2013 New York City Marathon Thread (Read 601 times)

Julia1971


    Hi, guys.  Cutback week for me which included an asthma attack on Tuesday during my 800m intervals and a shortened LR today due to nausea.  Still, I can tell my paces are getting faster and stronger, and although I am sad I had to cut my MP+10% run at 12 instead of 16, I am glad with this week overall.  48 miles (instead of 52).  I'll live (I think, LOL).

     

    You should be.  You've been running very well.  Until I jinxed you by saying so in the dailies, that is.  Smile

    TakeAHike


      Damaris - Sorry about the asthma attack and nausea. You did well to make the most of the week.  Hopefully, this one will be better.

       

      Julia - It sounds like you are doing great.  If you enjoyed all but 15 of your 84 miles, you are doing pretty well.  That 20-miler was really solid.  Where are these dailies that you and Damaris refer to?

       

      Meaghan - Nice progression run.   I really ought to check out Summer Streets (I peeked at your log).  So, you were able to run though the Park Avenue tunnel? That sounds pretty cool.

       

      My week was pretty solid.  I finally managed to run a decent tempo run.  I also ran a strong 19-miler (supposed to be 18, but I made a wrong turn).  Just a couple months ago 13 miles was the limit of my endurance and I was not sure if I would really be able to race 26.2. Obviously, time will tell, but I am starting to feel more confident.  52 miles for the week.

      2013 goals: 800m: 2:20 | mile: 4:59 | 5k: 18:59 | 10k: 39:59 | HM: 1:32 | Marathon: 3:20

      Julia1971


        TakeAHike, D_R and I are regulars in the Marathoners Dailies forum: http://www.runningahead.com/groups/marathoner_dailies/forum. We bore one another with the minutiae of our training every day. Come join us if your family and friends are tired of hearing about our training but you want people to share it with. Smile. There's also a Beginners forum that's very active. You can find it under the Social groups... Glad to hear you're hitting your workouts. Isn't it great when what you thought was impossible starts to seem possible?

        Julia1971


          Another week in the book.  Pretty mundane which I'm taking as a good thing.  Smile  I did a 22 mile long run today.  Lots of runners and bikers out.  Best part that you all might appreciate was seeing a guy in his 2012 NYCM "finisher" shirt.  (It was not that cold today).  I'm running 8:25-8:30 pace for my medium and long runs pretty regularly now, which is a great confidence builder.   Tempo runs are still a struggle but they've always been for me so I'm not worrying too much.  More boring stuff next week and then an MP run on Saturday.

           

          Happy training, everyone!

          Docket_Rocket


            Just finished 18 miles with the last 8 @ MP in 95F and 77DP.  I cannot seem to take a break.  Even at 5:30am it was 90F already.

             

            Either way, strong week ended with 63 miles.  Second week in a row where my average pace has dropped to sub-11 (according to the RA log, which I love).  I can see the improvement so far.

             

            Julie, great job on your 22.  Did you ask him if he was from Miami?  Because only we wear long sleeves when it's 65F.

            Damaris

             

            As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

            Fundraising Page

            Julia1971


              Just finished 18 miles with the last 8 @ MP in 95F and 77DP.  I cannot seem to take a break.  Even at 5:30am it was 90F already.

               

              Either way, strong week ended with 63 miles.  Second week in a row where my average pace has dropped to sub-11 (according to the RA log, which I love).  I can see the improvement so far.

               

              Julie, great job on your 22.  Did you ask him if he was from Miami?  Because only we wear long sleeves when it's 65F.

               

              I wanted to say something to him but he didn't look so good.  Sad  I'm originally from SoCal so I have a tendency to overdress, too.  Poor guy.

               

              Way to go in bringing that overall pace down.  It's great to see progress like that.  Makes you know all the hard work is paying off.

              Docket_Rocket


                Sometimes I feel I might be running too fast, though.  I spent years running way slower than this due to asthma, so attempting to run faster has been a mental challenge.  I still don't think I am ready for this MP but hey, it was 95F so I am sure it feels different in 60F.

                 

                 

                I wanted to say something to him but he didn't look so good.  Sad  I'm originally from SoCal so I have a tendency to overdress, too.  Poor guy.

