Life After Marathons: A Running/barre3/Coffee/Life Journal

January - March (And Other Scheduling Notes)

I mostly have my schedule for January through March figured out, but before we get to that, I just wanted to share one piece of scheduling information. I actually sat down with a calendar and my race plans, and surprisingly enough, it looks like there's only one race that could present a scheduling issue.
The problem is ... that race is the New Balance Bronx 10 Mile. AKA one of the races I need to qualify for guaranteed entry to the 2019 United Airlines NYC Half. I'm not thrilled about this. The race is still doable, it's just really really really bad timing. I'm hoping that they either move it to a different date or move either the Brooklyn Half or the Queens 10K to a Sunday, but ... we'll see what happens. I have a few months to figure out what I'm going to do about that.

And now ... on to the January-March schedule. I actually have it written out in two different ways. The way I set up my training plans, I do long runs on Sundays, then shorter runs during the week. I've had full training schedules for my two halfs written out for a little while now, but what I did last night was start writing out my Sunday long run plans, along with some notes about the week. I actually have all of the races written out on the Sunday plan, but since I only have the full schedule done through March, that's all I'm sharing for now:

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A few notes:
1 - I tend to go very high mileage on my long runs for halfs. For my first two halfs, I did 12.25 miles and 14 miles as my last long runs. The 10.5 miles that I have planned for the Fred Lebow Manhattan Half is the shortest I've ever done, and I'm pretty nervous about it. But it's been a crazy few months, so this is just kind of how things have worked out. My current plan is to just keep increasing from there to get up to 12.5 for the United Airlines NYC Half
2 - The plan is to volunteer at the Gridiron 4M on February 4th. I haven't signed up yet because I can't think about anything but Career Day right now, but hopefully I'll sign up later this week. I'm scheduled for a pretty long run that week, but I'd be willing to shorten it if it seems like timing is going to be an issue.

As I said before ... I also have detailed training plans for each of the halfs. Basically, each week on the plan has either 3 or 4 runs - a long run (usually done on Sunday), 2 maintenance runs (one is usually around 30 minutes and the other is usually 3 miles), and approximately every other week a "mini-run," which consists of 12-19 minutes of alternating short intervals (it's this thing I got from the NYTimes a few years back ... long story short, 5 minutes of intervals of 30 seconds easy run, 20 seconds medium, and 10 seconds all-out effort, then 2 minute rest, then repeat). The mini-run is the run that's most likely to get skipped without me being annoyed at myself.

Here's the plan for the Fred Lebow Manhattan Half: (the cells that are filled in are runs I've already done)
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Here's the plan for the United Airlines NYC Half (this is subject to change based on how training for the FLMH goes):
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So ... that's the plan for January through March. Stay tuned for updates (and for further information as it becomes available).

Btw, in case you were curious ... I didn't do the Big Apple Half.
 
Volunteer Status: Confirmed

I feel like all I ever do here is post pictures of my MyNYRR account ...
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I am officially registered to volunteer at the NYRR Gridiron 4M/Longest Football Throw on February 4th (@evre13, I hope to see you there!). I'm doing a fluid station because I figured that was a good first volunteer opportunity. I kinda know how fluid stations work, so I'm less likely to screw up. Hopefully this will be a decent first volunteering experience.
If I like it, I may think about volunteering at other races. Or maybe even at a marathon week event. (Marathon itself is likely off the table because it's the same day as Wine & Dine, and that's my priority for this year. If I don't end up doing Wine & Dine, I'll volunteer at the marathon)
We shall see what happens.

Also, to break up the MyNYRR picture monotony ... Here's a picture of me from my last race:
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As usual, I'm the one in the skirt (right in the front). I can't tell if I'm smiling or not.
Also, I do this weird thing with my hands when I'm running where I refuse to curl them into a fist but I can't keep them totally straight.
Also, this was towards the end of the race. Gloves were off. (Because my hands were sweaty, not for any other reason. No hockey fights going on here).
 


Great shot and I think you look like you are smiling!
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I keep thinking I need to pick a good local race for my first volunteer opportunity. But, then I never seem to manage it. Good job on signing up for one!
 
