Filed under: 2008 NYC Marathon Training | Tags: Fuel, Hydration, Miles, New York City, New York Marathon
Down to the final 4 weeks and feeling pretty good. Last week was ridiculous, I ran the prior weeks long run on Monday so all told I completed 55 miles from Monday to Sunday (I don’t think I’ve ever run that much in one week). Yesterday’s long run was good, 22 miles and I kept moving around all day until I finally crashed out on the couch watching Dexter. It was surprising that I wasn’t completely spent after 3 hours and 40 minutes of straight running, but I did several things right for this long run; first, I ran 6.7 miles on Saturday which helped tire me out and forced me to pace myself for Sunday; second, hydration was perfect with about 11 water stops throughout; third, didn’t party too much during the weekend; fourth, a couple of PowerBar Gel packs (carbohydrate fuel & double caffeine) allowed me to sustain my energy levels and finally, the weather was just too perfect (cool, mid 60’s and sunny). I ate a huge breakfast afterwords, cleaned up the apartment and had a few cocktails to celebrate 
Last Thursday I was up at the butt crack of dawn (5:30 am) to do my typical mid-week 10.2 miler. There’s just something about hitting the streets of gritty steel town on a crisp fall morning that puts things into a perfect perspective. It gives me time to strategize on all the challenges of the day and at the same time calms my soul. Half way through the sun rose, the streets filled up and the engines of the Iron City kicked into gear…
The ”NYC Marathon Handbook” arrived last week as well. Tons of good information on preparing for the race, the actual race day & recovery tips. It also provided a better course map with specific streets and turns.
Planning for the weekend is now in full swing and I’ll actually be in Philadelphia the Friday night before the marathon for a wedding. As a die hard NY Mets fan, Philly is not on the top of my list of places to visit. Although I’ve never really been there so as long as the conversation steers clear of baseball, we’ll be alright. I figure I’ll head up to NYC Saturday morning, pick up my packet and then relax before race day. My folks are hosting a BBQ after the race on Sunday where I plan on rewarding my acheivement with beer.
Filed under: 2008 NYC Marathon Training | Tags: Endurance, Fuel, Hydration, Miles, Pace, Pittsburgh, Yoga
Overall great week! Went a mile over the goal of 34 total miles and feeling pretty healthy. This week I’m looking at 36 miles, capping it off with a long run of 18 miles on Sunday. The New York Mets are coming to Pittsburgh on Friday, so I’ll be laying low (no travel) and should be able to have another productive week… Figure with all the beers and dogs I’ll be eating at the games, I should be good fuel-wise
Last weeks long run was just under 17 miles (going roughly 9 minute pace). The conditions were incredible, beautiful sunny day, cool breeze whipping through, tons of people out on Pittsburgh’s rivers and I was able to manage my hydration perfectly. Actually saw a good buddy who I ran my first marathon with, Dr. Glenn Updike. Great guy, runs a fast 26.2 but apparently never stretches… Not me, I stretch like a mainiac. In fact I’ve been trying to do yoga once a week to keep the muscles even more flexible. There is a place called School House Yoga just down the street from my apartment that hooks it up.
The long run took me past the South Side Works where I was able to catch a pretty good concert the night before; American Eagle Outfitters and Anthony Kiedis pulled together Gnarls Barkley, Spoon, The Racoteurs & Bob Dylan. Missed Mr. Gnarls, but the rest of the show was decent.
An old college buddy and fellow endurance freak Chris Cahee, recently turned me onto athlinks.com which is a pretty cool site that digs up all of your past race results and provides access to tons of other athletes. There’s a really good search feature for local events as well, definitely worth a look.
