Let’s Start From the Very Beginning…

…a very good place to start.

After signing up for the race MONTHS ago, Long Branch Half Marathon weekend has come and gone. I could write a marathon (pun intended) post about the entire weekend – driving down to New Jersey with my friends, spending a Saturday “down the shore,” the race itself, our amazing cheerleaders, and all the things I learned about myself and running throughout the weekend. But it’s Sunday night, it’s 9:03 PM (okay, it might NOW be Tuesday at 9:17 PM, but whatever, I’m still really tired) when I’m starting this, I got up at 4 AM and ran a half-marathon, and I want to crawl into bed and fall asleep. For a really, really, really long time. So I’ll start by quickly recapping Saturday, and maybe sometime this century, I’ll get around to recapping the rest of the weekend and the race.

Saturday started with an oh-so-necessary bagel and iced coffee/tea run with Beth, then cabbing it to midtown to meet Nicole and Jen at Avis to pick up our wheels for the weekend. And for those who know me well, don’t worry, I wasn’t driving. I parked my incompetent self in the backseat and tasked myself with comic relief, and did not help with driving or navigation in the slightest.

After an uneventful drive down to Jersey, we headed to the expo, where we picked up our bibs and (if I do say myself) SWEET race shirts, chatted with two Ashleys and Shelly, and miraculously did NOT buy anything, despite my valiant search for a headband that wasn’t Sparkly Soul. Which was a big fat fail.

At the expo, we were able to pick up turn-by-turn directions for the race course, and decided it would be fun to drive the course so we could get a sense of where we’d be running the next day. Despite the fact that it went through some iffy neighborhoods and finished with a 1.5-mile straightaway, we were pretty psyched at how flat the course seemed (minus a bridge, which in hindsight I can say we definitely all underestimated) and getting the chance to run along the water. Beth navigated (and hydrated) like a champ.

After arriving in Long Branch, we grabbed a quick lunch of quesadillas and guacamole (race weekend always has the best food. On Monday, I promise I will start eating like a normal human again) and wandered around the waterfront for a while. It was WAY colder than expected (especially because I had stubbornly refused to wear an outfit warmer than shorts, a sweatshirt, and flip flops), but it was a beautiful day, and the beach didn’t disappoint.

The rest of the afternoon included a drive to Target to stock up on race weekend essentials (Goldfish crackers, Gatorade, pretzels, Twizzlers, Tums, long socks to make arm warmers, and nail polish remover for pre-race manicures, obviously), pizza for dinner, a big chunk of legs-up-the-wall/foam rolling/stretching/cheering Jen on while doing a FOUR MINUTE PLANK (Jen, lets strength train together sometime, mmkay?), picking up Jess (who had just run 18 miles that day. NBD)… And the first pre-race nerves I experienced all training cycle.

A long time ago, I decided that I was going to ENJOY this training cycle. I wasn’t going to run any more than I damn well felt like it, and I was going to mix in cross training whenever I wanted. And I did. I never ran more than 5 miles before work, I said a relative “feh” to speed work, I maxed out my long runs at 11 miles, and my weekly mileage never got very far north of 20, and I enjoyed every second of it… Until Saturday night. Maybe it was jealousy of watching Beth get amped up to chase a PR, the realization that HOLY SHIT IN 12 HOURS I WAS GOING TO BE RUNNING 13.1 MILES, or just plain old nerves, but all of a sudden, I turned into a basket case worrying about not finishing the race, or doing so with a time that was flat-out embarrassing. The girls graciously put up with this, talked me down off the ledge and didn’t slap me across the head (because they are awesome. Thank you guys!!), and I eventually breathed my way to a place where I figured I would probably finish the race, and even if I DESPISED my race time, I’d still be finishing my fourth half marathon, and that would be DAMN impressive, even if I had to walk across that finish line.

