Before I recap my weekly workouts and updates, I want to give a shout out to Coach Laura, who has been an incredible source of information and support throughout the past month and a half I spent beginning my marathon training plan. If you’ve been reading along this summer, you’ll know that I began having some hip pain in early July that turned into a full-on injury, and as a result, I’ve decided to focus on recovery and will be deferring my entry to the New York City Marathon until next year.
My mileage was supposed to increase this week, after last week’s cutback, but I ended up running a little less than last week instead. My left hip has been sore lately – which surprised me when it first started to ache because up to this point, all my injuries have been on the right side of my body, including a broken ankle ten years ago, tendinitis in my knee, and a pulled hip flexor two summers ago. While having to work with and around an achy hip isn’t my first choice for the second month of marathon training, I still think overall it’s going as well as the first, because I’m focusing more on ways to stretch, strengthen, and stabilize my hip and other joints and that should be beneficial in the long run.
And the second month of marathon training has begun! This was a cutback week, so my overall mileage decreased compared to last week, but I felt good on each and every run despite a few twinges in my hip that I’ve been feeling lately. Getting to the starting line injury free is a top priority, so I’ll consider it a good week overall.
Week three of my marathon training plan brought another 10-mile run and a pretty similar week of workouts to last week, except that I hewed closer to the actual schedule Laura laid out for me. I’m actually kind of surprised that I did, because this week was just as crazy as last week and there was a lot of life stuff going on!
Since yesterday’s post was all about my dear friend Lauren’s wedding, I’m sharing my usual weekly workouts and updates today instead. I ended up deviating from Laura’s plan for my second week of marathon training a little bit because life got in the way, but I think I’ve got it all under control since it’s still so early. Read on for a look at my running this week, and a glimpse of other life happenings during the week and weekend!
This weekend, one of my close childhood friends tied the knot with her now-husband at West Point. Lauren is truly one of the loveliest people I know, both inside and out, dedicating her life to Nick, to her family and friends, and to her patients as a nurse. Her bridal shower was wonderful, and as it happened, the wedding was probably the most beautiful one I’ll ever attend.
I’ve always loved celebrating Memorial Day. It isn’t the biggest holiday, but it does mark the start of summer in more ways than one. This year, the weather warmed up rapidly, so it seems like it really crept up on us, but all that meant is earlier morning runs and lots of ice cream to cool off. I’ll recap my weekly workouts first and then get to Memorial Day weekend.
I don’t want to jinx it, but after this week, it seems like spring has sprung in New York City and I couldn’t be happier with the sunshine. It wasn’t a particularly cold winter. In fact, most of it was rather mild, save the arctic freeze over Valentine’s Day weekend. But there’s something about the arrival of spring, a season when the world is in bloom and everything is reborn, that’s particularly conducive to lazy weekend mornings, long runs in the not-yet-hot sun, fresh foods, and a general feeling that now is the time when new hopes and dreams can come alive.
This week was a blur of activity, running and otherwise. First I’ll recap my weekly workouts and updates about my running and race plans, and then I’ll fill you in on all the other goings on that have filled the first month of 2016.
Instead of the usual blahs that accompany a Monday morning, it seems like everyone is truly in the Christmas spirit, eager to get through the next few days before heading home for the holidays! At least, that’s what it seemed like on my walk to work this morning. Even though my family doesn’t celebrate Christmas (it’s Hanukkah for the family and Chrismukkah with friends) I am definitely looking forward to enjoying their company come late Thursday afternoon. Until then, here are my weekly workouts and updates.
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