2019 NYC Marathon Training: Week 16-17 of 17

Here we go. Last two weeks of “training.” I do not under any circumstances recommend doing any of the last few weeks of my “training.” Do not do this and think you are trained to run a marathon. You are not. I was battling plantar fasciitis for the last six weeks and did what I could. At the start of week 16, I honestly wasn’t even sure I was going to run the marathon.

(Spoiler: I did.)

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2019 NYC Marathon Training: Weeks 13-15 of 17

I have been dragging my heels getting the last of these training posts up! Wait, is this why my heels have been sore? I’ll knock out these last training posts so I can finally get to my marathon recap, which is already long overdue. I swear it will be done by Christmas. No, Christmas Eve.

Once again, for the sake of being a completist, I will write out my workouts and link to anything I can. This schedule is not what I would recommend at all for marathon training, but it was all I could do given the situation. I really, really wanted to run this marathon.

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2019 NYC Marathon Training: Weeks 10-12 of 17

Updating this blog really shot all the way down on my list of priorities these past couple of months. I didn’t intend it to. I started feeling discouraged with my training and usually felt like I had more important things to worry about than writing. Also, maybe not writing was a way to avoid having to face my discouragments. This was probably the opposite of how I should have (and how I wish I had) handled it, which would have been to embrace the situation and face my fears head on.

As a young Canadian named Alanis once said, you live, you learn.

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2019 NYC Marathon Training: Week 9 of 17

Week 9! I’m cranking all of these out way too late, but better late than never? I guess?

I have been following the 17-week marathon training plan of my awesome running club the New York Harriers, but I’m choosing my mileage based on how I feel, as well as my own strength training. Beginning in week 11, much of the plan will be thrown out the window. I’m really behind with updating this blog.

Week 9 was one of my last good weeks. It culminated with the 5th Avenue Mile on Sunday where I ran a course PR. I’ll write that short race recap next.

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2019 NYC Marathon Training: Week 8 of 17

This entire training plan for the 2019 TCS NYC Marathon has not gone as expected and I have thrown so much of it out the window in the past few weeks. To be honest, I’ve run the gamut of emotions lately – some of it truly disheartening and painful – which is, I think, the main reason why I haven’t felt the desire to stay on top of my weekly training posts. But I’m a completist, damn it, so here I am.

This post will cover week 8 in my training for the 2019 NYC Marathon. It was a solid week, a good week, and my highest mileage week in the plan thus far.

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2019 NYC Marathon Training: Week 7 of 17

I have been so horrible about updating this and if you’re following my blog (and didn’t just happen upon this page by accident) I sincerely apologize. I’m going to get caught up. I have the time, as I haven’t been running much lately, but that’s a story for a later post.

Week 7 happened in August! I was kind of sick and ran less than expected. But the week ended nicely.

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2019 NYC Marathon Training: Week 5 of 17

Week 5 in my marathon training happened a month ago but I am writing about it now! Rest assured, I’ve been running more than I’ve been writing lately. Still playing catch up over here.

I am following the 17-week marathon training plan of my awesome running club the New York Harriers. Their training plans are only available to members and, although I’ll be writing about it here, please know that my plan is specific to me and wouldn’t necessarily work for everyone. Also, I’m choosing how many miles to run before and after my speed/tempo workouts and on my easy days, so some of it I’m making up as I go.

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2019 NYC Marathon Training: Weeks 1–4

I always think it’s silly when people take breaks from posting online and then apologize for their absence. I think it’s okay to take breaks. Also, I usually hadn’t noticed their absence until they announced it. But now, I feel the need to apologize for not posting for over a month.

To be honest, I’m never sure how many people are reading this blog. (Two? Five? Negative one? Wait, how would that be possible…). Lately, I’ve had so much going on elsewhere in my life that I’ve let blogging slide. I have been feeling guilty about it so here I am! Pretty much everything I do is to avoid guilt.

I’m going to start by writing a post about weeks 1 through 4 in my marathon training. I’ll then resume writing about each week individually, plus the two races I need to recap! There will be a bit of catching up to do. Bear with me.

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A Tale of Two Marathons: How I PR’d by 12 Minutes (with a BQ!)

Now that I have run two (2) whole marathons, I am a qualified marathon expert. Or at least, somewhat knowledgeable. Okay, I am still an idiot who doesn’t know anything. But now that I have run two marathons, I can at least compare them. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you how to run an Olympic qualifying marathon. Also, if you’re looking to run an Olympic qualifying marathon, you are very much on the wrong blog.

In this post, I’m going to take a close look at the two 26.2-mile races I’ve run in my very short life as a marathon runner: the 2018 TCS NYC Marathon and the 2019 Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon. I’m kind of a numbers nerd, and I thought this could be a fun way of comparing the two training cycles and races – examining what I did better, what I could still do better, and how luck and life circumstances played a role. Let’s have some fun! Or maybe it’ll just be me who has fun!

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