Well - it's been an unbelievable 6 weeks since my last post, but I've been running the whole time and wanted to share the long-run highlights
Week 5: March 15th
Brooklyn Bridge run
7.5 miles
We started in Prospect Park and ran north through Park Slope, Boerum Hill and Downtown Brooklyn... to the Brooklyn Bridge... over the bridge... and then turned around and ran back to the park! It was an awesome first "out-of-the-park" run.
Week 6: March 22nd
Ocean Parkway run
8 miles
This week we ran south from the park - past my apartment and down Ocean Parkway for about 4 miles before turning around and heading back. This week I ran with new people on the team and we had a really good time pointing out all the interesting things we saw along the way.
Week 7: March 29th
Prospect Park
3 laps (10) Miles: 1:36:43
This week was all about pacing and fueling. Our first lap of the park was supposed to be fairly slow (our "easy" pace). At the end of the lap, we ran back to our regular meeting place and drank some Gatorade. The second lap was also supposed to be
at the easy pace, and after finishing it, we stopped again for another refueling, this time eating an energy gel and drinking water. Finally the third lap which we were supposed to run about a minute per mile faster than the other two. I ran the first 3.3 mile lap at about 10:25 per mile, the second at about 10:00 per mile, and the last at about 8:42 per mile!
Week 8: April 5th
Tarrytown
12.5 Miles: 2:00:00
This week we drove up to Rockefeller State Park Preserve in Sleepy Hollow, NY (near the Tappan Zee bridge.) The run was more about running for 2:00 than it was about actual distance. It was really fun to run in a park, and it was beautiful. At the very beginning of the run we actually saw deer along the trail! The weather was a little cool, but once we started running it was great. There were even a couple times that it was really hot when the sun was shining directly on us. The hills this week were a little bit of a challenge, but not too bad. After the run, the team all went out to brunch together - which of course was OK with me!
Week 9: April 12th
Bayridge-Coney Island
14.5-15 Miles : 2:26:00
This week we met at Coach Collen's apartment in Bayridge. We ran along the water, under the Verazzano bridge to the Coney Island boardwalk and back. It was really humid and really, really foggy. In fact, we couldn't even see the bridge until we were actually under it. On the way back it started clearing up and we were treated to a beautiful view of the statue of liberty (and we were certainly tired and hungry by that point!!) Here's a map of the run:
if you click on the map, you'll be taken to Gmaps Pedometer, a really neat tool for calculating walking/running distances.
Week 10: April 19th
George Washington Bridge / Palisades Park
16.5-17 Miles : 2:55:00
This week we met on the New Jersey side of the GW bridge for a run in Palisades Interstate Park along Henry Hudson Drive After running almost 15 miles in the park, we finished off by running across the George Washington bridge and back for a SPECTACULAR view of the Hudson.
Phew - enough re-cap! The whole training experience has been great so far & I feel totally confident that I will be ready for the marathon in another couple months. I still have problems staying disciplined during the week, but now that it's nicer outside and volleyball is ending I really don't have any excuses. I'm really excited about the upcoming Brooklyn Half Marathon on May 3rd - just the thought of doing an actual half marathon is cool, but it goes right past my apartment (like the Ocean Parkway run), and that makes it even better.
If you want to read what this is all about, click here for details.
Also, please visit my fundraising page to make a donation or see how close I am to my $4900 goal to help fight cancer.
