Weekly Wrap-Up: July 31-August 6

Yesterday was exactly 3 months until New York City. But who’s counting?

I finally got a break this week. The weather was beautiful for 2 days, and warm but not unbearable the rest of the week.

Weight Check: 166.0 pounds, up 0.3 from last week. I guess it could have been worse, considering all the Mountain Dew I drank. My 15 mile run offset a good chunk of that, though. I’ll try to buckle down this week, I guess. I don’t know when my next official weigh-in will be, since I’ll be traveling next weekend.

This Week’s Runs
Day Scheduled Total Miles
Monday 6 miles easy 6.01
Tuesday 2.5 mile warm up, 10 x 1 minute uphill hard (jog downhill in between), 2 mile cool down (or until I reach 6 miles) 6.01
Wednesday 6 miles easy 6.01
Friday 4 miles easy 4.01
Sunday 15 mile long run 15.01

Total: 37.05 miles

Monday was beautiful. 61 degrees! The cooler, drier air they had been talking about for a week finally got here. Almost Portland-esque. (Although I heard they got up over 100 degrees this week, so even Portland wasn’t really Portland-esque.) Even though it was still humid, it doesn’t feel nearly as bad when it’s only 61 degrees. I felt a little bit of fatigue in my legs early, most likely because of my long run, but it wasn’t that bad, and it went away after a couple of miles. I kept the effort easy (which is harder to do when the temperature drops 14 degrees from your last run) except for the last quarter mile or so.

On Tuesday, the weather was still really nice, but it was wasted on a hill workout. Hills suck at any temperature, so I didn’t get to really enjoy the weather today. My legs felt OK until near the end, but if they didn’t feel a little bit tired I’d be worried I didn’t run hard enough. For the most part, my pace improved as I went along (with the exception of interval #5, which I think was just a fluke, and #7, when I was slowed down by a car backing out of a driveway), and my two fastest intervals were #10 and #9.

Wednesday, it was warmer than the last two days, but still not nearly as bad as a week ago. Legs felt fine, even a day after a hill workout. I kept the effort easy except for the last quarter mile or so. Pretty much an uneventful run. Not being able to come up with anything to say about a run is a good problem to have.

I have to mention that when I went out with friends Wednesday night, I had a Brooklyn Brewing Summer Ale. I think that’s appropriate during a summer where I’m training for the New York City Marathon. Also, it’s a good beer.

On Friday, the weather still wasn’t too terrible, especially for early August. My legs felt fine. I managed to run fairly well on the first mile, although I can’t figure out what was different from the rest of my runs this week where I struggled a bit on the first mile. I kept the effort easy, but sped up a bit on the last quarter mile.

Saturday was my first 15 miler for this training cycle. The weather wasn’t great, but still way better than last week. My legs got a little tired after about 11 miles or so, but it still wasn’t too bad. I had Gu right after 5 miles and just before 10 miles. I had the option of adding in a few hills, so I did. I didn’t take any walk breaks other than around my water fountain stops. I kept the effort easy for the most part, but I had enough energy left to speed up for the last mile.

My biggest complain is that the only rain we got all week was some storms late Friday evening, and that meant mud and debris on the greenway, just like last week. It’s annoying, but I got through it.

Next week is a step-back week, which comes in handy, because I’m going up to my parents’ house next weekend. My long run, which will only be 11 miles (yes, “only” 11 miles), will be on Friday before I leave town, then I’ll do a 4 miler in my parents’ neighborhood on Saturday morning. I wanted to make sure my long run is here so I know where all the water fountains are.