2023 New York City Marathon – Week 7
Training Schedule
August 13th – August 19th
Sunday: Long Run. 8 miles
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Speed Run. 400m-800m-1200m-1600m-1200m-800m-400m w/400m recoveries
Wednesday: Easy Run. 6 miles
Thursday: Threshold Run. 7 miles @ marathon pace
Friday: Easy Run. 7 miles
Saturday: Easy Run. 8 miles
Total: ~48 Miles
Notes. The long run leading into Week 7 of the Hansons Marathon Method plan is 8 miles, but I planned to do 14 instead. I will leave for The Netherlands this week for a work trip and won’t return home until next Friday. Instead of my usual off day on Monday, I would run easy and have Wednesday off because I would land in Amsterdam at 8:30 a.m. I planned to keep the threshold run on Thursday as usual.
Training paces
| Recovery | Easy | Long | Marathon | Strength | 5K-10K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No faster than 11:40 | 10:00-10:40 | 9:30-9:50 | 8:45-9:05 | 8:30-8:50 | 7:40-8:00 |
Workouts
Long Run
I woke up late on Sunday, and the outside temperature was already mid-70s. I decided running in that heat could be disastrous, and I wanted a good, final run before leaving for my trip to The Netherlands. So, I ran this on the treadmill with Zwift on the Tic Tock Route, which is 10.4 miles.
For mental stimulation, I worked on my playlist for the 2023 New York City Marathon. It’s been four years since I last ran the course, and I have some new favorite running songs. I also wanted to choose songs like The Bridges and Mile 20 for critical points. As I ran, I moved pieces around or made mental notes of what to change when I finished.
I programmed my Garmin to lap after 9 minutes and 50 seconds, which is about my long run mile pace on flat surfaces. I also set it to track my heart rate so it would gradually increase but not go above 170 beats per minute.
Overall, it was an uneventful run – I ran for nearly two and a half hours and composed 3 hours and 30 minutes of music for the marathon.
Distance=~14.47 miles
Pace=10:02/mile
Speed Run
I wanted one last workout before leaving home for The Netherlands. But, instead of my usual rest day, I ran four miles easy the day before. And, I hadn’t slept much the night before – maybe 4 hours – worrying about the trip.
The workout was a ladder – 400m, 800m, 1200m, and 1600m w/400m recoveries as the “up” portion, then going down starting at 1200m.
I ran a warm-up to Wakefield High School Track for the workout. With school starting soon, this would be my last planned workout there.
For the first set, my repetition was slower than usual. I was naturally running at around 8:00 pace and had to push to come in under it. But then, my recovery was faster than usual. The 800m set went fine, but it was a bit difficult. By the end of the 1200m, I was exhausted. I started to run the mile –to finish it, not based on time, but I also gave up on that effort.
At some point, my boyfriend arrived at the track. I said, “Hello,” but ran home on my own. I just wanted to go home and put the failed workout behind me.
400m/400m: 1:58/2:50, 800m/400m: 3:53/2:57, 1200m/400m: 6:03/3:29.
Distance=2.62 miles
Pace=9:10/mile
Health
Sleep. I suffered jetlag traveling and had trouble sleeping.
On Wednesday, I arrived in The Netherlands at 8:30 a.m. I walked around Amsterdam for a few hours – I hadn’t planned and couldn’t get tickets to the museums – before heading to Rotterdam, the location for most of the conference.
My room wasn’t ready, so I had lunch at a nearby cafe. By 5 o’clock, I’d reached my hotel room, which had a spectacular view of the Erasmus Bridge.
On Thursday, I needed to be at The Hague by 8:30 a.m. and didn’t wake up early enough to run.
I overslept on Friday – the day of my big presentation! It went well, but I was still so jetlagged that I didn’t get up early to run on Saturday.
On Saturday afternoon, I left for a weekend trip to Brussels, Belgium, and spent the day walking around.
Media & Motivation
Podcasts. “Episode 325: Becoming a Sustainable Runner with Tina Muir and Zoe Rom,” Running Rogue. I listened to this episode on my flight to The Netherlands. I hadn’t thought about being an environmentally conscientious runner until I heard this episode. But, the more I listened, the more aware I became about how wasteful running can be.
Racing Schedule
Next race
2023 George Washington Patriot Run (10 Miler). During my train ride to Brussels, Belgium, I registered for this race, which is on Sunday, September 10th. When I started this training block, I aimed to run 1:20:00 (8:00 pace) for this race. But, given recent training, I think I’ll add a few minutes to that goal.
Future races
- 2023 Army Ten Miler, Sunday, October 8th. Goal is 1:20:00 (8:00 pace).
- 2023 New York City Marathon, Sunday, November 5th. Goal is 3:44:00 (8:33 pace).
My Guide to the New York City Marathon
