United Airlines NYC Half Marathon (new course!!)

Obviously it’s been a while.

This was probably the first long run I did for 2018 and for someone who applied a lot of discipline and diligently trained for a race, the lack of training has been evident in the past weekend.

NYRR has decided to redo the NYC half marathon course and make it a bi-borough race, starting in Brooklyn and going through all the iconic NYC landmarks. While the course was much more scenic, it was much more challenging. Reviewing the route the day before the race, I was at an “oh shit” mind. And all my bad thoughts came true during the race. ALSO. While taking the train to the start, I caught vomit on my arm by a girl because she got so motion sick on the train. And we were approaching to the station. Like why!?!?!

Happy New Year!

Of course starting a new training program right at the heart of the holiday season was a complete disaster 😂 Nonetheless I had a great holiday, ran somewhat and now facing new struggles of extreme cold weather. I did a short run in the midst of the sub zero weather, wearing a long sleeve, base layer, and thick leggings and my belly was all red. I like running in the cold, but this is a new spectrum of unbearable.

This post won’t be long, because I not here to write a recap of 2017 or write new goals for 2018 (except for writing the correct year when I date shit). I just want to run new races and continue to improve on my running and see where this goes. Training for marathon 3 is very slow but the weather has been beating me down and I’ve been struggling with the academy. The whole month of December was pretty unbearable because the academy was scheduling us to do other training outside and it was painstakingly cold. My birthday gift was also the bomb cyclone (and I STILL went to work). I was definitely annoyed because we are not yet essential workers and we are actually technically students so they should have canceled classes. Oh well. Life goes on.

I already had a major change happen in 2018.

My family quit the YMCA. We were YMCA members for ten freaking years. TEN YEARS. I was in middle school when they signed up because they decided to get healthy to live a long life. In turn, it made my dad a marathoner, my mom drop over 30lbs (she also ran a few half marathons way before I even decided to run myself) and inspired my brother and I to get into sports ourselves. I was definitely attached to that place. I never had any other gym membership other than Planet Fitness for the sake of it being 3 blocks from my house. We even got grandfathered in paying a family rate because they signed up so early. But now its easier for my parents to go to that super close Planet Fitness and my brother is out of the state. It really didn’t make sense to keep paying a hefty fee for a gym membership we now seldom go to. So we quit. And I signed up for a local gym in Queens and thank goodness it was a good experience. The highlight was their treadmills (go figure). It actually does not stop after I run beyond 60 minutes. There is even an option to do a full marathon on the treadmill (lol). But with this weather and snow, running indoors was definitely advised. Other things that was a must have was a legitimate squat rack as most know, Planet Fitness does not believe in free weights. This place had 3 of them and when I go at 9 am (yay for evening tours) I usually find a spot immediately. So with all that, it was an easy transition.

Until then, hoping for an injury free, fulfilling 2018 for everyone!

 

Always Chasing

It has been a few weeks since I touched this blog and to be honest I knew I wasn’t going to come back unless I was going to run another marathon. I also know that I won’t have the discipline to run like how I do for a marathon unless I sign up for another marathon. By the way, I haven’t done so yet. But I’m 95% sure that I will be doing so. The race is so small, I can pretty much sign up the day before without issues… But I will sign up for it soon, I promise!

Yes I’m that person who needs to constantly have a physical goal at hand in order to actually get my butt up and do it. But I know better. Since the marathon, I have only done 2 runs– one of them being a race. There is no way I can continue this so with that being said, next week I will begin a new training cycle. Sixteen weeks from now I will run my third marathon. 

Week 17/18???

Spoiler alert: I didn’t have the ideal post marathon recovery regiment. Maybe I’m just so caught up with recovery being just as important as the training itself but it is a big deal. 

Week 15

Ugh because I’ve just got into the academy like 2 weeks ago, everything is just out of wonk. First off, living in Queens sucks. Sorry but not sorry if you’re a Queens person but why is everything so damn far away? And why must I also take a bus? Traveling into Manhattan (for various things  including bib pickup) takes minute and a half and then I have to come back which takes two. 

Runner’s World Half and Festival Race Recap

First of, thanks for reading my first race report. I normally don’t do these things because there are other people who write way better than I do and have better experience with these things. However I feel like I’m not yet an avid runner until I have unlocked these achievements: (a) having a blog and (b) writing race recaps.

Week 14

Many of us would agree life and marathon training or running in general basically clash against each other. In summary, I finally got my new job (actually more of a position change)… I’m in the NYPD police academy *say what*. I’m very fresh in- like a freshman starting their first day of high school. I’m starting from the very bottom of the crusty barrel and everyone is going to treat me like shit. It is very scary for me but all changes are scary. But this is an exciting scary.

I actually started Wednesday so Monday and Tuesday I was basically saying my goodbyes to the amazing precinct I was working at. I’m definitely going to miss them and I’m especially going to miss my wonderful self-penciled schedule I was able to make. I also had to stop working at flu programs but I won’t miss dragging those giant ass crates! Basically with all the goodbyes and entrance paperwork and traffic, I didn’t do squat this whole week. No lifting, no tapering, NOTHING. HOWEVER. I really wouldn’t have done anything had I not signed up for the Runner’s World Half and Festival. I’m actually going to do my first race report on this blog because it was such an eventful weekend. Spoiler alert: it was AMAZING. 

Week 13

It is now crunch time! Can you believe it will be three weeks before toeing the line at the Verrazano Bridge!?

Week 12- Fueled by Rain

Flu season is on full throttle. I work as a seasonal travel nurse going to corporations and stabbing, I mean giving flu shots for hours on end. However my company changed their operations by giving us all the supplies to us directly to our address. You’d think that makes it easier? Not when they expect you to bring the supplies to the location in a shipping crate that I can essentially fit into. Now bring that on the subway. On rush hour. With no elevators.

It doesn’t help when the trolley they give you is the cheapest thing on the planet. The wheels are so small, any crack on the sidewalk will topple the giant crate over. And you already know in New York there is a shit ton of construction. Sometimes I can’t even walk 5 feet without this giant crate falling again and again and again.

So that was my past few weeks. I’ve been having the worst anxiety commuting when I have to drag that crate around. I’ve probably done a ton of upper body strength training carrying that thing up the stairs. Thank goodness I haven’t needed to carry it down the stairs. I think it would topple me over. Once I finish the program I throw it to the nearest FedEx and say good riddance to it. I take the train home feeling 1000lb lighter.

But the point is, it might have been the cause of my desire to go straight home and not do anything during the work week.

How I Barely Got Through the Hardest Part of Marathon Training

I feel it’s safe to say that many runners who work a 9-5 job, live in an area where the weather does not permit, or have families (and friends) go through the same predicament at some point in their training: early morning runs. Often times it is deemed out of absolute necessity because I know if I could, I would pick sunset running over sunrise running any time. But I want to enjoy my after-work hours with friends and family or bothering PB at home. When training started in the summer for me, early morning runs were even more necessary because it was the coolest time of the day (80F and 85% humidity was the coolest temp… seriously). Like many people, I still dread early morning runs and it’s still a full blown battle each time because who doesn’t like snuggling in bed?

But somehow they get done. Well, not without an actual plan. There is a good deal of preparation to ensure you’re able to get your ass out the door and get running at 4:00am. The actual run itself is not the hard part– it’s the getting your ass out of bed 😦 and actually having your body awake enough to get out of the house. There is no full-proof formula, otherwise everyone can do it. But there were some things I did that helped, and I need everything and a prayer (or three) to get through the darkest hour.