And with that, we all headed to bed, and 1.5 iPad episodes of Sex and the City later (I am a horrible sleeper when I’m not in my own bed, and tend to freak out if I’m lying awake staring at the ceiling when I know I should be sleeping), I drifted off to dreamland, knowing that in a few short hours, this would be waiting for me…

Greetings From Taper-Land

Greetings from Taper Land! In general, it’s a pretty nice place to be, full of gloriously easy workouts and lazy mornings/evenings, delicious and carby food, and getting to focus on the best parts of racing – thinking about what is going to go on my race playlist and what I’m going to buy myself as my “Congratulations on not dying during your 4th half marathon” gifts to myself (or my “Sorry you died during your 4th half marathon” gifts. Whatever works).

But there are definitely some crappy parts about Taper Land: inventing injuries in my head, the obsessive itch to REALLY sweat it out and push during a workout, and freaking out about the race itself. I have a goal in mind for Long Branch, but it’s ambitious, and I’m nervous about how awful it might feel to have to push hard enough to get there.

And for some reason, an aggressive country music bender (brought to you – well, me – by the Lady Antebellum station on Spotify Radio) is what’s keeping me sane this week. If I hit my goal in Long Branch, it will be 150% on the backs of Luke Bryan and Carrie Underwood. And I’m pretty okay with that.

So Much to Say

(Any others out there who spent their entire adolescence listening to DMB? Bueller? Help.)

Hello! It has been almost two weeks since I last posted here, and to my one fan (hi Jamie!) and my parents, I sincerely apologize. The past few weeks have been some of the busiest I’ve had all year: I could write posts about long runs, a great concert, a three-party Saturday, new fitness studio adventures, and great times with friends (and probably will at some point), and I certainly am behind on training recaps, but I’d also be remiss if I didn’t say anything about what happened in Boston last week.

Second only to Mike Piazza’s home run in the first home game after 9/11, this could have been the most moving thing I’ve ever seen on a baseball field. (via thatsenuff.com)

I was fortunate enough to not be directly affected by the bombings, but I was definitely affected mentally more than I would have imagined. I don’t have anything particularly poetic to say on the subject (especially nothing that hasn’t been said already), but as a runner and also as a person, my heart and head were both in Boston all of last week. I didn’t sleep well, stayed glued to the news, and found myself in a bit of a fog that I only noticed myself starting to emerge from during Saturday’s long run. Even though I think the odds of me ever qualifying for the Boston Marathon are pretty slim, as a runner, it felt like a community of mine had been attacked. And watching the outpouring of support from this community reminded me why I love it so much.

Now that my daily life is returning back to normal, let’s get back to training, shall we? A quick recap of Weeks 6 and 7 of Long Branch Half Marathon training (HOW AM I ALREADY IN WEEK 8???):

Monday: rest

Tuesday: AM 4-miler for Abby’s Kick Ass 5K

Sweaty, humid mess.

Wednesday: A rare weekday evening visit to Flywheel, where I joined Beth and Jessica for Danielle’s Wednesday class — incredible, as she always is. I was tired, but managed to summon energy I didn’t even know I had, and pulled off a pretty solid power score that I was thrilled with. And then I trekked home in a downpour.

Thursday: Easy, relaxed morning 3.4 miles.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Absolutely incredible 11-mile long run. I’ve had faster runs, but this felt like my best-executed one ever. I paced well, started slowly, fueled properly, and really just felt incredible the entire time — I finished at an average pace that is roughly the same as my other long runs this cycle, and it was great. Later that day, I also went to a 75-minute Relax yoga class at Strala to help stretch out.

Sunday: Miserable 3-mile walk-jog-shuffle shakeout. Running is a fickle sport, friends. This was followed by the usual Sunday ZogSports football game.

Monday: rest

Tuesday: Sleepy but emotional 5.25 miles in the morning with Jen, Beth, Katie, and Jenny to commemorate the previous day’s events.

Wednesday: An evening trip to my first-ever Refine Method. This really requires its own post, but I think that when I lay out my plans for this week, it will be clear that I loved it.