                 

                Way to go in bringing that overall pace down.  It's great to see progress like that.  Makes you know all the hard work is paying off.

                Damaris

                 

                As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

                Fundraising Page

                Julia1971


                  Another week (9?) in the books.  Not much to say about it.  I had to cut my 18 miler w/12 @ MP down to 16 miles w/8.5 @ME (marathon effort) today due to some pain in my ankles and heat.  I'm not too upset about it - last summer, all my MP workouts were miserable so the fact that I didn't completely blow up before I shut it down feels like a victory...  I have my first tune up race next weekend!  So excited!  Ran a 1:35 last year and hoping to better that by a minute maybe?  It's not an easy course - it's on a running trail so there's a bit of jostling for position and it finishes with 2 miles uphill.  I'm reigning champion at something, though, so I'd like to do well.  I'm not sure what, though.  I got a $100 check and a fancy vest in the mail but when I check the results, I can't figure out what I won.  Maybe they just appreciated my awesomeness.  Smile

                   

                  Hope everyone is having a great training cycle!

                  lagwagon


                    Hi all,

                     

                    I've been MIA last few weeks, felt like I've been walking a line.  We had some cool weather a couple weeks back, and I ran too fast for my muscles.  I've been nearly injured in several ways for a few weeks now, but feel like I'm almost back in control.  Calf, hamstring, groin, hip...so far still ticking.

                     

                    Notwithstanding, I've been hitting almost all the key planned workouts.  Only real change for me is taking non-key workouts (easy, GA and med long runs) a little easier.

                     

                    I had a nice HM race at MP run on Sunday (1:29:15 / 6:49 pace).  Crappy weather but happy to come in just under goal.

                     

                    Still not sure if I have a real shot at sub 3 hours...leaning towards my original (3:10) goal, but will use the upcoming tune up races to help decide.  Maybe the cooler weather will do its magic.

                     

                    I cant believe its week -8 already...keep rollin, everyone!

                    Docket_Rocket


                      Hi, guys.  I ended up my week with 66 miles and strong paces.  LR was 20 miles with the last 10 @ MP +10% and it went well (faster even).

                       

                      Hope everybody is doing well.

                      Damaris

                       

                      As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

                      Fundraising Page

                      Julia1971


                        Question: I think I asked this last year but I'll ask it again since I was talking to someone about this today...  I keep hearing that it's hard to PR at NYCM.  Is it just the crowds or is the course itself particularly hard?  I've heard the bridges act as hills and Central Park is hilly, too.  I think people are subtly try to suggest it might not be the best place to go for a big PR.

                         

                        Lagwagon, Nice job on that half.  Seems like you couldn't have paced it better...  There's still two more months of training so I wouldn't give up on that goal just yet.  I think the cooler temps will help a lot.  And, I know what you mean about the niggling injuries.  Everyday I feel like something new hurts.  Then that goes away and something new appears.

                         

                        D_R, You are getting it done!

                        TakeAHike


                          Hi all.  I was at the beach in North Carolina last week, but managed to get my runs in despite the heat and humidity.  I was scheduled to run 16 with 12 at MP.  That went fairly well until the wheels fell off with 3 miles to go.  I got the 16 in, but only managed 9 at MP.  I'm still fairly pleased with that run.  The rest of the week was uneventful.  This week calls for the first intervals and I am actually looking forward to them.  I enjoy running 800s and haven't done them in months.  I'll see how that goes.  The body is hanging in there, but I have been dealing with a strained calf for months.  Sometimes it bothers me more than other times, but I don't notice it after the first mile or two of my runs.  I can feel it today just walking around.

                           

                          I'm glad to see that everyone is doing well.  Julia, thanks for the link to the marathon dailies.  I may go join you over there.  I can't help you with your question about going for a PR in NYC.  I have also heard it is considered a tough course.  Hopefully others will chime in and explain why it has this reputation.

                          2013 goals: 800m: 2:20 | mile: 4:59 | 5k: 18:59 | 10k: 39:59 | HM: 1:32 | Marathon: 3:20

                          jerseyrunner


                          Half Fanatic 12680

                            Question: I think I asked this last year but I'll ask it again since I was talking to someone about this today...  I keep hearing that it's hard to PR at NYCM.  Is it just the crowds or is the course itself particularly hard?  I've heard the bridges act as hills and Central Park is hilly, too.  I think people are subtly try to suggest it might not be the best place to go for a big PR.

