recovery week workouts

 

It’s been almost a week since the marathon.  I have to say, I almost didn’t know what to blog about this week now that it is all over!  But actually, I have a bunch of non-running post ideas that I am excited about.

I took the week easy, not that I really had a choice.  But it is good to keep the muscles fluid and flush out the lactic acid.

This is what recovery week looked like:

• Monday: massage
• Tuesday: 25 minutes on the bike
• Wednesday: 20 minutes elliptical
• Thursday: 20 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes bike
• Friday: Yoga at Yoga Works (another good class)
• Saturday: 25 minutes on the elliptical, 10 minutes ab work on bosu and stability ball, 25 minute jog/walk.

Also, lots of water!

I can’t wait until I can run normally again You read a million different things about how long to wait before running, once I read a day for every mile.  But I think you really just have to listen to your body and your mind and figure out what is going to work for you.

I am buried in school work, so I am going to try to make a dent this weekend.

“You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can’t know what’s coming.”   – Frank Shorter

xoxo bloggies!

Post NYC Marathon Reflections

 

Wow it is really hard to reflect on the marathon and running because I feel like I have a million thoughts!

Huge thanks for all the sweet comments!

I am feeling better, I think I am on the tail end of it today.  I was never on my death bed or anything, but it was the first real illness I have had in years.  And yes, I did go to work for a little while post-marathon, but to be clear I took Friday and Monday off. 

Marathon 1 Vs Marathon 2—Training

1st Marathon:

• -6 months training
• -clear mission from Team in Training to support Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
• -no injuries

2nd Marathon

• 3 months training
• minor aches pains and injuries

Pre-marathon

1st marathon

• total confidence, mainly through coaches constant support

2nd marathon

• huge pressure from self, I felt I needed to finish this marathon or disappoint so many people. 
• I think the pressure turned to nerves, stress and illness
• bad attitude and low confidence
• Re above: so ridiculous, I don’t know why I was so afraid I would disappoint everyone

Marathon

1st

• ran it alone
• wore ipod 1/2 of the way
• stopped twice for bathrooms
• walked several times, probably a mile and a half or so
• hit wall pretty hard around mile 22
• just wanted to finish
• very hilly marathon

2nd marathon

• ran with friends 19 of the miles
• enjoyed every mile and minute
• two tiny stops to adjust shoes
• never walked

Body post-marathon:

• About the same, I definitely feel every single stair I take and boy does it seem like a lot of them.  Really it’s just the quads that took a beating, but I think the worst is over. 
• Drugs.  I typically do everything I can to avoid pill popping, but I freaked out when I got sick and I knew I needed to suppress symptoms to get through the marathon.  Although under normal circumstances, I think it is better to suffer a little and let things run their course.  However, the ibuprofen I took at mile 20ish were the last I have taken.  I have been drug free for two days and besides a tiny bit of congestion and a little bit of a sore throat, I am a-okay.  I expected to take a few pain relievers, but the soreness is definitely just what should be expected and despite no small amount of wincing on my subway transitions, I am dealing.  I did allocate an extra 15 minutes of transit time to make sure I am not late for work!

It is really shocking to me that this marathon was only 4 minutes faster considering how much less walking I did and how much flatter the course was. I guess I ran a lot slower because I was enjoying myself, talking the whole time, and not listening to my ipod.  I also only had half the training period I did for the first one and I was pretty conservative after my injuries. But there is always that what if? why didn’t I go harder feeling I just can’t shake.  Just once, I want to collapse after the finish line, in a good way  of course.

While after the marathon, I kind of wish I had pushed it more, I am glad I really had a good time.  During the race, I realized I am just not competitive, however, it seems a little silly not to ever push myself and see what my potential is and improve my times.

What’s Next?

So I am definitely taking at least a year off marathoning.  Considering I declared several time on Saturday that I would never ever run a marathon again, that is not too crazy.  I think I will do the 9 plus 1 with road runner in 2010 to have guaranteed entry for NYC marathon 2011. Whether I do it in 2011 or defer, I am not sure, I kind of want to do Chicago or Philly.  But the 9 races will give me a chance to improve my speed in noticeable ways, through short distances. 

Next up is the Turkey Trot, I am debating whether to do the Cardiac Classic, which I do every year or switch to the one in downtown Saratoga which is much flatter.  While I would like to try and get a good time on a flat course, a lot of my friends do the classic and it is always more fun with camaraderie. I will probably just stick to the classic despite the hills.