Thursday: I planned to do 4 miles in the morning, but my hip was feeling a bit wonky and stiff so I did a 40-minute hill workout on the elliptical instead.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: This should have been 12, but ended up being 10.5 miles — definitely on the slow side, but my hip felt pretty good and considering how tired and bleary I felt all week, I was impressed I got through this much distance. Especially to avoid pushing my hip, I gave myself permission to quit at 8 miles, but knew I’d be happier if I at least got to double digits.

Sunday: Totally brutal Flywheel class (not sure if it was my bike being off or my legs being miserable, but everything felt impossible and my power score was SO LOW) followed by a football game, where I tried to take it a bit easy and spend a little more time than normal on the sidelines to give my legs a bit of a break.

Phew! Even though I’ve definitely followed up on my promise to not overload my mileage this training cycle and listen to my body, I still feel like I’ve been training hard — not enough to break any records or counteract the vile amount of junk food I’ve been eating lately (ugh), but I feel like I’ve put in the days, logged the miles, and avoided taking the easy way out. There’s another post coming (hopefully) on my thoughts on how the New Jersey half might go, but enough of that — here’s my plan for my last real week of training: a slight mileage cutback (from the plan, not my already-cut mileage from last week) and instead, pushing my body with some extra strength at Refine, taking care not to let my hip get out of whack again, and getting my body ready to taper:

• 3 easy runs: 5ish, 3-4ish, and a “long” run of 8 miles
• 2 Refine Method classes
• 1 yoga class
• 1 football game

I cannot tell a lie… it feels damn good to be back.

PUREfy Your Soul

(This is uger, mega belated, but better late than never, right?)

A few weeks ago, I was doing a cursory morning review of my Twitter feed when I noticed a few references to a Well + Good post about an event that involved a run, a SoulCycle class, and Pure Yoga, and my interest was immediately piqued. I originally assumed that the event would be pricey, but once I noticed it was free, I frantically messaged friends to find out how to get signed up before it filled up (spots free events at expensive studios in this city absolutely fly off the metaphorical shelves). And after some confused tweeting and help from Nicole, I was IN for the PUREfy Your Soul Triathlon.

(via well+good)

Let’s get real for a minute: fitness in this city is EXPENSIVE. Sure, it’s possible to work out on the cheap and buy clothes at Target, but once you get sucked into the world of yoga studios, boutique spinning, Lululemon (although I admittedly rarely shop at Lululemon, it’s not like I’m buying the cheapest workout clothes out there), it’s hard to pull back, and it is simply just really, really nice when these studios decide to throw us a bone and give us the chance to enjoy a great afternoon on their dime.

I knew it would be a tough day, especially in the middle of half-marathon training, but I was still super excited to spend the afternoon with Nicole, Annie, and Beth (who was fresh off an awesome half-marathon PR) sweating my face off and getting to try some new studios — I’ve only been to SoulCycle once and not in ages, and while I’ve taken Figure 4 at Pure Yoga, I’ve never taken an actual yoga class there. And of course, I’m always up for a 3-miler in Central Park.

The day before the event, I picked up my bib (so adorable… it also corresponded to our SoulCycle bike and our bag check number) and the softest, comfiest tank top I’ve ever put on (seriously, it has skyrocketed to the top of my “comfy lounging clothes” rotation and I only wish it were appropriate to wear to slightly more formal places. Like, say, my office):

This is not me. (via @PureYogaNYC)

So the next day (3/24), I met up with the entire group at Lululemon West 75th Street, where Christine Kenney (no worries, she’s just a sub-3-hour marathoner and Ironman) took us out for our 3-mile run. It was super low-key — most of the group took off pretty quickly, but we all met up at the end of the route, cheering everyone as they came in, and I was careful not to burn my legs out too much… after all, we had SoulCycle and yoga to get through! While my legs felt a bit rough at first after the prior day’s 60-minute Flywheel class, they loosened up quickly and I had a good strong run just trying to keep up with Annie through the West Side rolling hills.

