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New York City Marathon Training: Week 9

I just enjoyed the best training week in quite a while! I was able to successfully complete every planned workout, I enjoyed my long run, and I feel like I’m getting into the groove of this year’s marathon training.  The changes that I put in place worked wonderfully and I even added a few others:

  • Switch up my music each run. Today I listened to my country mix while running which was a fresh change from my normal pop and rap mixes. I also created a whole new playlist for Friday’s long run which helped power me through the 12 miles when I was running solo.
  • Get outside! I’ve learned to love running outside which in turn means that I can’t stand the treadmill these days. I realize that it is a great running tool and serves it’s purpose every now and then but I don’t enjoy using it daily anymore. Last week I enjoyed 3 of my 4 runs outside which was a refreshing change. This week’s goal is repeat the same, only doing my speed workout inside.
  • Fuel more! During this week’s long run I brought both Clif Shot blocks and a GU pack on the run. I split the shot blocks out early, having 1/2 at mile 4 and 1/2 at mile 8. Then, at mile 11.5 I enjoyed the vanilla Gu. I felt more energized during this run than I have any of my other long runs and I really believe the fuel played a large role. I’m going to repeat this method again this week. (Question for NYC runners, it seems like the entire city is sold out of vanilla Gu! Where can I find some?)

IMG_4375 THUMBS UP FOR A GREAT WEEK!!

Week 9 Plan: September 5th-September 11th

Monday: 3/4 mile swim + 3 mile basic run

Tuesday: 45 minute spin workout+ 10 minutes foam rolling

Wednesday: 6 mile speed workout including 6 sets of pickups+ personal training session

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: 16 mile long run

Saturday: Personal Training appointment+Vitality Class (Holy back and shoulder muscles!)

Sunday: 3 mile recovery run+yoga

Total mileage: 28 miles! SUCCESS!

This week’s plan is much like last week’s except for my half marathon which has me scared shitless. I signed up for this race on a whim one night after more than one glass of wine. While I’m looking forward to seeing Leslie and possibly Sabrina, I’m not looking forward to the race itself. I can’t decide whether I want to try and PR or just treat it like a long run. We’ll see how I feel one mile in and go from there. 🙂

Week 10 Plan: September 12th-September 18th

Monday: 4 mile basic run including striders

Tuesday: personal training session+ 10 minutes foam rolling

Wednesday: 6 mile speed workout including 6 sets of pickups+ personal training session

Thursday: personal training session+ possible yoga

Friday: rest day+ possible yoga

Saturday: NYRR Fitness 4 miler at an easy pace

Sunday: 2 mile warm up+ Philadelphia RocknRoll Half Marathon+ 2 mile cool down

Total mileage: 31 miles

Finally, on a random note, since people have been asking for more “What I Wore” photos, here’s a snapshot of today’s outfit. It was simple but comfortable! I have to get the skirt altered as it’s way too big now but otherwise this is one of my go to favorites for rushed mornings.

IMG_4419 Watch: Michael Korrs

Earrings: KEP Designs

Everything else: JCrew

Have a great week!

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ashleyd /

New York City Marathon Training: Week 8

I can’t believe that the New York City Marathon is only 60 days away! While that may seem like a long time to some people, in my brain that only means a few things:

  • I’ve already completed 8 weeks of training!
  • 6 more long runs
  • 6 more speed workouts
  • 1 half marathon (Philadelphia RNR Half Marathon on September 18th)
  • Three more sports massages (I’m investing in one every 3 weeks during training)
  • Due to travel, I’ll be running in 6 cities before the marathon (Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Charleston, Tampa, Savannah, and Boston).