Also on the docket: Indoor Triathlon and a 6k in Central Park in September.  I have a training plan in mind, which I will share soon.

Why take a year off marathoning? 

Mainly because a marathon is a 5-6 month commitment.  And I want to focus on other areas of my life too.  Half a year is a lot of time.  Work, non-running friends, traveling, saving, blogging are all important to me and I feel like a year off will be good for me.  Plus, I do like exercise that doesn’t involve running!  I miss spinning and cardio classes and all that good stuff.  So hopefully, I will have some good class reviews soon!

Believe me, post-race you do get that addictive marathon energy and it is hard not to immediately plan your next race.  Yesterday, after my massage, Heather and I were sitting in Bouchon Bakery over looking the Central Park South stretch to Columbus Circle  we ran just days before discussing how amazing it was, but how many other things in life we also enjoy. I think some 5 and 10Ks and maybe a half or two will be a good way to test and improve my speed.  It is important to see improvement and with 26 mile races, you only have so many opportunities to improve.

Thanks again for all your support guys, and remember ANYONE can run a marathon, I am certainly nothing special or a super athlete of any kind.  The only thing a marathon takes is commitment to training and your goal.  Having a charity to really keep you driven toward your goal helps too, that’s why I love team in training.  But really, there is no secret or special gene that marathoners have, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

On a random note, I had a lovely dinner at Pipa (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places), which my cousin and fellow two-time marathoner, and she is casting an upcoming move and looking for suggestion for hot 20-something actors.  Any suggestions?  Outside of the cast of Gossip Girl and Friday Night Lights, I wasn’t much help, but those are the types in the running so far   Thanks ya’ll

Getting to the Marathon Marathon

So this is part one, but I will say, the marathon was painless and amazing, no wall, just fun, I had friends jump in with me at various points for over 19 miles of the course and talked the entire was through it.  Congrats to my fellow finishers, Jesse, Heather, Rev, Andrea, and Scott!

The days leading up to the marathon were another story.  Despite all my mantra-ing, I just could not get excited about the race. I was dreading it.  I had this huge mental block.  On Thursday, I started getting a really sore throat.  On Friday, it was really painful to swallow and my ear was aching.  My appetite was non-existent, which only happens when I am sick. By Saturday, swallowing hurt so much that it took a huge mental preparation and then I would close my jaw as tightly as possible to make the opening as small as possible. I was also having a little trouble keeping food down.  My body was telling me not to eat, but I was like, I have to eat something before the race!  So the three smallish meals I forced down were followed by periods of nausea.  I had to leave a hot yoga class on Friday and then ran to the nearest garbage can on the way home.  As someone how can absolutely not nap during the day, I would get exhausted from basic tasks, putting laundry in machine and pass out for 2 hours.  I took a nap every time I even thought about packing for the race. I slept more Fri and Saturday than I have in the last week. 

By Saturday, swallowing hurt so much that it took a huge mental preparation and then I would close my jaw as tightly as possible to make the opening as small as possible. I didn’t even have the energy to drop my post-marathon goods off at Heather’s hotel so I could just go there after the race.  I was freaking out, poor Liz did her best to try to pump my cranky pessimistic ass up, but I could not break out of the funk.  I called a friend who is a running coach and she said, if it is not in your chest, you can run, but take it as easy as possible.  However, she said the books will say not to run.  I was a little worried by the marathon magazine I got in the expo, it said do not run if you feel ill the week of the marathon.  I had until 5PM on Saturday to defer, but I decided that there is no way I could go through the training and mental and emotional anguish of running a marathon again, and I would rather be defeated at mile 3 than defer.

Great mentality right?  So I was prepared to walk the marathon or just drop out.  What got into me?  I was actively trying to get better, taking lemon ginger honey cough drops, kombucha multi-greens, emergen-c, salt water gargling, etc.

Somehow I dragged myself to dinner with my friends Andrea, Scott, Sue and Greg.  Andrea and Sue I met at TNT.  Greg is my best friend from high school—and marathon inspiration.  Scott is Andrea’s fiance, they are both running.  Andrea’s lovely mom came to show her support too!  I arrived at the restaurant naseous and barely able to swallow, but somehow the friends lifted my spirits and I think hot food really helped sooth my throat.  I ordered whole wheat spaghetti with cauliflower and currant, hold the pinenuts and ate as much as I could. 