The group before the run kicked off… can you spot me hiding in the back? (via Lululemon West 75th’s Facebook page)

After we all finished the run, we walked over to SoulCycle, where the three of us were psyched to meet up with Beth (she had just run a half-marathon the day before, so she skipped the run portion of the day). We received a little bit of swag (a totally-badass SoulCycle bandana and a pair of Lululemon Ultimate Padded run socks), grabbed water and spin shoes, and then got set up on our bikes. Our bib numbers corresponded to our bike numbers, and I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to snag a bike in the front row on the side. The fact that I was directly across from Beth was definitely lucky, which was really fun and definitely led to some joint “Like A Prayer” singalongs during class.

Swag of the day.

Our class was led by the incredible Sue Molnar – she was AMAZING. SoulCycle usually isn’t right up my alley (I prefer the more gritty/athletic/competitive atmosphere of Flywheel vs. the SOUL-y part of SoulCycle), but I loved this class.

Sue! I am the person behind her in the blue tank top pulling up my shirt, which by that point was so stretched out and sweaty that I was showing way more cleavage than is really appropriate for, um, ever. (via Lululemon 75th/Bway’s facebook page)

Sue promised us a more “intro to spinning” class, which was perfect when sandwiched between a run and yoga (and the day after a 60-minute Flywheel class). She was unbelievably motivating, encouraging us all to have fun and push our bodies, playing great music, and actually providing some great Soul-ified mantras and thoughts: I particularly loved when she spoke about the love-hate relationship we all have with New York City, and reminded us that there are people who would LOVE to win a trip to New York — we’re lucky enough to live in someone else’s grand prize, and that is pretty awesome.

Yeah, I guess it’s not so bad. (via rwrant.co.za)

After class (pretty much when I absolutely started regretting not having brought a dry shirt for yoga), we headed literally around the corner to Pure Yoga West, where a studio was already completely set up for us — mats, blocks, straps, and water — and I was thrilled to be able to spend the next hour stretching out my tired legs. Our class was led by the amazing Kay Kay Clivio and some other staffers, and they led us through a gentle, relaxing, stretching flow. I will admit that holding some poses after all that working out was a lot harder than it usually is, but this was a great class. The only thing I didn’t like was that I felt like the instructors went a little bit far in their hands-on adjustments: I like being adjusted, but I felt like I was pushed to stretch a little further than I was comfortable with… please have pity on my tight runner’s hips, bendy yoga ladies! Also, the studio was pretty packed, and when Kay Kay suggested resting our legs on our neighbors, I was a little horrified (as was Beth, who told me if I put my foot on her she’d kill me — not that I blame her, that foot had been through a three-mile run and SoulCycle!). But I did leave class feeling very relaxed and stretched out, which was exactly what I needed.

I’m not in this picture… we were hiding in the back left corner. (via Pure Yoga’s facebook page)

And… we were DONE! As a reward for all our hard work, we were treated to Chobani yogurt (I absolutely inhaled a lemon yogurt and threw a banana one in my bag to save for the next day’s lunch — both flavors were incredible. Why does Trader Joe’s carry only Fage and not Chobani??) and David’s Tea.

Chobani station!

We were also lucky that Lululemon was kind enough to bring all our checked bags from their store to Pure Yoga so we didn’t have to go back to get anything, so we grabbed our stuff and headed out. Beth and I decided to walk home to shake out our legs, stopping only to frantically book our bikes when the weekly Flywheel booking window opened.

All in all, the triathlon was an incredible (and exhausting) day. I think Lululemon and fitness studios in NYC get a bad rap for being so pricey, and I’ll admit that sometimes I’m there complaining alongside everyone else. But I think it’s really generous of them to put on events like this to show that they really do care about the people that shop there and the missions behind their brands. I won’t pretend that all of a sudden I can afford to buy all my clothes at Lululemon or join Pure Yoga or that I’m abandoning my love of Flywheel for SoulCycle, but I’ll admit that I feel a little bit better now about spending money at Lululemon, might join some friends for a SoulCycle class once in a while, and will keep my eyes open for more opportunities to expand my yoga practice at Pure. I left the event deliciously sweaty (is that a thing? Who am I?) and relaxed, knowing that I had challenged my body to do something new. It was an awesome day with awesome friends, and a BIG thank you to Lululemon, SoulCycle, and Pure Yoga for hosting us!