Instead of getting scared or intimidated by these things, I’m getting super excited! I’m embracing my travel schedule by planning fun runs, join ups, and races in each of these cities so I can stick to my travel schedule. My running coach and I also evaluated my schedule yesterday and made a few tweaks to it so that I can continue having great results. IMG_4295 (640x478)

The Changes:

  • I will still meet with my personal trainer two times per week but we are going to focus on more dynamic workouts that are running focused between now and the marathon. We will start lifting heavy again after the marathon!
  • I am going to focus on using yoga and swimming as my cross training instead of spin. I found that spin was leaving my legs too tired for strong running workouts the following day because I was pushing myself too hard.
  • My basic runs will start including striders.
  • I am going to wear my Zensah calf sleeves for every run as I’ve been suffering from some minor shin splints and calf pain. I noticed a huge difference in the pain on Friday when I didn’t use them. IMG_4306 (478x640)

Week 8 Review: August 29th- September 4th

Monday: 4 mile basic run

Tuesday: Personal Training appointment

Wednesday: 4 mile speed workout including 6 sets of pickups

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: 15 mile long run with Katherine and Melissa Z

Saturday: Personal Training appointment

Sunday: 60 minutes of amazing Vinyasa yoga

Total mileage: 23 miles

This week’s plan is very similar except my mileage will be increasing and I’ll be having a few two a day workouts this week. But, as you can see it’s balanced with plenty of recovery and cross training.

Week 9 Plan: September 5th-September 11th

Monday: 3/4 mile swim + 3 mile basic run

Tuesday: 45 minute spin workout+ 10 minutes foam rolling

Wednesday: 6 mile speed workout including 6 sets of pickups+ personal training session

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: 16 mile long run

Saturday: Personal Training appointment+3 mile recovery run+ Vitality Class

Sunday: 60 minutes of amazing Vinyasa yoga

Total mileage: 28 miles

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New York City Marathon Training: Week Six

Happy Tuesday, I think? Unfortunately, I’m not feeling 100% which means that I’ve been chugging green tea, Dayquil, and water like it’s my job. I feel like this is the marathon’s way of telling me that I’m an idiot for traveling so much during marathon training.

IMG_3859 (478x640)

Just to put things in perspective, let’s review my travel schedule for an eight week time period:

  • San Francisco August 9th-11th
  • Chicago August 11-13th
  • Philadelphia August 13th
  • Philadelphia August 19th-August 21st
  • Cincinnati August 24th-August 28th
  • Philadelphia September 17th-September 18th
  • Los Angeles September 21st-September 25th

As you may recall, during week six I ran in two different cities, New York and Philadelphia. My total mileage for the week came to 28 miles, just short of the 30 mile mark, which I was hoping to exceed during week seven.

DSCF7939 (640x480)

Monday: 5 mile tempo workout

Tuesday: 3.1 miles speed workout

Wednesday: 4.5 mile hill workout in Central Park

Thursday: elliptical+weight workout

Friday: rest day

Saturday: 14 mile long run in Philadelphia

Sunday: 1.5 mile walk+1.5 mile run in Philadelphia

Hands down, my favorite part of last week was running with friends for 3 of my 5 runs!

During all that travel, I’m also supposed to be training for a marathon. No pressure, right? So far, I’ve really been trying to look forward to each new city since it means a long run in a new city each week, rather than the monotony of running the Hudson River path each week. While it’s worked so far, I feel like the travel is starting to catch up with my health and drain my immune system. Therefore, I skipped this morning’s run in favor of sleep. After taking a dose of Nyquil last night at 9:30, I slept soundly until 7:30 this morning. Clearly my body is screaming for rest. My sinuses feel like they are about to squeeze my head, I’m paler than normal, and my normal energy is definitely absent. All I want to do is curl up in bed and sleep for hours upon hours.

    Therefore, this week’s plan will look a bit different than past weeks. I’m going to cut back on workouts this week and use it as a mini step back week of sorts.
    Monday: Personal training session
    Tuesday: rest day
    Wednesday: Personal training session
    Thursday: 12 mile run in Cincinnati
    Friday: 4 mile shake out run in Cincinnati
    Saturday: yoga and 3 miles of speed
    Sunday: We’ll see how I feel after Saturday night’s wedding!

I don’t like that my mileage is so low at this point in marathon training but I think I need to listen to my body this week. Luckily, after this week’s travel my schedule settles down for a few weeks.

Question: Do you step back your workouts when you’re feeling under the weather?

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