanted to take a few pics while running, but the $10 dollar gloves made it a bit difficult. Actually, I guess that’s not a bad thing because I spent my time focusing on running and not taking pictures every 10 minutes.

First 10K:

Perhaps, running in a new location changed my attitude because I felt like an explorer running a new course. Originally, I was planning on alternating between running 0.75 mi and walking 0.25 mi. However, within the 1st mile, I was like why not run 0.9mi then walk 0.1mi for the first three miles at least. Next thing I know, I was still doing this for the entirety of the race . . . and it felt good. I will admit that had some back pain during the first 3 miles, but I think the walking helped me recuperate for a bit.

Second 10 + 1K:

After parting with the 10K runners, boy did the field get really small. I guess most of the runners (as one might expect) signed up for the 10K. While things were quieter, I think this is where I really started to get into my groove. Perhaps, it was an illogical fear of being left behind since I had no clue where the hell I was. I guess it worked because according to my splits, I ran the second half faster than the first, which has not happened in a VERY LONG time. I had to LOL again because the “race” was sending me texts while I was running.

I’m so glad that I listened to the advice of one of the J&A organizers from the expo regarding the finish.

She told me after Mile 11 not to let the ‘fake’ finish fool me. After Mile 11.5, which was near the start, there was a lot of commotion and cheers, BUT you still have to run some more and make another loop to the finish line. The commotion was not for the finishers approaching Town Point Park, but it was from people at the post-race party. I’m so glad I listened to her because I was have been really frustrated and annoyed from Miles 11 to 13.1. Yes, we all have GPS devices, but this was my first time running this race . . . and to be perfectly honest, I did not really study the course. All I knew was the race started and ended at Town Point Park, BUT I didn’t know that you had to run past Town Point Park two times for the finish.

After-Party:

We’re done and now it’s time for fun. I think this event was the longest that I stayed at a race’s after-party. I have a feeling that was because of the four Blue Moon beers (and pizza) that the half-marathon participants received.

Random, I absolutely LOVED our finisher sweatshirt because it is soooo cozy.

Concluding Thoughts:

Going into to this race, I was planning for this one to be my last race until March. Also, I was planning on taking a few weeks off from running as a means to miss it. I don't the great organization of the race, the course, and general camaraderie re-ignited by my passion for running and becoming a better runner. We'll see if this sentiment will disappear over the next couple of days/weeks. ;)

Playlist:

I just went with my random Eurovision playlist because it was too cold to fiddle with Spotify right before starting.