Long Branch Half Marathon Training — Week 5

Another week done. Not my strongest week and a bit of a mileage cutback due to running the Scotland 10K on Sunday, but I felt good about getting my planned miles in. Honestly, getting into a life rhythm last week was just impossible — I’d be exhausted all day at work and whenever my alarm went off, then wide awake at bedtime. It was freezing and windy all week (a pattern that seems to have been rectified this week, YAY!), work was crazy busy, I had plans after work most nights… I just couldn’t get it together. Some weeks I feel like no matter what my calendar throws at me, I just knock everything out of the park and have limitless energy… but Week 5 was not one of those weeks. That’s not to say it was a bad week: I broke Passover dinner at Otto with great friends, saw the Rangers score 6 goals against the Penguins, even got some good runs into the mix, and as I’ve already elaborated, had a great Saturday (which was followed by an equally awesome Sunday). I just would have loved more energy to enjoy it all.

To try and get some of my energy back this week, I’m trying to focus on two things: clean(-er… let’s be honest, there was no way I was resisting the first day of the Kelvin Slush Truck today)  eating, LOTS of water, and planning better so I can get more sleep.

Ginger slush with Raspberry mix-in… also known as heaven in a cup.

We’ll see how this goes, but here’s what I was able to accomplish last week, even despite my extreme lack of energy:

Monday: A quick at-home workout before work, which was actually an amazing way to start the day: the Oiselle runner dozen (death) and a 25-minute Lunchtime (whatever) Flow yoga podcast courtesy of Yoga Download. I’d rather be in a studio any day of the week, but this is a nice substitute in a pinch.

Tuesday: Met Rebecca for a freezing cold morning run, and we ended up covering about 4 untimed, easy miles. This run was not easy, and did I mention it was COLD? Two days prior, I was running in shorts, and that day, I ran in my winter running tights. Pleeeeease, running gods, tell me I can retire these for the season now?

Wednesday: I had originally planned to go to an evening yoga class, but when Dad asked on Monday if I wanted to go to the hockey game that night, there was no way I was passing that up. Sports > yoga, always. Unplanned rest.

Thursday: I’m not sure I’ve ever not wanted to run more than Thursday night. I originally planned to run-commute, but it was too cold and I point-blank DID NOT WANT TO. I thought about trying to find a class to take to sub out the miles and tried every mental excuse in the book that I use to get out of running, but eventually ended up begging Rebecca to hold off on her evening run so I could come join her… and then I had an amazing 4 mile run when I loved everything about the sport and wanted to run forever. Go figure.

Show me a night it takes all my willpower just to lace up my sneakers, and I’ll show you a night I fall in love with running all over again.

— Elizabeth Hoffman (@ElizabethBevanH) April 5, 2013

Friday: Planned rest in preparation for Saturday’s 10K.

Saturday: Ran the Scotland 10K… 6.2 miles in 57:08. Phew. 1:15 off my PR, but I think it puts me in a pretty good position for a flatter, tapered half-marathon next month in Long Branch.

Sunday: Glorious sweaty Flywheel class with Danielle, plus our first ZogSports football game of the season. I continued my streak as a defensive specialist, although I did play a few offensive series, and I now have more catches than I did all of last season. Mostly because I spent last season limping around/standing on the sidelines during knee injury/marathon training and caught zero balls, and now I have caught exactly one. And while I wouldn’t call Zog football INTENSE EXERCISE because it’s not like I’m sprinting down the field to catch long balls (or, more accurately, not catching them), whatever, it totally counts as cross-training.

