Run The Jungle

I finished week 6 of Philly Marathon training!

Recap – 22 miles done
Mon- an hour of  elliptical and weights

Tues- 6 miles of FUN…just kidding since it was 6 miles of speedwork: 10 minute warm-up, 10 minutes at marathon pace, 10 mins of half pace, 6 mins of half pace, 6 mins of 10k pace, 4 mins of 10k pace, 4 mins of 5k pace and 10 mins of cool down. You would think that this wouldn’t be bad but I rarely do speedwork.

Wed– rest

Thurs– 4 mile run

Fri- rest day

Sat – 12 miles of trying to dodge my training group as I woke up an hour late at 7:30am so I just ran inside Prospect Park until my GPS said I did 12 miles…well technically 12.03 miles! My calves were incredibly tight the first 3 miles so I had to stop a few times to stretch them out. Compression socks helped a bit although nothing was going to stop the amount of tightness in my legs.

Sun – 45 of SoulCycle with Taye whose music is amazing!

Took a peek at my DailyMile account & I ran 81 miles this month! And the month isn’t over yet!

Race Envy
What the NYC Marathon is to a runner – is HOCR to a rower. Head of the Charles is the world’s largest regatta in the world. I never got the chance to cox the race in high school (my high school didn’t offer fall rowing – just spring). I also never got the chance to do it in college because we were a club team and there was a lottery. When I finally moved to Boston after college, I got my chance. I joined a “masters” team which is basically comprised of non-collegiate/non-elite rowers and the age range was from 20 (me) to 65+. Within the first week of practice I found out that they needed another coxswain for the 4th boat which I got to cox!

I loved HOCR, which is a 5k which is long in the rowing world as most races are sprints of 2k. Therefore it’s literally 3 miles of cheering crowds on the Charles River, which is full of turns. Either way this brings me to NYCM.

I tried for the lottery this past year and in 2011 but never made it in so I’m volunteering for it. I love big races and sporting events. Honestly it makes me a little sad whenever I hear people are doing NYCM.

Philly will be somewhat a flat one to race. Luckily I’ve been to Philly so many times for college and high school crew races it’ll be nice to run past the water. I actually did my first half marathon in Lowell, MA, 40 minutes north of Boston. I also had been there numerous times with my masters crew team to row so it felt a little comfortable. There’s a comfort in the feeling of knowing that this is your turf and it makes it more enjoyable. For example, I completely hated the Nike Women’s Half in DC – I’ve been to DC before but didn’t know the course at all.

Either way I felt justified in my “race envy” as it was a question during #Runchat Sunday night