                             

                            I have only run four different marathon courses so I don't have a lot to compare, but I would agree that it is difficult to PR at the NYCM. I ran it in 2011 and it seemed that there were a few things working against you. First, it is crowded even with the corrals so I found that I ran the first mile much slower than I planned and I was planning to take it easy. Second, there are hills. I don't think the hills are more intense than say Boston, but the up and down for the bridges and for the hills in the last few miles (5th Avenue and Central Park) do slow you down. The ones at the end are particularly deceiving because they are not very big, but they come at a bad place. I know the best strategy is to try and run negative splits, but I think that one should also consider not going too slow in the first half where the course is relatively straight and flat -- the second half is much more twisty and hilly. Third, there are many turns on the course. Unless you hit all the tangents (which is pretty impossible), you end up adding more distance. And finally, there are water stops at every mile which is great for getting hydrated, but you can end up slowing down to dodge runners who are slowing down and stopping for the water stations. Of course, I was running with the 4-hour group, so it may be less crowded along the route in the faster corrals.

                             

                            That said, it is an extraordinary course with incredible views and fantastic crowd support along the entire route -- truly a special event. Just hanging out before the start it is amazing to hear so many voices in other languages; there are so many international runners which adds a lot of energy to the whole experience.

                             

                             

                            meaghansketch


                              Hello all,

                               

                              I had a mixed week last week-- decided to cut one of my 3 quality days because of a race I had on Monday.  So instead of Tues/Thur/Sat quality workouts I just did Wed/Sat.  My Wednesday tempo run went terribly (heat, humidity, went out too fast) but my 15-mile progression run on Saturday went quite well, though I didn't finish it quite as strong as my last progression run.  Monday I attempted to run a 10K which unfortunately was diverted due to a fire, so I only ended up running 5.5 miles.  I averaged an 8:02 pace for that, so I was more or less on pace for a 50:00 finish, which would have been a solid PR.

                               

                              I am excited to hit this point in the training cycle though as I am starting my favorite workouts tomorrow-- mixed intervals (at HM pace/10K pace/5K pace/3K pace).  Then on Sunday I have my first 20-miler scheduled.

                               

                              Julia- Nice week of running.  Yes, I hear that NYCM tends to be a slower course in comparison to others.  I have heard to add 5-10 minutes to your expected finish time on a flat, fast course.  To me it depends though what you are used to running.  Almost all my races tend to be very crowded, so I wasn't bothered by the crowds, and I do so many races in Central Park that I feel like the hills weren't anything I wasn't used to.  I also imagine that it depends where in the corral you are (front vs. back of the corral) and where in the pack of runners.  When I ran it I expected a 5:00 finish; this time I plan to be aiming for 4:00 so it'll be interesting to see how that effects my experience.  Good luck on your first tune-up!

                               

                              lagwagon- Very nice HM.  Yes, I would hold off on throwing out the 3:00 goal until you have a better idea of how you'd do without the crazy humidity.  It might be that a 3:10 is a more realistic target, but it may be that 3:00 is still possible on a cool day.

                               

                              Damaris- Very strong week!  Great job on the 20-miler and the pace on that.

                               

                              TakeAHike- Nice week, and I wouldn't worry about that workout.  Sometimes you just have to do what you can with the conditions, it's hard to get any at MP done with that kind of humidity.  Enjoy your intervals!

                              Julia1971


                                Thanks everyone for the explanations re the toughness of the course.

                                 

                                TakeAHike, It's like we're training twins.  I cut my MP run short and did my first interval workout today, too.  I'm doing my first work week double tomorrow.  (Groan).

                                 

                                JerseyRunner, Your post was so helpful.  I feel like I have a better understanding of what to expect.  I'm not a particularly strong hill runner, so I may struggle.

                                 

                                MeaghanSketch, Diverted due to a fire?  Now that's not something you read everyday...  I'm hoping the heat/humidity is about to break now that we're past Labor Day.