Weekly totals: 14.2 miles, 1 at-home yoga workout, 1 core workout, 1 spin class, 1 football game.

Goals for Week 6:

• 4 runs, 22 miles (long run=11 miles, eep)
• 1 Flywheel class
• 1 at-home yoga practice, 1 studio yoga class
• 1-2 core work sessions
• 1 football game

Saturday.

I know my presence has been a bit sparse around these parts the past few weeks, but please rest assured that this is 90% due to the fact that life has been, to quote Ali, “excitingly busy” the past few weeks (which basically means “a bit stressful, but generally just chock-full of things I love doing but prevent me from having time to think about blogging”). The other 10% is due to the fact that my MacBook is about three seconds away from death, which makes blogging difficult.

But I did want to stop by (or whatever one does when it basically entails just visiting a web site and word vomiting for 20 minutes) to say that in the art of trying to juggle my desire to actually do relatively interesting things with my time, my training/workout schedule that I’m  determined to maintain, and the intense love I have for lounging around on my couch, I have to say that today was a truly glorious Saturday.

The day started with the Scotland 10K, which I raced in lieu of a long run to gauge my fitness for the Long Branch Half. I’m not sure I’ve ever been so discombobulated on a race morning and ended up racing blind due to a dead Garmin, but I finished with a very respectable 57:08 (9:12/mile) — not a PR, but I’m happy with it nonetheless. And after a great morning of racing, I filled the rest of my day with a delicious post-race breakfast at Whole Foods, a trip to Trader Joe’s to buy groceries, a mimosa brunch at Essex (I think we were the oldest people in the place, but my baked eggs were surprisingly delicious and they were very generous with the drink refills) to celebrate a friend’s birthday, continuing the party with a trip to Economy Candy and Jurassic Park in 3-D (UMM GO SEE THIS, IT’S AMAZING, no matter how many times you have seen JP before), and finishing up the evening by parking on the couch to heal my champagne/sugar coma with the Rangers game and the Final Four. An incredible day.

(via tvtropes.org)

And on top of all of that, I have discovered a fantastic new (to me) album and band — “Mutual Friends” by Boy. This song has been on constant repeat the past 48 hours, and the entire album is just as good. I don’t think it’s possible to be in a bad mood while listening to this song, I really don’t.

Long Branch Half Marathon Training — Week 4

(Confession: I never know what week # I’m on for these blog posts, so I always have to look at the prior week’s post to check it. I am currently floored at the fact that my training for this race is 50% done.)

This week, I’m incredibly proud of my training. It was a busy week outside of training (including Passover, when I can’t eat any leavened bread, soy, corn or legumes for 8 days and have two big dinners at my parents’ house that run pretty late into the evening) and I did end up shifting things around a bit, but I also managed to have my highest-mileage week of this training cycle thus far: 21.4 miles. It was the first week since the week of 2/18 that I didn’t manage to make it to a Flywheel class, which was a bit of a bummer, but overall, this was a strong week…even though it came during a holiday when all my optimal training/fueling foods are off-limits (seriously, matzah just DOES NOT WORK).

Week 4 also had some firsts this cycle: my first runs in shorts, my first run-commute (run-mute?) home from the office, and my first runs in these gorgeous new shoes:

While my beloved Brooks Ravenna 2′s (the last pair that I’m pretty sure exists anywhere, as they’re currently on the 4) still have some mileage left on them before they die completely, it was high time that I started introducing a second shoe into my rotation so I wouldn’t be racing a half marathon on basically-dead shoes. At my favorite running store (The Running Company on the East Side), I tried on the 4′s, ready to love them… but I hated them. The Ravenna 2′s are pretty supportive and traditional, but the 4′s took it to a whole new level, and it felt like I had wrapped my feet in pillows and stuffed them in snowshoes. I’ve never run in Asics before, but after trying on Sauconys and Nikes that I hated (I shy away from Mizunos because that’s what I was running in when my knee issues started cropping up during marathon training last summer), I fell in love with these Asics (and the color): the GT-1000. They’re a supportive shoe but feel light and compact like the Mizunos, hopefully minus the knee issues, and I’ve loved both of the runs I’ve done in them so far.