Omg how'd I miss updates!!! Congrats on all the races and graduating!!!

And I thought you were just doing a big thumbs up in your running pic. Also I want your pink jacket!
 


Great race schedule and planning charts!!
We have multi-race options where I live too. I'm thinking of trying something new this year and choosing the Trail Race series offered...I've never done any real trail races so this may be a new option to keep things fresh. I believe it works out to 4 races over the year.
 
Great shot and I think you look like you are smiling!
smiling.gif

Thank you! (Also ... I've never seen Elf. I'm just not a big Will Ferrell person)

I keep thinking I need to pick a good local race for my first volunteer opportunity. But, then I never seem to manage it. Good job on signing up for one!

I've been wanting to volunteer at a race for a while but just not doing it. I'm glad it being a requirement to qualify for the marathon kind of forced me into it.

Omg how'd I miss updates!!! Congrats on all the races and graduating!!!

Thank you!

Here is a picture from my graduation:
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Those two guys were our instructors for the course. They're the best.
And I thought you were just doing a big thumbs up in your running pic. Also I want your pink jacket!

It might have been a thumbs up. I do that sometimes when I see cameras.
I've had that jacket forever ... it's really good for cold because it's easy to layer underneath it!

Excited to hear about volunteering! I think you will be an all-star fluid giver. Cute race pic!!

I will definitely share more about the experience ... I feel like that's something people don't talk about as much as actually running the races. I'm excited to see what the experience is like.
And thank you!

Great race schedule and planning charts!!

Thank you! (I love charts :))

We have multi-race options where I live too. I'm thinking of trying something new this year and choosing the Trail Race series offered...I've never done any real trail races so this may be a new option to keep things fresh. I believe it works out to 4 races over the year.

I'm terrified of trail races (I'm clumsy enough on the street). Trail Race series does sound kinda cool, and it's definitely different than your standard road race. I think you should do it - it will probably be really cool!
 
Alert: NYRR has released their full 2018 calendar. When I have a few minutes of free time (so ... like never), I will consult it and modify my schedule as needed.
Spoiler Alert: There will most likely be a modification. They announced a new race. I want it.
 
Alert: NYRR has released their full 2018 calendar. When I have a few minutes of free time (so ... like never), I will consult it and modify my schedule as needed.
Spoiler Alert: There will most likely be a modification. They announced a new race. I want it.

oooooh, suspense!!!

Also, I'm a project manager for a living and I'm super impressed by your scheduling/planning! Your race schedule makes me vicariously tired though : )
 
Alert: NYRR has released their full 2018 calendar. When I have a few minutes of free time (so ... like never), I will consult it and modify my schedule as needed.
Spoiler Alert: There will most likely be a modification. They announced a new race. I want it.

Can't wait to hear all about it!
 
oooooh, suspense!!!

Not so much suspense as I have a lot going on and don't know when I'll have time to sit down and figure it out ...
(Although with all the suspense and quasi-suspense here, maybe I should just rename this "the suspense journal")

Also, I'm a project manager for a living and I'm super impressed by your scheduling/planning! Your race schedule makes me vicariously tired though : )

Thank you! I'm fairly well known in certain parts for my organizational skills. I like lists, charts, and spreadsheets.
And the race schedule makes me a little tired too ... but I tried to space it out somewhat so that I'm less tired.

Can't wait to hear all about it!

Thanks! Hopefully soon!
 
I know I owe you guys an update, but ...

A) My sister is home (yay!) which meant a lot of life stuff going on this week
B) I had a technical interview and an all-day onsite this week (not expecting much to come out of either one, but it's good practice for later interviews), which meant more time on the MacBook (and out of the house) and less time for updating
C) Somehow, every time I think I'm getting close to the end of my to-do list for the day and can work on an update, something happens that screws my day up

I don't think I'll have time for the update this weekend, but I will try to get to it early next week. Hopefully. I'll put it on the to-do list for Monday and see what happens.
Also ... sorry that this is becoming a job search journal, not a training journal. #RecentGradLife
 
Ch-Ch-Changes

Look, look, look, an update! I updated! And it’s not just an update saying that I’m going to update, it’s an actual update! Aren’t you guys so proud of me???