I actually felt great leaving the restaurant.  A little sad to miss all Halloween festivities, save for sewing my roommate trev’s sash and doing Elizabeth’s eye make up on Friday. I finally packed my stuff and made finally decisions on what to wear on the big day.  Yeah, I didn’t pack light.  I knew if I had to be sitting on Staten Island for 4 hours, I wanted to be warm and entertained.

What I had:

Clothes

• race tank-hind brand
• Adidas running capris (after trying several brands, I found these and love them!)
• Thermal long sleeve tee
• sweat shirt
• two pairs of socks
• visor
• nike hat and gloves
• hair elastic
• fleece pants
• long sleeve shirt (for after the marathon)
• yoga pants (for after)
• extra dri-fit
• my BIB and chip tag!

Drugs etc.

• 1 liter poland spring
• 16 ounce poland spring
• bandaids
• moleskin
• 8 hour tylenol
• ibuporfen
• dayquil flu
• zantac
• tylenol severe cold and flu
• emergen-c
• sugarfree red bull

Entertainment:

• ipod and arm band (only listened to 3 songs the whole race and before the race!)
• 3 magazines (didn’t even look at them)
• a marker

Other essentials

• huge beach towel (thank god)
• two plastic garbage bags (a must!)
• astroglide (didn’t end up using this free sample I got at the more half marathon, but I didn’t realize it wasn’t just for sports until I took a closer look at the package—real pleasure last longer!)

Food—I packed enough for at least five runners because I could figure out what my stomach would accept on the morning of.

• plain bagel
• glob of PB in tin foil
• whole grain oat meal cookies (didn’t need)
• kashi tlc bar (didn’t need)
• Mariani Prune Support (didn’t need)

After the huge pack fest, I watched a couple innings of the Yankees game and went to bed.  Oh, but first I set back my clocks and phone and alarm for 4AM!

Race recap soon!

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Expo and Transporto

 

I took today off to rest up for Sunday. I have woke up with a really sore throat the last few days, so it was a very good call. I think a little extra sleep over the next few days will  be all I need to feel in top shape for Sunday.

This morning I headed to the Expo.  Wow, the Javits Center is so big!

 

 

You couldn’t help but get really really excited upon entering!

Healthy options ($5 for juice was a steal considering they were charging 3.75 for a bottle of water!)

Not so healthy options

 

 

I was suprised at how short the lines were!  I had my bib in less than 5 minutes, if that!

After I grabbed my bib, scanned my tag/chip and picked up my shirt and goody bag, I met up with my friend Derek to check out the expo.

I think the cowbells were the most tempting!  Such a weird running tradition!

 

 

After that Derek and I headed to a find a place for some coffee and food. On the way back to subway I spotted the MUJI store!  I was really tempted to buy New York in a bag, but somehow, I resisted.  We also saw the NYTimes building.

 

Now I am just chilling and catching up on homework, but I have one big decision left.  Transportation.  For some reason, I was assigned to a 5AM midtown bus.  I really don’t want to get up at 4AM and then have to wait outside until 10:20 to start running.

Unfortunately, you are not allowed to change the transportation option they give you.  I am tempted to just take a public ferry myself and then try and get on a shuttle bus.  I asked a few friends and they said they had no problem getting on a ferry and shuttle without a reservation last year.  However, everyone I have spoken with at NYRR has suggested that the ferries are only for runners with reservation, no public ferries.   I can’t imagine that absolutely no one can board a ferry without a bib and reservation, the SI Ferry website does not indicate that the ferries are closed to the public.   What about friends and family? HMMMM.  The other reason I am confused is because the Marathon Handbook states that if you miss the bus, you will be directed to the ferry and includes the ferry in the public transportation options.

Any NYC marathon veterans have any thoughts on transportation?

Bib, shirt and loot, no turning back now

I get by with a little help from my friends

 

****Enter to win my $50 Fitness Gear Giveaway***

***Athlete Tracker for the NYC marathon is up, if you want to track me, you can register here. ***

I got all the details for the big day, my # bib is 43173.  I am in wave 3, the blue section, corral 43.  I start at 10:20AM.

This marathon season has been a pretty emotional one for me.  This week it got even more so, in a good way.  The funny thing is, I am not an emotional personal at all.  But I have definitely been humbled and touched by all the great people in my life and their generosity and support.

So Monday night, I met Heather at Lupa.  Many of you had suggested it to me since I love Otto so much, thus I was very excited to try it.  It was very yummy, we split the Brussels sprout with pecorino, broccoli rabe with ricotta and delicata squash vegetable appetizers and split the cacio e pepe pasta.  I still love Otto, but Lupa definitely has a more relaxing dining atmosphere.

