A Perfect Saturday

I think I was looking forward to Saturday for the better part of a month. 

NYC's Summer Streets is one of my favorite things of summer - and although was excited for my Montauk weekend - I was sad to miss a week of it. 

So all last week was eagerly awaiting it. 

It has been no secret that I have been a slave to the treadmill as I have come out of this Crohn's flare - and having access to rest stops and open road was very very appealing to me. 

I woke up before my alarm and at 6:55 was on the train into the city. 

I quickly dropped a bag at the gym and was off and running. 

And the day did not disappoint. 

The weather felt perfect, it was early so it wasn't too crowded, and god I was just HAPPY. 

Just look at it! 

I decided to run over the Brooklyn bridge and on the way back decided to drop the pace because I was feeling good and tempo a bit. 

I was using map my run because my Garmin is all sorts of f'ed up (probably rebelling me trying to charge it and use it after so long, haha!). And was NOT trusting the splits. So I asked this gentleman I was pacing off what he was doing and he said 8:30ish so I guess it was right! 

I stopped twice for water but other than that I just RAN. People, never ever take that for granted. If I have learned nothing it is that I love to run, and being able to run healthy is a blessing. 

Anyways sorry for the cheesy stuff but necessary. 

So I finished my run of awesomeness at a sub 9 pace. I still don't 100% trust it but I do know that I am feeling more confident to run some half's this fall. Not trying to PR or anything but run them not stopping every two miles. 

Then I headed home to NJ to the parents for some R&R and it was fabulous. Long run recovery done right!

Rounded out to be quite the perfect day! 

Thank you Summer Streets!

Recovery, Or My Version of It...

So 8 days ago, I ran this little thing called the Marathon. And as we know it was amazing.

I anticipated feeling SOME sort of "pain" after having run 26.2 miles, but the truth was, that other than a little bit of tightness in my quad I was a-okay. 

I guess that is good right? means I must have been in good shape to undertake the whole thing in the first place.

I attribute this partially to the fact that I took it easy during the race and didn't push my pace at all. 

That being said, I found it hard to sit still and "recover" for too long. I am already focused on my next big goal race and was eager to get back at it. Yes I know after a strict training program most people are all too excited for some type of "off" season. 

Me? 

I love structure. 

I love training. 

I love goals. 

They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  

I haven't elaborated on my 2013 goals because I thought I would be jinxing myself to discuss what I had planned post first marathon. I will get into that in a different post later this week; but for now - my next immediate goal is to PR the Allstate 13.1 New York. I am aiming for sub 1:50 (current PR is 1:53:14).

This means time to get more speed back. Time to hit the weights, speed work, intervals and hills oh my! I do not think I could run that time right now so have some work to be done before March 23rd. 

So lets get back to what my post race recovery looked like:

Monday - active rest - a lot of walking and strolling around Miami

Tuesday - total rest - the most walking I did was in the airport

Wednesday - morning - 45 minutes of cardio night - 60 minutes of cardio + core work

Thursday - morning - 30 minutes of cardio + upper body strength night - 20 minutes cardio + easy 3 miles run

Friday - spin class

Saturday - spin class + body pump + football game

Sunday - 65 minutes cardio + 45 minutes spinning + yoga

My "cardio" there is ellipticalling until blue in the face. 

So I was pretty active, but also look at that break from running! Kind of proud of myself. 

And feeling oh so nice and sore from the weight training. Ahhhh burns so good. Buns and thighs are feeling it from all that squating and lunging in body pump + utilizing different muscles with all that spinning.

As of today - back at it as far as the running goes. Probably aim for a 30 mile week or so to still keep it easy and not sure if I will do much speed work this week but I am going to follow what my body feels. 

Transitioning from the marathon mentality back to half. 

One thing I do know is that never letting go of strength workouts again. I did it because I would not want to have an 18 miler on the agenda when I'm feeling sore walking up a flight of stairs. Good burn but not fun for 3 hours of running. But also if I keep it consistent that shouldn't really be an issue. 

I have about 6 weeks or so to try and get to where I was in November. I am hopeful that if I am diligent that I can get some speed back. I also might be selling myself short. I was trying at any point in the past couple months to sustain speed. I was focused on hitting my training paces which did not include sub 9 minute miles for distance. 

I also need to tone up/slim down. I probably put on a couple pounds during training (I've stopped weighing myself but I just FEEL fluffy/less toned) so I've stopped eating everything in sight because I was "training for a marathon" and back to normal person eating. So NOT as fun I might add. 

So yay for training plans! They make me so giddy!