STILL HERE, TRAINING GOING STRONG, HARD TO BELIEVE NYC IS IN 4 WEEKS.

Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted to my blog (sorry!!!). The good news is training is going well, and I am right on schedule for finishing NYC with a pretty good competitive time. The downside is I missed a few workouts a couple of weeks ago, but all is fine, I’m HEALTHY and that is all that matters!!!! Back on 9/10, at my yearly mammogram, they discovered another lump on my right breast. I went back on 9/16, for a needle biopsy which eventually revealed the lump was benign, thankfully!! My mom is a 1x survivor, so for years I have been getting checked yearly, and now every six months, so, though it was alarming, I took comfort in the fact that if it was something, they caught it early, and it would be dealt with. Though, at times, to convince my brain of this was hard. Hence, not having the strength sometimes to get out the door and complete a run. (It’s amazing the mind games your head plays at times) I never missed a long run, but getting out the door during that week, wasn’t always easy. So, I could have done without this drama before my favorite race of all time, the Cow Harbor 10K. Up until all of this happened, I hadn’t missed a run, and was feeling really strong. With the missed runs, not having my head in the game, and the needle biopsy, though I had built a huge base/strength in my training, I felt I wasn’t quite prepared for the 10K when the date approached.

The good news is I did run the Cow Harbor 10K race on September 26th, and raced to a new PR. Last years PR for this course was 52:41 (prior was 1:01:30), and with my marathon training, I believed I could break 50:00 this year. I crossed the finish line at 47:44 (7:41 overall pace), crushing last years time, shaving off 4minutes and 57seconds. To say the least I was thrilled with my time!! Woo Hoo!! And the best part is my head is definitely back in the game!!!!!

What else has been happening? I’ve run one 16 miler, one 17 miler, two 18 milers, a 19 miler and this past weekend I ran 21.4 miles over the George Washington Bridge, and up the hilly Palisades and back. This run was fantastic. Though I was a little disappointed, as it was supposed to be a 23 mile run, and I wanted that distance under my belt. But the group I was running with decided, due to the weather (it never did rain, but the skies were threatening rain storms), and in order to add the extra 2 miles to the Palisades course, I was told you have to run on the busy 9W highway that doesn’t have a guardrail separating the cars from the runners. I conceded to the group’s decision and plugged away at the 21.4 course at hand. I took the 1st half (10.7miles) very conservatively, and ran it in 1:44:32 (overall pace of 9:46), and then really pushed the 2nd half and finished in 1:32:33 (overall pace of 8:38). The best part is I ran the last 3 miles at a consistent 8:30 pace and felt when I finished that I could have kept going for more miles. I still would have liked to have run 23, but I learned that I could have done it if it was the mission of the day.

I took a gel 5 minutes before the run, and then again at M7, M12, M17 and M20. I drank Gatorade Endurance every other mile after mile 4. I also took 2 Endurolyte capsules before my run, and then every hour during my run. I still have not trained with water. Not sure why, maybe cause I don’t have the room to carry it, but during this run, I was thinking I should have run the first half with water, and then the 2nd half rotating water and Gatorade Endurance. Which is the plan I have for the NYC marathon, as the fluids will be on the course, and I don’t have to carry it. Not sure why I felt I should have run with water, except when the run was over, all I wanted was water. Could I have had too much salt/endurolytes in me?? Wondering if anyone out there has thoughts to share on this????

But, I am very pleased with my solid run. No pain, no cramps, stuck to the schedule and finished. I was told that if you run this hilly Palisades course in a decent time, that the NYC marathon will seem easy. Well, time will tell about that, but the Palisades run was a huge success in my book.

Oh and my legs yesterday and today are fine!! Hubby/BR411, gave me a deep massage on the legs the nite of the run and again on Sunday morning. No stiffness, and stairs were my friend. That was a huge boost in motivation for me. I'm still amazed my legs didn't hurt. Lets see how they feel after todays run. LOL

Next up for me is the Staten Island half this Sunday, October 11th. I ran it last year in 1:57:30 (which at the time was a PR). My goal for Sunday is to break 1:51:00. I believe I can do this, as I have accomplished this in my training runs. This will be my last race before the NYC marathon.

Again, sorry I haven’t blogged for so long. Back when I last blogged I was getting achy knee ITB pains in my knees (NOT when I ran, but when I was driving or sitting at my computer blogging). I found that when I stopped blogging, and sitting upright at my computer, that the discomfort in my knees went away, so blogging stopped, but I wanted to update everyone where I am at, and that all is still going strong for NYC Marathon. I can’t promise to blog consistently again, but I will do my best to keep my blog current.

Plan for today is a 9mile run: 2 mile w/u, followed by 5 miles @ a 7:50 pace, then a 2 mile c/d.