NYC Marathon Training Recap – Week #10

Ellen, I have no idea where I am.

A friend sent me this, so I guess that there’s someone out there (besides my father) who has my same first and last name. I hope that I do not have some random long lost brother out there.

Planned Miles: 22 (Completed Miles: 22)

I think that I’m getting to the point of let’s gets this darn marathon over. Of course, two weeks before the marathon, I’ll be like there wasn’t enough time to train.

Running

No major updates with the running piece. While I’m in worse shape compared to previous marathon training seasons, I have been running pretty steady (albeit slower) for this marathon training plan. For instance, I have been running my long run about 2min/mi slower than my targeted marathon pace. In the past, I would run my long runs about anywhere 30-1min/mi slower than my target marathon pace. I have noticed that there have been less injuries this time around. Hopefully, I’m not jinxing myself. Perhaps, running slower is the way to go . . . sometimes.

This weekend, I have to say that I really enjoyed my long run because Sunday was a nice cloudy, 78F day with a very little amount of rain. Also, I was very proud of myself for making it to Central Park by 6:28 am to start my long run. Yay me!

Next weekend, I will run Rock n Roll – Va Beach’s Half Marathon.

Yay me for FINALLY running a race in my hometown since my cross country days back in high school. In a previous post, I think that I mentioned this will be the last Rock n Roll series in Va. Beach so running next weekend was perfect timing. Um . . . I think someone needs to update Rock n Roll Va Beach’s page because there is a countdown to next year’s Rock n Roll.

Rock n Roll Race series

Speaking of Rock n Roll race series: during one of my insomnia-inspired shopping nights/early mornings, I purchased a three half marathon pack, so I should decide my next two half marathons at some time (before Dec. 2022). I really would like to run another international half marathon so I’m thinking about one of the half marathons in Mexico or Colombia. . . or both. Since my last Colombian trip was back in 2003, I think that I might have a preference for the half marathon in Medellín. Also, I would like to run New Orleans’ Half Marathon because I have not visited NOLA since graduating college in 2002. I wishing that the New Orleans (and the Gulf Coast) folks, who could not evacuate, are staying strong in the face of Hurricane Ida.

X-Training

Bouldering:

The other day at the bouldering gym, I was attempting a V3 climb (technically, the climbs are called “problems”), then I thought to myself what happens if I fall. Going forward, I think that I’m going to stick to V0 and V1 problems and focus more on foot and handwork. All I need is one bad fall/landing to take me out of the running (no pun) for next week’s Va Beach Half, next month’s Madrid Half, and Nov’s NYC Marathon. It looks like the folks at 99 Boulders has some great bouldering resources for drills.

Image courtesy of 99Boulders

Beachbody:

Funny how a couple of weeks ago, I was complaining about having too many streaming subscriptions. So what did I do? Subscribed to yet another streaming service. What does this mean? Another round of ShaunT’s Insanity.

Image courtesy of Jitter Fitness

I swear that THIS time, I’m going to finish the 2-month program. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I know that I say this all the time. That said, I am looking forward to incorporate more HIIT workouts into my marathon training. Hopefully, doing this will help me lose a couple of pounds. While I have been lifting and doing some HIIT things at the bouldering gym, I think that I need something a bit more motivational/forceful. My Insanity workouts have been a bit more intense (or insane) compared to the ones that I do on my own at the gym.

Another observation: my calves have been a bit sore since starting Insanity. I think it might have something to do with the amount of quick movements one has to do during the Insanity workouts. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing for half and full marathon training. In addition to Insanity, I have been doing Vytas’ (that guy from Survivor) Beachbody yoga. A week into the yoga program, I already have noticed some positive changes in my posture. For instance, I have been actively correcting my slouching during my day-to-day randomness.

THIS WEEK’S PET PEEVE:

I have been working on logging in more sleep hours by going to bed around 10:30 – 11 pm. The problem is I now wake up around 2-3 am. Hopefully, my body will get used to sleeping earlier AND waking up later. I would love to go to bed around 10:30 pm and wake up around 5:30 am.

I’m surprised that my hating ass does not have a more serious pet peeve.

Goals for the Week:

-Run the best race that I can for this weekend’s half marathon in Va. Beach. According to my marathon training plan, I’m supposed to run 19 miles this weekend. I’m debating if I should run a strong half marathon or make this race my long run and add 6 miles to it. Maybe I’ll run three miles before the half and “try” to run three miles after the race.

-Since I’m talking about Va. Beach, I’m going to add chowing down on some steamed crabs from the Chesapeake Bay. Since I have not eaten whole crabs in so long, I hope that I have not forgotten of the clean and eat them. 😉

-Devote some time to reading physical books. Since I’ve left the biomedical world, I have noticed that I spend WAY too much time watching TV especially during this pandemic. Earlier this week, I took a little field trip to my local library branch to renew my library card and stumbled on these two reads. I’ve started with Bezzerides’s Evolution Gone Wrong: the curious reasons why our bodies work (or don’t).

-Organize my fitness clothes drawers because they are out of control.

Questions of the Day:

-When uploading images to WordPress, do you name them for easy access later?

-So my big ass bought a pair of these swimming trunks. Man, I remember when I used to have visible abs.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

But why do they have front pockets without a zipper? It’s not like I can swim with things in an open pocket. Maybe the pockets are for holding things when lounging around.

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