(This post is a lot of words, so I may throw in some random pictures to break up the monotony. They will be a mixture of running, Disney, and general life pictures. Also … this was written in like 12 pieces, so it barely makes sense.)

The main point of this update is the race schedule, which is slightly more official now that NYRR has released their 2019 schedule. There are some changes. Some new races added, some races changed. There was some thinking to be done for sure.

Random Picture #1 … Disney Store at Times Square

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Before we get to the race updates … a training note. Last week, I was scheduled for 4 runs. I ran twice. It was a combination of wanting to rest my knee because it was giving me issues (it seems a little better now, but still not 100%) and just crazy schedule stuff. I’m a little worried that I was just making excuses and I should have run. We’ll see what happens this week, but … I’m kind of annoyed at myself. I’ll post an updated training spreadsheet for the Fred Lebow Manhattan Half at the beginning of January, so you guys will be able to see how pathetic last week was.

An Attempt to Cheer Myself Up … Random Picture #2 (I came into school on my last day and saw this … I didn’t do it. One of my classmates tried to convince me that the hippo was actually a puppy.)

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Anyway, on to the exciting stuff. The full 2018 tentative planned race schedule is at the bottom of this post, but here are the changes:

  • June 3rd: NYRR 5-Mile – this is the same race I was already planning to run that day, they just changed the name. I’m not entirely thrilled, since I was a little excited about the retro theme, but since the retro race has been moved to a Saturday, I’m sticking with this one
  • August 5th: NYRR Manhattan 7 Mile – this is the new race I was so excited about. I’ve never run a 7 mile race before! It’s longer than a 10K, but only a little … I’m kind of super excited about this. Even though it’s in Central Park.
  • September 30th: New Balance Bronx 10 Miler – I thought this was going to be the week before, which was really bad timing. This … may or may not be worse timing. I haven’t decided yet. And I don’t have anything else I can replace it with, so … yeah. After the half in March, I’ll think about whether or not I really want to do the 4 of 6 Five-Borough Challenge whatever thing and qualify for next year’s half. It’s not going to be very easy to get these races done.
  • October 14th: Staten Island Half – I thought this would be the week before. This one I’m fine with the change in schedule.

Random Picture #3 … Hello YC/BC! (Taken during the 2017 WDW 10K ... probably my favorite picture that I've ever taken with my old phone)

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  • The November 18th Race to Deliver 4 mile race has been taken off the schedule. I kind of wanted to focus on non-NYRR races in November – I’m hoping to maybe do Wine & Dine, and then I’m hoping they do the RangersTown race again (for those of you who missed my recap on the Running Thread … I loved that race so much that I would have done it again the next day if they gave me that option). Plus I don’t want to totally rule out the idea of my usual Turkey Trot, even though I didn’t love it this year. So … November will be non-NYRR races. Hopefully I will have finished my 9+1 by then anyway (if I actually do it … see below), and if I don’t … I’ll figure it out if it comes up.
  • Wine & Dine, while I am counting it as a potential November race, actually has an asterisk on it. More on that later, but … I think I realized this weekend that a return to runDisney may not be possible in 2018. It sucks. Right now I’m looking at a best case scenario being that I have to choose between going to Disneyland with Beth and Wine & Dine, and if that’s the case, I choose Disneyland (worst case scenario is that I can’t do either one). I’m not totally writing off W&D, because there is a small possibility that it could happen, but … right now it’s not looking very likely.

So … those are the schedule changes. Not at all worth the wait, am I right? Seriously, though, I’m stupid excited for that 7 mile race, even though I will probably be too angry at Central Park by that point to enjoy it. Not as excited about likely not doing Wine & Dine, because I was really looking forward to that one. Oh, life …
Also, why can’t NYRR do more of their races outside of Central Park?? Explore a little! Ugh.

