2019 Fall Training – Week 1
This was supposed to be my first week training solely for the Brazos Bend 50 Miler, which is in December. Instead, I spent the week recovering from the 2019 New York City Marathon and focusing on my overall health.
Training Schedule
November 3rd – November 9th
Sunday: 2019 New York City Marathon
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Easy Run. 3-5 miles
Wednesday: Easy Run. 6-8 miles
Thursday: Off
Friday: Easy Run. 6 miles
Saturday: Easy Run. 8-10 miles
Total: 49-56 Miles
Notes. This was a scheduled cut-back week in Running Your First Ultra, by Krissy Moehl. I ran 3 easy miles on Wednesday. However, after a visit to a doctor, I was immediately put on medication and spent the next two days resting. (See more on this below under the “Health” heading.)
Workouts
2019 New York City Marathon. [Log Details] [Race Report].
This year, I took the bus from the New York Public Library Schwarzman Building instead of the Staten Island Ferry, which made the race feel a little different than the past.
In the first 10 miles of the race, I stuck with my goal of re-qualifying for next year’s race with a sub-3:38 (8:20 pace). But once my pace fell below that mark, I switched to viewing this as my long run for the week. I hit a wall around Mile 17 and thought this might be my first DNF (“Did Not Finish”) but rallied a mile in Harlem.
This was my slowest marathon – just behind the 2018 Boston Marathon. Even though my time was disappointing, I’m proud that I’ve completed seven consecutive New York City Marathons! As always, the event was fantastic – perfect running weather and loud, enthusiastic crowds!
Time=4:07:46. Overall pace=9:27.
Health
Illnesses. High Blood Pressure. On Thursday, I went to see a primary care doctor to talk about the light-headed feeling I had during some recent runs. The nurse took my blood pressure and it was so high that I was immediately put on medication… I had been on high blood pressure medication before, but stopped taking it earlier in the year after I wanted to switch doctors for another reason, so the diagnosis was not surprising – just the severity. I felt terrible the next two days as my blood pressure rapidly dropped to normal ranges.
Vitamin D Deficiency. In addition to the blood pressure medication, the doctor also prescribed Vitamin D after my blood work showed it was low. Some preliminary internet searches uncovered articles that describe how this deficiency can impact runners; however, it can be over-diagnosed in individuals with dark-skin.
Clothing
So, back to the race… How did my clothing do for the 2019 New York City Marathon? I have one honorable mention.
Shorts. Lululemon Fast and Free 6″ Non-Reflective Short. Even though I hadn’t planned on wearing these, I packed these shorts I bought back in June because I wanted the pockets – two on the hips and one in the back. I hadn’t worn them very much this summer because I find compression shorts can feel a little too warm. But, I liked having different places to stash my gels and other personal items. I did notice some chaffing on my back-side after the race, however. Price: $68.
Gear
In this category, there were two disappointments during the race.
Music Players. Spotify. Perhaps my greatest frustration during the race was not having music. Before the race, I kept turning my phone off and on to conserve the battery. Unfortunately, when I reached the start, Spotify said I was “off line”. Nothing I did would bring it back “on line”. In the future, I will download my playlist locally to my phone to avoid this problem.
GPS watches. Garmin 645 Music. A lesser disappointment was my watch, which has decreased battery life after a recent software update, but had a very bad reading on the Queensboro Bridge. It measured 1.25 miles for that split, which threw off my overall pace for the rest of the race. In the end, my Garmin measured the course as 27.2 miles.
Nutrition
For nutrition, I went with an old reliable.
Energy gels. Crank Sports e-Gels. These gels have been my go-to for a while now and they didn’t disappoint. “Juicy Watermelon” is my favorite flavor and I ate three of them during the race. Each gel (55 grams) has 150 calories, 37 grams of carbohydrate but more importantly to me, it has electrolytes – 230 milligrams of sodium and 85 milligrams of potassium.
(My Guide to Running Nutrition)
Media & Motivation
News. “The 2019 New York City Marathon Is World’s Largest 26.2,” Runner’s World. The new record for the largest number of marathon finishers is 53,627. What I also found interesting in the article is that the race had a 98.9% completion rate – that seemed very high to me because I’m guessing thousands are first-time marathoners!
Racing Schedule
Next race: 2019 Brazos Bend 50 Miler on Saturday, December 7th?
Short of feeling 100% better in the next few days, I’m about… 60% sure that I will not resume training for the 2019 Brazos Bend 50 Miler. Instead, I will switch to running for fun before I start training for the 2019 Boston Marathon.
(My Racing Schedule)