Night before the race decisions

Heather very generously offered to let me stay at her hotel on Columbus and 63rd the night before, so we could travel together.  Interestingly Derek also offered me his second bedroom, two blocks away from Heather’s hotel on 65th and bway.  I am still debating whether I want to sleep in my own bed, since it isn’t any faster to the start from their places. But it would be nice to go with someone in the morning and navigate all the craziness.  hmmmm.  In any case, I will drop my stuff for after the marathon off at Heathers, so that I can go there and shower and change right after the marathon—it’s pretty close to the finish.  I still can’t believe the race is the day after halloween, there are so many parties on friday and saturday, I don’t even like halloween and I feel left out!

When there were only one set of footprints, I carried you

After, dinner with Heather, I went to a birthday party for another friend I met through Team in Training.  She actually offered to run me in from mile 18 to 25!  And bring me water and GU!  I was blown away and so excited.  Plus, Derek may also run the last few miles and I have a friend meeting me in Queens to run with me into Manhattan.  This was a huge relief because I just know I will need the support and it will make the race so much easier!  Sue promised me that if I get to 18, she will get me to 25

My cheering team!

My darling roommate has invited some people to watch me run.   The best part is, they are making it a post-halloween hangover celebration, and there is a good chance they will still be in full-costume and holding mimosas.  I will die if I have Zorro and Rainbow Brite screaming my name.

So yeah, I am feeling unbelievably lucky to have such great friends and so much support for the marathon.

No pressure

I said I had a mantra for the marathon, I thought I would share it:

This is my race, I will run it anyway I want to run it.  I will enjoy my race.  I will run pain and injury free.  If I feel any pain, I will acknowledge it, thank my creator, recognize that the pain is no longer necessary, and release the pain into the light.

I know that sounds a  little granola, but I am a big believer in the power of the mind and thought, so I am sticking with it.  Basically, it boils down to not putting any pressure on myself during the race and trying to enjoy it.   This has gotten a little bit easier because last night I found out the NYTimes is only including names of finishers up to 4:30.  It used to be 5 hours.  So I am not even going to try for 4:30, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the day if i did and honestly I am a bit afraid to push myself that hard while my foot is still very tender.

MUSIC

In an unrelated note, here are a few of my favorite new workout songs, I think you may enjoy or be enjoying them already too!

3 – Britney Spears

Sweet Dreams—Beyonce

Africa-Stab the Matador

Red light-Stab the Matador

Jet-setting Athlete!

Yesterday morning was nothing short of delightful!  I had my final weekend training run before the big day.  Some of you may remember my friend Heather, who I visited in London in February.  We met training for Nike SF 2007 with Team in Training and have stayed friends ever since.  She moved to London almost exactly one year ago, but came back to run NYC!

She met me at my apartment this morning, after some hugging and eurokisses, off we went!  Oh my gosh, it was so amazing catching up!  Today’s run over the bridge and around the park was fabulous, the time flew by and we hit 9.1 miles before we knew it!

Her training has been facsinating!  I have to say, Heather is my go-to for advice about just about everything, and truly admire her constant quest to life and exciting, adventurous life, and I learned this journey certainly doesn’t make detours for marathon training.

Similiarly to me, she also got Plantars and was having nagging blisters that were extremely painful, just like mine.  She went to a “healer” and through meditation and practicing mantras, all of her pain has vanished!  She gave me a mantra to recite this week, and boy will I ever.

Anyways, her training involved several components!

First, she started off the spring with British Military Fitness.  Basically, boot camp run by british military, similiar to Cross Fit, but from her description a little more hard core.  The instructor called her a prima donna when she was hesitant to do sit ups in deer droppings.

When I was at the airport in London, I had bought Zest, a great UK fitness magazine and I sent her an article about the best spas and workouts in London.  It turns out that she really started to love bodyism personal training and is hooked.  In fact, she has scheduled a few sessions with the owner of the New York headquarters at Peak Performance while she is in town.

Finally, she varied her running route–on a global scale!  When she got bored running in London, she decided to take her weekend long runs all over the place.  Verona, all over England, through cow paths, and her favorite, Paris.  Yes, wouldn’t you love to be so lucky that you could jet to Paris for your long runs?  She even said once she was a little bummed about running alone while her friends were enjoying Paris, so she built crepe and pain con chocolate stops into her route!  How fun!

