I've been spending so much of my time running lately that it's started taking over my thoughts. I think about how I can go faster, hold out longer, chafe less, and ignore the intense heat that I feel whenever I'm out running in the humidity and sweating all over the place. I hear the Pace Lady, as I've taken to calling her, in my head, telling me that my pace is at 11 minutes per mile, or seven and a half minutes per mile, constantly fluctuating as if to mock me, and still it's probably the most accurate running app I've used so far (including the watch I used to use with the foot attachment).
At least I'm pretty sure I can rely on my legs. My upper body might be doing all kinds of crazy things with the sweating, and the heart racing, and the constant need for more air than it seems possible to glean from the air around me, but I've hardly felt anything at all that's worried me about my legs. Occasionally my calves or my knees will make themselves known more than they should, but it hasn't really gotten to the point of what I'd call pain. I think that could serve me well if I ever worked up the nerve to try an ultramarathon, but I'm not there yet. I still haven't gotten through a regular marathon without hitting a point where my legs made themselves known quite vociferously, though I'm hoping that'll change if I can get my time down far enough under 4 hours. My best so far is around 4:15, but last year was the first time I got really serious about sticking to an official training schedule, and the one I'm on this year is more intense than that one. It's been working out pretty well: I'm on week 5, and I've actually been running more miles than I've been scheduled to. It can be hard to fit the runs into my schedule sometimes, but the only time I've outright skipped one was last night when a thunderstorm was raging outside. Even then I took the opportunity to get back to P90X and do some plyometrics. I definitely felt that it my calves this morning, which I hope is for the better.
In three days I'm doing the second NYRR Long Training Run in Central Park. I'm either going to go 16 or 20 miles, depending on how my legs are feeling. I've gotten to 20 before, but I'm not even sure it's a good idea to be running that many miles so long before the marathon, when I haven't been running anywhere close to that distance yet, nor do I need to in order to ramp up to where I need to be. I've got 11 weeks still, and a number of long races to run before then. I actually feel bad that I've scheduled so many races, since it leaves only a few weekends when my wife and I are free to get out of the city for a couple of days. Even when we do get away I'll still have to keep up with my runs, since my schedule has me running 6 or 7 days out of practically every week.
Running has also become a major part of my Tuesday nights now, since that's when I'm taking my running class. Including the warm ups and cool downs, each class has racked up nearly 7 miles for me, and some of them are the most intense miles of my whole week. I've done three classes so far, and two of them have had us running loops in the north end of the park, where the most punishing hills are. I've run some of my fastest miles there, but I can't keep up that kind of pace, and by the third of the three laps I've been dropping back a pace group to keep myself from keeling over. The other week the course took place along what are roughly the last three miles of the New York City marathon, which helped remind me what I'm in for in November. There were two minute breaks between miles during the class, which helped my pace tremendously. Lord knows I won't be running nearly as fast after I've put 23 miles behind me, but it still felt good to know that I can keep up with everybody else when the hills and the humidity are a little less intense than they were on the nights when we were in the north end of the park. I'd have to say that, from my two experiences with the NYC marathon so far, the mile coming up to Central Park has to be the most dispiriting mile I've ever run, since it's uphill pretty much the whole way. It's not even a steep uphill, but it's constant, and it comes at a time when most runners don't have a whole lot left to give. I'm not looking forward to that mile this year, but hopefully I'll be better prepared for it than I've ever been before.
At least I'm pretty sure I can rely on my legs. My upper body might be doing all kinds of crazy things with the sweating, and the heart racing, and the constant need for more air than it seems possible to glean from the air around me, but I've hardly felt anything at all that's worried me about my legs. Occasionally my calves or my knees will make themselves known more than they should, but it hasn't really gotten to the point of what I'd call pain. I think that could serve me well if I ever worked up the nerve to try an ultramarathon, but I'm not there yet. I still haven't gotten through a regular marathon without hitting a point where my legs made themselves known quite vociferously, though I'm hoping that'll change if I can get my time down far enough under 4 hours. My best so far is around 4:15, but last year was the first time I got really serious about sticking to an official training schedule, and the one I'm on this year is more intense than that one. It's been working out pretty well: I'm on week 5, and I've actually been running more miles than I've been scheduled to. It can be hard to fit the runs into my schedule sometimes, but the only time I've outright skipped one was last night when a thunderstorm was raging outside. Even then I took the opportunity to get back to P90X and do some plyometrics. I definitely felt that it my calves this morning, which I hope is for the better.
In three days I'm doing the second NYRR Long Training Run in Central Park. I'm either going to go 16 or 20 miles, depending on how my legs are feeling. I've gotten to 20 before, but I'm not even sure it's a good idea to be running that many miles so long before the marathon, when I haven't been running anywhere close to that distance yet, nor do I need to in order to ramp up to where I need to be. I've got 11 weeks still, and a number of long races to run before then. I actually feel bad that I've scheduled so many races, since it leaves only a few weekends when my wife and I are free to get out of the city for a couple of days. Even when we do get away I'll still have to keep up with my runs, since my schedule has me running 6 or 7 days out of practically every week.
Running has also become a major part of my Tuesday nights now, since that's when I'm taking my running class. Including the warm ups and cool downs, each class has racked up nearly 7 miles for me, and some of them are the most intense miles of my whole week. I've done three classes so far, and two of them have had us running loops in the north end of the park, where the most punishing hills are. I've run some of my fastest miles there, but I can't keep up that kind of pace, and by the third of the three laps I've been dropping back a pace group to keep myself from keeling over. The other week the course took place along what are roughly the last three miles of the New York City marathon, which helped remind me what I'm in for in November. There were two minute breaks between miles during the class, which helped my pace tremendously. Lord knows I won't be running nearly as fast after I've put 23 miles behind me, but it still felt good to know that I can keep up with everybody else when the hills and the humidity are a little less intense than they were on the nights when we were in the north end of the park. I'd have to say that, from my two experiences with the NYC marathon so far, the mile coming up to Central Park has to be the most dispiriting mile I've ever run, since it's uphill pretty much the whole way. It's not even a steep uphill, but it's constant, and it comes at a time when most runners don't have a whole lot left to give. I'm not looking forward to that mile this year, but hopefully I'll be better prepared for it than I've ever been before.
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