Run the ‘Run for the Health of It’ 5K on 5.11.19

Hello! This morning I ran for the first time since Sunday’s NJ Marathon: 4.72 miles at an eeeasy pace. I’m back, baby! I’ve been feeling eager to get back into it since Wednesday but wanted to give myself a solid five days off.

Monday was the only day I was too sore to run – I spent most of the day limping and avoiding stairs. By Tuesday the limp was gone. I’ve had a bit of a tight left hamstring, but not much else to complain about. I’m kind of shocked at how good I feel.

Now that I’m done with the NJ Marathon, I’m putting my focus on my next race: the Run for the Health of It 5K in Northport, NY (my hometown!) on Saturday, May 11th. Northport is a lovely, quaint, nautical village on the north shore of Long Island. It is also where I spent much of my childhood. I lived there again from December 2016 to May 2018 to help take care of my mom at the end of her life.

A Matter of Trust: 2019 Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon Race Recap

Girl, where do you think you’re going?
Where do you think you’re going, girl?

-Lady Gaga, “Joanne”

This is just two slow half marathons, I told myself. It’s just a long tempo run was another mind trick. Only ten miles left? Easy. Anything to convince myself that this wasn’t one of the hardest things I had ever fought for in my life. But a little voice inside me kept returning to one word: Trust. Saying it calmed me and kept me focused. I repeated it every so often, whispering it to myself on the exhales. Trust. Trust. Trust.

NJ Marathon Training: Week 16

And here we are.

I started training for the New Jersey Marathon back in, hmm, let me just scroll through my training log… 1987. Or maybe it just feels that long ago? Actually, my first day of training was January 7, 2019. Which, holy crap, is actually a long time ago. Not even two weeks after Christmas. Remember Christmas?

NJ Marathon Training: Week 15

Well, better late than never writing my week 15 training post. I am currently sitting at the end of week 16 so let’s get this one done and done. It’s been a busy week. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I am ready to be done with marathon training. Luckily, as of this Sunday, I will be.

Here is what I did in the penultimate week in my 16-week training plan for the New Jersey Marathon!

Just Breathe: 2019 Run as One 4M Race Recap

I signed up to run the Run as One 4M Presented by JP Morgan Chase back in February. I knew that running a race just eight days before the New Jersey Marathon wasn’t ideal, but I didn’t sign up to get a PR. This race held a more personal meaning for me.

NJ Marathon Training: Week 14

The Great Taper has begun! Week 14 is the third-to-last (antepenultimate, FYI) week in my 16-week training program for the New Jersey Marathon. It is also my first week of tapering, which basically means I’m taking it down a notch. I still logged 48.38 miles this week, down about 9 miles from the week before. I probably could have notched it down a bit further, but too late now!

Thoughts on My First Marathon: What I Got Right & What I Did Not

I started writing this post last December and then never finished it. As I’m winding down my second marathon training cycle (the NJ Marathon is in less than two weeks!) I decided to revisit it with some fresh perspective.

I wrote a full recap about the TCS NYC Marathon I ran last November. This post will be less of a recap and more of a look back at what I got right and wrong – both in the weeks and hours before the race, as well as during. I no longer feel any regret about the race but, as always, I want to learn from my experiences so I can get better instead of worse, which I think is always the idea?