Adventures of a female master runner in Metropolitan Washington, DC.
Scroll all the way down to the end for the tl;dr version. Prologue This was a strange training cycle because I simultaneously prepared for the New York City Marathon (“NYCM”) using the 12 weeks, 70 miles per week plan in
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Another taper week as I got ready for the 2019 New York City Marathon! Unfortunately, I cut my last distance run short for fear of hitting a wall of exhaustion again. But, the other workouts of the week went well.
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For most of the week, I was in Athens, Greece, having arrived last Thursday. Even though I never found a trail or track, I completed a speed workout on Thursday. My return flight landed on Friday night and I ran long the next day!
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Two weeks into my 2019 New York City Marathon training cycle and I traveled for work. I arrived in Athens, Greece on Thursday and even though I was jet-lagged, completed a treadmill run in that night. Out on the roads the next day, I was rewarded with two amazing sights!
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I arrived back in Washington, D.C. late Monday night and jumped back into running on Tuesday with a 13 miler in 78 degree heat. On the Fourth of July, I ran a 5K. I planned to do another middle distance run on Saturday to keep my mileage up but changed my mind.
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This week, I tried to get the snap back in my legs by running shorter intervals. Just as I was getting into a training groove, a trip to San Diego for my high school reunion caused me to move some workouts around.
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This race was pretty high on my list of tough marathons. If the race was a week or two earlier, I think it could be a destination event. It was well organized and there’s just enough to do around downtown for a three-day weekend.
I finished the 2019 Boston Marathon in mid-April and did a “reverse taper” before training again.
Based on the warm weather forecast, I adjusted my expectations considerably and just wanted to finish. The spectators were fantastic – spraying runners with hoses and giving out water. In the final miles, the temperature was 84 degrees! My time was 3:57:09 (9:02 pace) – my second slowest marathon.
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With only a month since the 2019 Boston Marathon, I wondered if my body was rested enough to run well in another. But, would it matter? The weather forecast for the Cleveland Marathon was predicting a scorcher… Training Schedule May
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Recovery from the 2019 Boston Marathon was short. I took two days off, “reverse tapered”, and by the following week, was already training for the for the 2019 Cleveland Marathon! But, sickness knocked me down for a few days. Training
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The afternoon heat made it a tough day but the cheering crowds made the race bearable.
I went into the race with a lot of confidence after running the 2019 Rock n Roll DC Half Marathon in 1:38:36 (7:32 pace) – my fastest half marathon in three years! My goal was sub-3:28:00 (7:57 pace). But, in the days before the race, my knees were killing me.
A few miles into the race, I was already sweating. By the time I reached Newton, running 7:59 pace, the temperature was probably just under 70 degrees! I left that town down to 8:08 pace but rallied in Brookline.
My time was 3:34:40 (8:12 pace). My goal marathon for this spring was actually the 2019 Cleveland Marathon so, I plan to take a few days off and then start training again.
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