Hello and happy Monday! It’s officially week 2 of the Winter Shape Up – for those of you joining us, check out that page for links to the week 2 meal plan and week 2 workouts! Gina and I have been loving seeing all your updates on social media and in our Winter Shape Up Facebook group. Keep them coming – you guys are rocking it! 🙂
I had a nice weekend, and I hope you did, too! One of the highlights of mine was an awesome 18 mile marathon training run on Saturday! Wait, did I just say “awesome” and “18 mile run” in the same sentence? Yes, yes I did.
It was a beautiful day here on Saturday – the whole weekend was much warmer and sunnier, which was such a nice change. This week’s run was done in two parts with two good college friends: the first half with Kathleen and the second half with Sarah! It was so fun catching up with both of them in the sunshine.
For part 1, Kathleen and I met up at the Smithsonian metro stop on Saturday morning, ready to go. Kathleen was up for between 8 and 10 miles, and we set off down the mall together, enjoying the time to catch up and chat.
We headed over towards the tidal basin, passing through the MLK Memorial on the way.
Despite the frozen water, it was quite warm on Saturday (well, high 40s/low 50s?) and we had a blast chatting and enjoying the fresh air.
From the tidal basin, we ran north along the Rock Creek trail along the water.
We looped back and ended up at the Lincoln Memorial about an hour and 15 minutes after we started, where we planned to meet up with our college friend Sarah for part 2 of the run! Here I am with Kathleen:
Once Sarah arrived, the three of us forged on together back towards the Smithsonian metro, where Sarah and I said farewell to Kathleen and continued on on our own for part 2 of the run.
8ish miles down – 10 more to go! Sarah and I decided to do a loop around the Capitol, then run back down the mall and over the 14th street bridge to the VA side of the river.
Hello, Capitol! You’re looking lovely.
Regarding fuel, I had a mocha Clif shot gel earlier in the run (about 5 miles in, eaten slowly), and after meeting up with Sarah I noshed on this Cascadian farm granola bar. I’ve been digging the real food lately on really long runs vs. gummies!
Here’s a shot from our run over the 14th street bridge. The water looked so cool.
Once over the bridge, we headed down onto the Mt. Vernon Trail, which you guys know is a favorite of mine. We were both feeling great and chatting away!
Last time I saw this part of the trail it was covered in snow! This was a nice change. 😉
Sarah and I decided to do a loop around Roosevelt Island to finish out our run. Lots of people were out strolling on the trails on the island! It’s crazy that it’s so close to the city – you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere!
Sarah and I said our farewells when we reached Rosslyn and I forged on to finish the final mile of my run solo. My last mile was the hill of death up to Courthouse/Clarendon, but I was surprisingly still feeling awesome and trucked up it with no problem! That was a nice change from previous weeks. 😉
18 miles – done! Great pace, too.
This was the best I’ve felt on a long run in quite awhile. A big thank you to Kathleen and Sarah for keeping me company out there! 🙂 Always love running with the two of them!
Splits:
- Mile 1: 8:48
- Mile 2: 9:10
- Mile 3: 8:51
- Mile 4: 8:48
- Mile 5: 8:59
- Mile 6: 8:56
- Mile 7: 8:57
- Mile 8: 9:17
- Mile 9: 9:17
- Mile 10: 8:53
- Mile 11: 9:12
- Mile 12: 9:07
- Mile 13: 8:57
- Mile 14: 8:51
- Mile 15: 8:56
- Mile 16: 9:31 (muddy/rocky trail slowed us down)
- Mile 17: 9:40 (trail still)
- Mile 18: 9:24 (great hill of death pace!)
It felt good to get such a great long run in. Yay! And thanks to an ice bath and some solid foam rolling, I felt felt good for the rest of the day/on Sunday, too.
And now, while we’re talking about marathons, I wanted to share some news about one of THE marathons: the New York City Marathon. FitFluential reached out to me as part of a sponsored campaign with the New York Road Runners and I was happy to participate to spread the word! I’ve always thought the NYC Marathon was cool, but it wasn’t until I had the opportunity to spectate it last fall and see all the excitement in person that I realized how truly special it is as a race. It’s the kind of thing you don’t really “get” until you’re there, you know?
The crowd support is one of the coolest things about the NYC Marathon. We watched from Central Park South and there were hordes of people around cheering on the runners all day long. From what I hear the crowd support is absolutely amazing throughout the whole course, which takes you through all five boroughs in the city. Matt and I spent most of the morning and afternoon out cheering and the fun was contagious!
After spectating the race last fall, I immediately put it on my race “bucket list”. I don’t think I’ll be ready for it this fall, but I know that someday I’ll do this race, even if only to see what it’s like to do such a famous and legendary marathon. The excitement in the city the whole weekend was just electrifying. And seeing elites like Geoffrey Mutai whiz by was pretty awesome, too. 🙂
So, there are a few ways to get the opportunity to run the NYC Marathon:
- Guaranteed entry by time – aka run really freaking fast in another race and qualify. I don’t think I’ll ever be getting into the race through this route, but I suppose you never know. Maybe someday. 🙂
- Guaranteed entry by eligibility – more details at the link as to who qualifies for this.
- Lottery selection for NYC-metro area applicants (e.g. residents in and within 60 miles of New York City)
- Lottery selection for "National" applicants (U.S. residents outside of the tri-state area). This will be me someday!
- Lottery selection for "International" applicants (non–U.S. residents)
This year, the TCS New York City Marathon is making it a little easier for 60 runners who apply for the lottery; there will be 6 weekly sweepstakes drawings during which 10 lucky runners (one from each of the 5 boroughs and 5 national and international runners from the marathon applicant database) will win a non-complimentary, guaranteed entry into the 2014 TCS New York City Marathon. Drawings will take place every Monday from February 3 – March 10 so the earlier you register, the more chances you have to get picked! Visit the TCS NYC Marathon website to apply. If you don’t win a guaranteed entry as part of the contest, you will automatically be added to the general marathon drawing to be conducted in March.
For those considering the TCS New York City Marathon (general registration closes on March 18), consider joining the New York Road Runners (NYRR) and FitFluential for a twitter chat on this Thursday, February 6, 2014 at 9 p.m. EST. Follow the hashtag #TCSNYCMarathonApply and be sure you are following both NYRR (@NYRR) and FitFluential (@FitFluential), too! During this chat, you’ll have a chance to hear from Coach John Honerkamp who has coached runners of all ages and abilities for 15 years. He also ran the 2010 ING NYC Marathon in 2:44:22!
Have you applied for the lottery (or do you have a guaranteed entry?) for the TCS New York City Marathon this fall?
How was your weekend? Any great training runs to report?
