A Return to 26.2—Training for the NYC Marathon

Well, it has been 16 months since I ran my last marathon.  That was Boston in 2017. A while back I decided I was going to ease up on what had turned into an annual marathon and reserve 26.2 for World Majors and bucket list races. Having completed Chicago and Boston, that left the NYC marathon for World Majors in the U.S.

I set a goal as soon as Boston was over to try to qualify for NYC by running the required sub-1:32 half. I trained last Fall and did that in the Rehoboth Beach half marathon. After that training went so well, and I watched Shalane Flanagan kick a** and bring me to tears with her performance last year, I decided my goal for NYC would be a 7-minute personal best of 3:15. I put it out to the world in January so I had to hold myself to it, or at least hold myself to the necessary training to do it.

The Training Plan

A Runner’s World plan served me well for the half marathon—I used a 1:30 plan and ran a 1:29:58—so I decided to do the same for this one and use the Runner’s World 3:15 marathon plan. If you read my last post, you know that I moved to Boise, ID in June. I was looking forward to the opportunity to prepare for the killer NYC bridges by running in the Boise foothills and train at a much higher elevation. Once I adjusted to said higher elevation I was ready to get rolling with my plan.

It is a 16-week plan that officially kicked off on July 14. I have easy 5 mile runs on Mondays, increasingly intense track workouts that currently range from 6-8 miles now and will build to 10-12 at the peak, easy runs on Wednesdays, hills on Thursdays, and long runs on Saturdays that alternate between an increasing long slow distance (LSD) and dropping back to a shorter run with tempo miles (for example 12 miles this past weekend, then 10 with 2 at tempo this weekend, then 14 the following weekend, then 12 with 2 at tempo, etc.) with 1-2 rest days per week. Due to my injury proneness I am taking those two rest days, at least from running. There will still be a fair share of hiking on the weekends 🙂

In Addition

I am doing three strength training days per week. Normally I do four but I’ve scaled it back and am now combining a few muscle groups so it’s shoulders/triceps/core on Mondays, legs/core on Wednesdays, and back/biceps/core on Fridays. I am really focused on maintaining strength while building endurance to keep those nagging injuries at bay. That and I found an incredible chiropractor and will tell you all about the chiropractic and healing journey I’ve been on since coming to Boise in my next post!

Finally, I’ve joined the Boise Betties running team! I have options to work out with the team on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This team is a little different from the =PR= team I was on back in the DMV in that anyone can join—it is not selective based on past performance—and the team doesn’t necessarily compete in races as a team because there isn’t much of that out here like there was with Army Ten Miler or Cherry Blossom. BUT, we have team singlets which members wear to represent the team when they race, we have the group workouts and coaching from the talented runner who started the team, and have some team sponsorship and discounts 🙂

I currently have one race planned for the training cycle. That is the FitOne half marathon in Boise on September 22nd. I typically do a few more but to be honest there were just more races at the 10k through half marathon distance to choose from back in D.C.  There are a few other races here but they don’t quite fit into the schedule. Looks like that half will be a check-in and I’ll have to otherwise trust the plan and all the hill running.

I’m pretty excited

Jeremy will be going with me and spectating the race! He has run NYC and can both give great pointers and be my support system for the race, zipping around NYC to cheer me on and happily drinking beer knowing he doesn’t have to run. Shockingly, this will be my first marathon without him since 2015! We’ve run four of my last five together. I love love love being able to run with my best friend every day, but I’m ready to run my own race and have him cheer me on 🙂

I also just received a book from my friend Samia (my everything Boise…and now NYC…resource) about the NYC marathon called “A Race Like No Other” by New York Times writer Liz Robbins. With a review that says “This book could take on talismanic power, like the medal or the Mylar cape that every finisher receives,” I am fairly confident it will get me even more pumped!

I hope that come November I will be writing a post about my 3:15 performance at NYC but in reality as long as I get to the start line healthy and execute my training plan I will be happy.

Is anyone else running or spectating the NYC marathon this year?