Talk about creative!  Mixing it up is definitely important to keeping things, fresh, interesting and fun.  Running in Van Cortlandt Park last weekend opened my eyes to a lot of unexplored running possibilities!

After an inspiring run, I headed home and had like 20 minutes to get ready to meet some friends for brunch and some shopping.  Then I headed home to clean a bit before a friend came over for dinner at Shi, yummy of course, but there are several new restaurants opening in Long Island City that I can’t wait to try.  My new mission is to check them all out before I head to my familiar haunts again. For dessert, we decided to  watch the Yankees whoop ass—the win to the world series was sweetly served!

It was a wonderful day, and while I am usually not excited for Monday, this week is packed with marathon-related fun.  The rest of my training is light, 4 miles tuesday and thursday and 2 on Saturday. I did a light bicycle workout this morning and might try to fit in  some yoga on Wednesday, but to be honest this week involves more hanging out with runners than actually running…and honestly I can’t wait.   Don’t worry, I will be telling you all about it.

REMINDER!

And if you haven’t already, make sure to enter MY $50 SHOP IT TO ME RUNNING GIFTCARD GIVEAWAY.  You get to decide exactly what fitness gear you would like to order, could it get any better than that?  Enter now!

You know it’s fall when…

While I love me some NYC (ahem…obvi), there are some things that seemed  a non-negotiable parts of my life as the seasons changed, skiing in the winter, going to the pool and the race track in the summer, and apple picking in the fall.  However, as my trips out of the city become fewer and fewer, I always feel a little remorse when another season slips by and I find these wonderful pastimes have been missed.  Today, however, I checked apple picking off my list! 

There is no better place than New York to pick apples, so we went upstate to Stuarts Farm in Westchester County to fill our bags before the season was over.  Westchester offered gorgeous foliage in all colors from amber to orange to every shade of red.  Stuart’s was great because they had all kind of apples in close vicinity, so I loaded up my bag with red delicious, gala, golden delicious, rome and pink lady.  YUM!  I am in need of apple recipes stat!  Please send some if you have any, breads, muffins, loafs or other baked goods would be fabulous!

    

I will be eating a lot of these babies, good thing I am on a huge microwave apple for dessert kick lately!  One Hersey’s kiss, a smidge of almond butter, lots of cinnamon and 1-2 minute on high and yum in a bowl.

Free Stuff to Start Your Friday

Don’t forget to enter my fitness gear giveaway!

JackRabbit Events Marathon Week

Wednesday Oct 28th: Marathon Q&A Night
6:30 to 8:00pm, all three stores.

All your last minute questions answered by expert coaches with years of NYC Marathon experience.

Starts 6:30pm with 20-30 minute review of what you need to do in the last few days leading up to the marathon, race day logistics and preparation, managing the race, race nutrition, and post-race recovery. Coaches will take as many questions from the audience as possible. Everyone will also receive 15% off anything in the store.

Reward yourself post-Marathon
Monday the 2nd through Friday the 6th: Discounts for all marathon finishers! Bring your marathon bib or finishers medal and receive 20% off anything in the store

 

 

Free Spinning

This weekend will be the open house at The Studio NYC on 73rd and Lexington Avenue.

Sign up is required for each class and anyone can attend these classes!!
The class times are:

Friday, October 23rd at 6:30 pm- Taught by Britney
Saturday, October 24th at 10 am- Taught by Britney
Sunday, October 25th at 10 am & 11 am & 5 pm- 10 am taught by James, 11 am taught by Britney,
5 pm class TBA
To Reserve a Bike contact – bandbtraining@yahoo.com

Marathon Tips Online!

Check out the NYC Marathon website for a free tip daily!  There are a lot of good ones!  They are articles, not just tips!

Complimentary Thai Yoga Massage or One on One Yoga

ThirdPower Fitness–46 W 22nd St (between Fifth and Sixth Aves)

212-727-7627   Tickets: Free
ThirdPower Fitness, a personal training studio, is offering gratis 30-minute Thai yoga massages or personalized yoga sessions, tailored to your specific needs. Test out these exercises (normally $120 for an hour) to see if you want to incorporate them into your everyday routine. Read more

Hello Weekend!

I hope everyone has a good weekend!  I have a lot of fun things planned, and I am hoping it won’t rain on my parade!  (I am taking a huge group apple picking, so I mean that literally).  It feels like fall again, here are some of my favorites for a cozy brunch  Friend of a Farmer, Tartine, Extra Virgin, Home, Cornelia Street Cafe, Alice’s Tea Cup, Good, Essex, Schiller’s Liquor Bar, Five Points, Yuca Bar!

