NYC Marathon Training Wk 6

Planned Miles: 23

Completed Miles: 20

Looks like we have less than 90 days until NYC Marathon 2022.

Overall this week was pretty nice. I will say that I appreciated having to run only 9 miles for this week’s long run. Now, I think that I’m getting used to the extreme heat and humidity. Actually, I’ll take this back because I do not think the heat was THAT bad this week.

I did something new this week . . . I managed to meet up with the folks from the November Project to do a HIIT workout with them.

Overall, I found the group to be nice and welcoming. Let’s just say if I work out with them once a week, I will not have to worry about doing too much hill work training for NYC Marathon. For the workout, there were four HIIT workout stations set up. While your partner does the station’s workout, you run down and up one of Mt Trashmore’s many hills. Upon returning to the top, you roll a die – rolling 1-4 tells you which workout station, and rolling 5-6 means you have to do a 100 m or 200 m sprint. During this time, your partner is running down and up the hill. Then the cycle continues for about another 40 or so minutes. It was nice getting out there and meeting some new folks in the area. Interestingly, one of my classmates from high school is a member. I guess this person technically would not count as a new person, but we really did not hang out while we were in high school. I’m looking forward to going this week.

One of my concerns going forward with the November Project:

For my NYC Marathon training plan, my speed/hill work (when I do them) occurs on Wednesdays, which is when the November Project meets. I have to figure out where to move my speed/hill workout days. If possible, I would like to give myself at least a day to recover between speed/hill workout and November Project days. I guess this could work IF I do my long runs on Saturday and do my speedwork on Mondays. However, my last 3-4 long runs have been completed on Sundays due to crappy planning on my part. The November Project does have workouts on Fridays, but those workouts are a bit further away. The Wednesday workouts are held at Mt. Trashmmore, which is about 4 miles away from my house.

A little more info about The November Project

Courtesy of The November Project

Aside from running, I’m still going strong with my daily yoga and swimming laps 2 times a week. I have to say that the folks from 3-week Yoga Retreat always have something sassy to say. Well . . . it’s not really sassy, but they crack me up a little bit.

Um, Elise . . . this move definitely did NOT help me find balance in my life . . . or on the mat. 😉

In my defense, I was somewhere in between Vytas and Ted for the downward dog half-split or whatever the hell this position is called. 😉

Long Run Chronicles:

For this week’s long run, I was granted a reprieve because my long run was only 9 miles. For this run, I checked out a new route and took a visit to Lake Stumpy.

I more than likely will not run to Lake Stumpy unless I drive there. Why? I have forgotten that many roads here do not have sidewalks or decent shoulders. This run was a bit scary because I was not sure if the passing cars could see me before or after the many curves on the road.

One cool thing about this run was running a nice ~3-mile trail. Well, the loop in the park was ~1.5 miles, but I ran it twice before running back to the house.

While the trail was ok, running it gave me a chance to slow down a bit and focus on my body and nature (I guess). I had to slow down because there were a lot of exposed tree roots, and I did not want to twist an ankle.

My Apple Watch is still not uploading my correct starting and ending points, but I’m not going to let it get me down as long as the distance is correct.

A small reward:

After my run, the hubby and I took a dip at Little Island, Sandbridge. I guess I had more of the dip because the water was a bit too chilly for him.

I have a feeling this will be our go-to beach because it is a bit more secluded compared to Va Beach’s Oceanfront. It was the perfect beach environment for me because there were not 15+ member families with huge beach tents playing loud a** music.

Quick rant: Perhaps, this is me being a cranky old man. But sometimes, I feel like folks bring TOO MANY things to the beach. It’s almost like they have to bring everything they own to the beach. As kids, I remember we were allowed to bring only 1-3 beach toys with us so we were trained at an early age to travel lightly when going to the beach. For me, I’m perfectly fine with going to the beach with a beach towel and an (optional) umbrella. Eh, different strokes for different folks.

NYC Marathon 2022 Training Plan:

Image from Hal Higdon Training (Link ***)

Goals for the week:

-Start focusing on nutrition and eating a bit better. For this goal, I have restarted Beachbody’s 21-day Fix. I’ve talked about 21-day Fix in a previous post (link: ***).

21-day portion plan

-FIND A GODDAMN JOB!

-Find a couple of August and early September races.

Long Run Playlist:

Questions of the Day:

-What was your favorite meal from this week?

-When visiting a beach for a few hours, do you travel lightly or bring everything and the kitchen sink with you?

Social Media Plug:

Instagram

@smokinscientist (Twitter)

Kwame s (Strava)