Training for New York City Marathon Week #2: Monday & Tuesday

The schedule for Week #2 looks something like this:


MON      TUES      WED      THUR         FRI      SAT      SUN
x-train     5 mi        30 min      3 mi           rest        5 mi      11 mi
30 min      easy        tempo      easy                         easy       easy


It seems this week's workout is easier than last week. For one thing, Saturday's run is a regular easy run, and not a pace run. I like that I have a hard week followed by an easy week. It will give me a chance to catch my breath, so to speak.


On Monday, I felt great after the long run on Sunday.  That was a good sign that I didn't overdo it.

Not feeling this today...next week?

However, I felt so good that I decided to run 3 miles instead of the cross-training that I scheduled for myself.  I was in the gym on my lunch hour, and I stood there for a minute and looked at the machines and saw the people sweating over them obviously working very hard. This day's workout and subsequent Mondays for the next 17 weeks will be centered around 30-40 minutes of cross training on these cardio machines. I will be alternating cycling with the elliptical machine. It's good to switch it up. I'm sure Hal Higdon wouldn't mind if I cross off one of the easy run days. After all, this is still active recovery. But just not this day. Maybe next week, I thought, and darted outside!  I just wanted to be outside for even for a short time, I've been couped up in the office all morning, somehow being outside is that much more appealing.


I ran a recovery pace for 2.25 miles and once my legs were warmed up, I came upon a hill about 6% to 7% grade.  Yes, I couldn't control myself and I ran some hill sprints about 8 seconds each repeat with full recovery. It wasn't in the schedule. I ran it 4 times and each time, it was faster than the previous one. After the hill sprints I ran back to the office for a mile of cool down. I ran a total of 3.32 miles at about 9:36min/ mile. I was happy with what I did. But like a kid who had the dessert first, after being told you can't eat it yet and I did anyway, I was having second thoughts and asked myself, "Oh-oh what have I done now? Will this bite me in the a$$ later this week?" I knew the next day's 5 miler might have to be scrubbed after this spontaneous workout.

When I woke up today my legs felt normal. However as the day wore on, particularly closer to the early afternoon, my muscles felt a little fatigue. It was more noticeable as I went up and down the stairs at work. I woke up thinking that I was going to run the 5 miles anyway. But I was saved today, as I had forgotten that I had a lunch date, that meant no running for me.  I was okay with that. However, I need to be mindful that I cannot miss anymore Tuesday workouts, as it is the midweek "sorta-long-runs."  This is a pretty important piece of the puzzle and if I keep missing, I won't be following the program and therefore not going to realize its full potential.


I am looking forward to tomorrow's workout.  I have a 30-minute tempo scheduled. I could do this on the road, but it's a lot harder to do on the track, so I will opt for the latter. It teaches me to be mentally tough.

Happy running!