All-Terrain Trail races, Triathlons and Calorie-Torching Turkey Runs

So one would think that the approaching end of marathon season would mean a corresponding drop in endurance event opportunities.  It seems that is actually not the case, but before I get to some fun upcoming events, let’s recap my lovely little adventure this morning.

ALL TERRAIN CROSS COUNTRY ADVENTURE

I woke up at 6:07 AM.  It was pitch black, rainy and I could hear the wind howling against the building.  Everything in me wanted to go back to bed, but as I had organized the team for my residents, I felt I could not skip out on the Fall Foliage 5K.  I bundled up, grabbed my umbrella and headed to work.  I arrived at the gym, where we were meeting to be bused to Van Cortlandt Park.  I wondered if any of the 18 people signed up would even attend.  I certainly wouldn’t have come if I didn’t feel completely obligated.  Actually, about 1% of me hoped no one would show up and  I could go back to my warm home.  But 4 students showed up and we enjoyed a nice breakfast together and waited to board the bus.  The gym was bustling with activity, golf club, hiking club, the wrestling “guys” who had been dragged to the run, and of course, the cross country team and my team of dedicated running residents.  A fifth member of my team showed up and we board the bus.  On the way in the rain had been light, it was definitely getting heavier by the minute and as we rode up to the Bronx, man was it foreboding.

The rain and wind were really coming down when we arrived, and as we waited for the second bus I was having second thoughts.  First, I hate, HATE, running in anything less than ideal, but especially rain.  Second, I did not realize “cross-country”, meant ALL-Terrain, as in rocks, grass, gravel, pavement, hills and mud.  Sounds like an ankle injury waiting to happen.

I almost backed out.  In fact, I was the last one off the bus and started a good 100 yards after everyone.  I have no idea what got into me, rain, cold, wind and fear of further injury I guess.   As the only people who actually showed up for the event were serious runners, I found myself alone several points along the way.  And the course was not marked at all, there were so many places where the trail split, I was constantly worried I would get lost.  That being said, it was really gorgeous to run through the paths of insanely tall trees, which helped protect from the wind and rain.   It was like hiking, but running.  After the first mile or so, I really started enjoying myself.  I passed a few groups of wrestlers and a few other people, so at least I knew someone was behind me if I got lost.  The hills were serious, but fortunately the last part through the woods was mainly downhill.  I really enjoyed the scenery, but as we reentered the main circle, I took a wrong turn and ended up adding an extra half mile to my run, instead of going right at the cross bridge to the finish, I went left and ran back along the course to end where we started.  No biggie.  I didn’t find this map (below)  until after the event.  I didn’t even use a watch or Garmin since it was just for fun, but I felt great, though cold, at the end, and realized rain isn’t as miserable as I thought.  And I love the shirt!  When I got off the bus, I could really feel it, gonna be sore tomorrow!  Oh, and when I checked my phone after the race, I had an email that Chandra had hit the 10K mark at 1 hour!  Yayayayay!

I have noticed that NYRR has been holding a lot of races at Van Cortlandt Park, I wonder if they are through the woods?

Earn your T-Day Dinner

So, is anyone up for a real challenge?  On November 22nd, there will be a 60K race in the park! 37.2 MILES! That’s NINE laps of the park! Talk about earning your thanksgiving dinner.  I guess the marathon is the last long run for those folks!  You can still sign up!

Just Tri-It!

For those ever so slightly less ambitious, the Jack Rabbit Indoor Triathlon Series is starting on November 15th!  I don’t think I will be ready for that one, but I plan to sign up for the second in the series on December 6th!  While I have determined that the Disney Marathon will be too much pressure and probably too much stress on the body this year, I will be cheering on my good friend Derek who signed up!  Not sure whether I will actually be able to cheer on live, but at the very least in spirit!  The third tri is on Jan 10th, but I am going to see how the first one goes!

Just to recap, the indoor tri works like this:

Swim for 10 minutes, bike for 30 minutes, run for 20 minutes, and see how far you can go!  I love it!  It will be fun to train for!  Better get the googles out!

PS NYCers, I would love some company for this event

Turkey Trots

I am deciding between 3 turkey trot locations and 6 different race options, including making it a trifecta, but I am going to wait until post-Nov. 1st to make any final decisions! Stay tuned.

Finally, I have an AMAZING GIVEAWAY COMING UP NEXT WEEK! You won’t want to miss it!