TCS NYC Marathon Training – Week 10

I have been a bit of a bad marathon trainer AND blogger over the past week. This week has been so intense with work and other crap that I barely fit in any runs. This is not a good thing, since my marathon is right around the corner in November. Basically, this week’s update will be focused around my long run, because that was the only run I could complete this week. Hell, I did not even attend a Zumba class!!!!

Saturday: Planned – 14-16 miles | Actual – 13.5

I did not meet my goal for this run, but it was a very sentimental run. I’ve mentioned in previous post that NYC has Summer Streets during August. 

Summer Streets is an annual celebration of New York City’s most valuable public space—our streets. On three consecutive Saturdays in August, nearly seven miles of NYC’s streets are opened for people to play, run, walk and bike. Summer Streets provides space for healthy recreation and encourages New Yorkers to use more sustainable forms of transportation.

Since this was the last weekend for Summer Streets, I was super determined to run, come Hell or high water.

ONE RANT:

I really feel that the Brooklyn Bridge path should not be open for cyclists during certain hours of the day. The Bridge is way too congested with its narrow pathways combined with pedestrians, runners, real cyclists and rent-a-bike tourists. Let’s start a petition!!!

Brooklyn Bridge selfie.

I really like this view for some reason.

THE RUN:

Like many of these runs, I started out the run by stretching at Crunch gym.

This time, I did not lose my wallet on a city bus, like I did last weekend. Overall, the first part of the run (Ft. Green, Brooklyn to E72nd Street) was pretty nice. I was running on a 4hr marathon pace, and I was really taking in the sites of NYC. Going back to Brooklyn was where I struggled. The first part of the run (8 miles) was easier because, for the most part, the tall NYC buildings provided ample shade on the east side of Park Avenue. However, on the way back to Brooklyn, I was running in direct sunlight for the majority of the run. At one point during the run, I was feeling light heading and seeing black dots. I realized that I would not be able to complete the entire 16 miles. Thus, I had to stop 3 miles short, because I knew that there would be no way that I would be able to run across the Brooklyn Bridge in the direct sunlight.

I have been in NYC for 15 years, 1 month, and 17 days. More specifically, I lived in Manhattan for 13 of those years, so running up (and down) Park Avenue brought back plenty of memories in NYC. If not for living in NYC, I do not think that I would be the person that I am today (for better or worse). During the run, I remembered the good and bad times; friends made and lost; discovering new places; having a cute beagle puppy; drinking like a fish, etc.

Union Square Park and surrounding areas

This area was pretty much the jump off for late night shenanigans. There is ALWAYS something going on in this area (although I am not a big fan of the area now). Actually, I lived in Union Square for an entire summer (RENT FREE!!!) when I participated in an NYU Summer program. The coolest part of that summer was turning 21 in NYC, so I really had the time of my life, as a person of age.

The now defunct Virgin Megastore and Union Square “clock” was an excellent meeting up point. FYI: the numbers left to right represent the time, and right to left the numbers represent the countdown to the next day.

L’Express has to be one of my favorite classy 24hr-french diners in the city. I mean where else (outside of Paris) can one get a croque madame and creme brûlée at 4am? Plus the restaurant is not TOO pricey. 

My old hood (Murray Hill):

Murray Hill (more specifically NYU Medical Center) is where my NYC tenure began. Although it was not a “trendy” place to live, I definitely had a blast growing into to myself in NYC. We were close enough to some of the NYC action but far enough not to be totally engulfed in it. Actually, I lie, I was quite engulfed in it. I remember in graduate school we pretty much had a drinking calendar for acquiring cheap booze pretty much everyday of the work week: Mondays (Monday Margarita Madness @ Baby Bo’s), Tuesdays (Endless beer for 10 bucks @ Hook and Ladder, RIP), Wednesdays (Endless beer for 10 bucks @ McSwiggans), Thursdays (wine @ Van Diemens), Fridays (general happy hour 2-4-1 for NYU Medical Center employees/students @ The Hook and Ladder). I’m surprised that I was able to finish earn my Ph.D. 😉

*Ok, this is getting long,  I’m getting off topic, and I have other stuff to do.*

Back to the run: I had a decent run but I was a little disappointed that I could not complete the entire run. It is funny how much Summer Streets has changed  and become more popular over the years.  Hopefully, I can get back to my training plan (and blogging) during this week. Crap, I just looked at my weather app, it is going to be very warm this week.

After the run and stretch, I was really craving Pho. I went to Nha Trang One, one of my Vietnamese restaurants, in Chinatown for a huge bowl of pho and a cold bottle of beer.

The restaurant has “a hole in the wall” feel to it, but the food is really authentic and good. It annoys me that I have visited other pho places outside of Chinatown, and they want  to charge 20 bucks for a bowl of pho . . . no thanks!!! A bowl of pho with all of the fixings averages around 8 bucks and taste better than the more expensive places.

Music from the run. 

Goals for the upcoming week:

1. Actually, do my weekday runs. I’m really going to have to play with my schedule for this week. Plus, I’m going to have to figure my my long run schedule, since I will be teaching 12pm – 3:30 pm Saturdays and Sundays.
2. Run the Percy Sutton 5K run on August 26.
3. Register for two NYRR races so I can get my 9+1.

Question

When you are running on city streets do you stop your watches at stop lights?