Urbanathlon

I'm supposed to be tapering for the marathon, but I couldn't resist doing the Urbanathlon this morning. It was about 9 miles of running, a bunch of obstacles, temperature in the 40s, and rain. Obstacles included 5 foot high hurdles, monkey bars, parallel bars, stairs at Arthur Ashe Stadium, using cargo nets to climb over a bus, and stairs at Citi Field.

Long Run

I ran 22 miles yesterday morning. The route began at Niketown, went to the FDR, ran around the bottom of Manhattan, up the west side to 125th Street, and back down to 59th. The workout was supposed to end there at about 19 miles, but I had my heart set on doing at least 20. So I went back up the west side for about a half mile, came back, and then ran back to Niketown via the bottom part of the lower loop in Central Park.

The wind on the Hudson was really strong on the way back to 59th. This was my only 20+ mile of the year. Usually, I do at least 3 if I'm training for the marathon. Maybe, I won't taper as much as I normally do since my marathon training schedule was shortened this year.

I was accepted into the "locally competitive start" this year. I've never applied for that before. I'm looking forward to the separate staging area, especially the bathrooms! Hopefully, the lines won't be as long. The bathroom lines in the regular staging areas are so long, I get in line BEFORE I need to use the bathroom because, by the time I get to the bathroom, I need it.

It's Been Awhile

5th Avenue Mile

Grete's Gallop Half Marathon

Well, it's been quite some time since my last post. Not much has actually happened since my last post. Where to begin? I'm registered for the NYC Marathon but wasn't too sure I'd be running because I've had a bad case of plantar fasciitis. And even though the cortisone shot I got at the end of August worked, I didn't think I had enough time to get back into marathon shape. However, in the middle of September, I went on an 18-mile run in Van Cortlandt Park. It was at a very slow pace, but it made me realize that I could probably finish the marathon, albeit at a slower pace.

On September 24th, I ran the 5th Avenue Mile in 5:12 without any speed work. That was encouraging. The day after that I ran 16 miles in Central Park @7:52/mile. Another boost to my confidence. Last weekend, I ran Grete's Gallop Half Marathon in 1:28:52, with these splits:

1. 6:58

2. 6:49

3. 6:44

4. 6:34

5. 6:56

6. 6:36

7. 6:40

8. 6:46

9. 6:45

10. 6:38

11. 6:46

12. 6:27

13. 6:31

I was planning to run 1:30, so I was very satisfied. The only problem was that I ran in racing flats and aggravated my plantar fasciitis. As a result, I took all of last week off.

Yesterday I ran 17 miles, running across the Queensboro Bridge 6 times! My foot was killing me after the run. I was all set to skip the marathon. But I woke up today and the pain had decreased substantially!

So, the bottom line is that I'm not in great shape, but as long as the pain in my foot is manageable, I plan on running the marathon. I'm just going to have to adjust my goals.