Random Picture #4 … Marathon Start in Staten Island (as seen at the 2017 Marathon Pavilion)

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Now that you know all of this planning … it might be irrelevant.
I’m in the process of having to make an impossible decision right now. While I think I know what I’m going to decide (and it breaks my heart to have to make that decision), it did force me to sit down and think about a few things. And one of those things is balancing life, work, and running.
As you guys may have noticed, I’m in the middle of a career change. I’m hoping to start a new job in a new field within the next few months. Because of my religious beliefs, there are many days when I will have to use my vacation days for religious holidays (unless I work for Spotify, where they let you switch out religious holidays for legal holidays), and since most companies don’t give unlimited vacation, I really can’t be planning a lot of travelling when I just don’t know how many vacation days I’ll have left after using them on holidays. That’s why Wine & Dine now has its asterisk.
Local races theoretically should be easier, but not necessarily. I’m looking for a job where I can have a good work-life balance and not take my work home with me all the time (I’m looking at you, old job where I basically never stopped working), but I still don’t know that I’ll have the time or energy to be running races once or twice a month. I think my plan for right now is to stick with the 9+1 schedule for as long as I can, but if I ever feel like it’s getting to be too much for me, be okay with dropping most of my races for the rest of the year. I really need to remember that this is a totally new world for me and I can’t overextend myself.

Closing It Down (Almost) With Random Picture #5 …

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Funny (to me) Note: This picture was taken on 11/12 as part of my "process" working on my hackathon app. I finally got the Strava integration for the app (at least the first part of it, there's more to do) working yesterday ... over a month later. I started it the day I took this picture.

That’s pretty much all of the updates. If you follow me on Instagram, there’s about a 4% chance that there will be an end-of-year Medal Monday picture (it used to be 5%, but then I decided to sleep in this morning). If you don’t follow me on Instagram … you’re not missing anything. And now, to end this post … my 2018 planned race schedule: (in a perfect world where all running things go as planned)

  • January 22nd: Fred Lebow Manhattan Half Marathon
  • March 18th: United Airlines NYC Half Marathon
  • April 22nd: Run As One (4M) Presented by JPMorgan Chase
  • May 13th: Japan Run (4M)
  • June 3rd: NYRR 5-Mile
  • July 26th: R-U-N 5K
  • August 5th: NYRR Manhattan 7-Mile
  • September 30th: New Balance Bronx 10 Miler
  • October 14th: Staten Island Half Marathon
  • November 2nd: Disney Fall Feast 5K*
  • November 4th: Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon*
  • Unknown: RangersTown 5K
 
Popsicle

This coming Sunday, I'm scheduled to run 10 miles. For a regular Sunday long run, I generally leave the house somewhere between 7 and 7:30, and for a 10-miler, I should be getting home somewhere between 9:30 and 10.
Here's the hourly forecast for Sunday morning:
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Yay frozen popsicle Sarah.

Here are the options I'm looking at for this run:

Option 1: Run the whole 10 miles outside
  • Pros: I like when I stick to my schedule. Also, then it's done and I don't have to worry about it.
  • Cons: Frozen Popsicle Sarah. (Yes, I layer. A lot. But my nose and mouth get really cold, and I just am not comfortable running with something covering my face. It just feels so awkward)
Option 2: Run Tuesday's 30 minute run on the treadmill on Sunday, then do Sunday's long run on Tuesday
  • Pros: Tuesday is supposed to be a high of 24, so ... slightly less popsicle
  • Cons: I hate doing long runs during the week. It kills my schedule for the day.
Option 3: Half and half - do 5-6 miles outside and 4-5 miles on the treadmill
  • Pros: I'm getting in the full 10 miles with slightly less popsicle.
  • Cons: Having to change my outfit (and shoes if there's snow) in the middle will be annoying.
Since I'm sure someone will ask why I can't do the full 10 on the treadmill ... I have a crappy treadmill that can't handle more than an hour of use. Seriously. It shuts down after an hour. This is what happens when you buy a treadmill without having running in mind (we've had this treadmill since long before I was a runner) and without knowing anything about treadmills.

I'm leaning towards option #3, because it's kind of the best of both worlds (or at least the least bad option), but I'm not 100% sold. I'd love to hear input from others ... any thoughts?
 

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