But, onto the weekly recap:

Monday: 3 miles + some upper body strength work… nothing too crazy, as it was the day after the Purefy Your Soul triathlon (I promise, a post on that is coming) and my legs were shot. I ran on the treadmill because I wanted to test out the Asics, so I did two easy miles followed by a short upper body strength session, followed by one more mile. I was tired, so this wasn’t fun, but I pushed through it.

Tuesday: Rest. Really the only option in between Passover seder #1 and seder #2. I love being part of a religion that mandates 4 glasses of wine during a holiday that falls on a Monday.

Wednesday: I had planned to hit the treadmill after work for 4 miles (with the middle two at HMGP), but it was too gorgeous out that evening to run at the gym, so I impulsively decided to run home — luckily I had a long-sleeved shirt with me and it was warm enough for shorts (and I had my Oiselle distance shorts, which win at pockets). I grabbed some cash, my phone, my headphones, my Metrocard, a credit card, my keys, and an ID, stuffed everything else in my desk drawers, and ran from my office in Flatiron to the West Side Highway, up to 72nd, walked through Riverside Park (because it was pretty dark by then), and then ran to 81st and Central Park West, where I took the bus home because it was too dark to run through the park alone. This ended up being about 5.1 untimed, glorious, amazing, I-am-flying-and-never-want-to-stop miles, and I couldn’t stop smiling all night.

Thursday: I originally planned to go to Flywheel, but I bailed on it (luckily canceling before the Weds. 5PM deadline) in favor of sleeping in and spending the evening on the couch. After what was proving to be a very long/busy week, this rest was much-needed.

Friday: Returned to my favorite Friday night yoga class (the 6:30 Relax class at Strala), this time with Nicole! It was glorious, and exactly what I needed.

Saturday: I was hoping to do this run with my Lulunatics run club, but my stomach was feeling a bit rumbly so I ended up doing this solo a little later, and ended up with 10 miles in Central Park — the first 6 were glorious, the final 4, not so much. Not sure if this was due to eating lackluster carbs all week, the first SWEATY and warm (so much sun!!) outdoor run of the season, my first continuous double-digit run in ages, the fact that I am awesome at positive-splitting long runs, or just having an off day (or all of the above?), but I managed to get through the 10 in 1:38:51 (an estimate, as I only timed miles 2-10 at 1:28:51 and estimated mile 1 at 10 minutes) for an average pace of 9:53/mile. For my next long run, I’m going to make sure I use a caffeinated Gu… I’m not sure I get quite the same boost from the uncaffeinated ones. And then I walked four miles to Trader Joe’s and was so tired that I didn’t move from the couch for the rest of the afternoon. ‘Twas glorious, but all I really wanted was a bagel.

Sunday: My first-ever foray into the world of recovery runs! I did an easy, untimed 3 miles along the reservoir with Rebecca. It felt pretty good even though my legs were tired — perfect running weather, mid-50s and overcast.

On tap for Week 5:

• A slight cutback in mileage: 3 runs for 15-17 miles, because I’m racing the Scotland 10K on Saturday as a tune-up to see where I might be able to be for a half-marathon… should be an adventure. I don’t think I’m anywhere close to breaking my PR of 55:53 from last year, but I’m excited to see where my fitness is). 
• 1 at-home yoga/strength workout, including this beast of a core workout
• 1 studio yoga class
• 1 Flywheel class (I’m signed up for my favorite Sunday class with Danielle — hopefully a great reward for a successful week/race!)
• The start of our ZogSports flag football season on Sunday, which I’m totally counting as additional cross-training

And I even get to start eating real carbs again as of Tuesday dinnertime — the pasta and pizza supply on the island of Manhattan had better watch out, because training RUNGER is seriously starting to kick in.