Run Jen Run: NYC Marathon Training

9 weeks down, 7 to go!

Another big week of training in the books as I get closer and closer to my goal. It was also a good fundraising week as my mom shared my fundraising link with all of her pickle ball friends. They helped get me to 36% - or $1,425 raised for the MEB Foundation!

I started the week off with a normal Monday with no running however this was the first week I’ve reintroduced my 30 min Foam Roll & Stretch class which took a summer hiatus. I’m really looking forward to having this on the schedule Monday mornings at least until the marathon.

Monday was also my parents anniversary. Craig and I met them out to dinner at a new Italian restaurant in Falmouth. On the ride home I got an email which included a personalized video from Meb to share with my followers on social media. So cool.

I taught aerobics in the morning on Tuesday then got out for a 4 mile run after I was done with clients. Guess what - it was still humid. And it was Craig’s birthday! I helped coordinate a little night out with some of Craig’s coworkers and we surprised him at the Pilot House for dinner and drinks.

On Wednesday I had a couple hour break from work before I had to go back to help a new employee close for the first time so I ran a slow 3 miler in the middle of the day. My legs were tired. It rained on Thursday so I brought aerobics indoors and cancelled pool class.

Friday was WINDY. Hurricane Lee was headed up the coast and supposed to hit through the night. I started my run from home at about 2:30 in the afternoon and was blown all over the place. My 7:27 pace was definitely wind aided.

We didn’t get as much rain - or even wind - as they were predicting on Saturday. I stayed up pretty late listening to the wind but I canceled pool class which allowed me to sleep in a little longer and enjoy my morning coffee at home with Craig. I had a great crew for Saturday Strength class and after working on payroll, I headed home to get caught up on some cleaning and laundry. That night Craig and I took a spontaneous trip up to New Bedford to go to his favorite Portuguese restaurant.

It was a long week of going out and getting to bed a little later than normal so I really didn’t want to set an alarm on Sunday morning. The good news was that it was cooler temps so I didn’t feel the pressure of needing to be done by a certain time. I was still up and out the door by about 8:20am. My parents were out of town for a few days so I decided to save travel time and just run from home. Craig helped me find a new road to help add 6 miles onto my normal 10 mile Cotuit run.

It was 62 degrees and sunny with 67% humidity at the start of my run. The weather was perfect. By the end it got to about 70 but I never felt that it was too warm. The new road I added on was nice - a quiet and windy road with lots of trees, shade and a few water views along the way.

When I got back on to Main Street, Craig was waiting for me with a water refill. As we were standing there chatting, up the road we saw an older man fall. We could tell he was struggling to get up so we went over and Craig helped his wife get him back on his feet. A biker also stopped to help and a woman from across the street offered to drive them home. We did our good deed for the day.

I continued on and saw Craig two more times. My goal was to get to Oregon Beach at 11 miles because I knew it was exactly 5 miles home from there. When I got to the beach my watch read 10.93 miles. Yes! I was feeling pretty good and it wasn’t until about a mile and a half from home - when I got to that hill I hate after crossing Route 28 - that I started to hurt. I rolled my ankle a few miles earlier and the uphill was causing pain. My right hip was also feeling very tight and it was getting harder to left that leg. When I got back into the neighborhood, Craig hopped on his bike and joined me for the final quarter mile.

The weather was so calm and perfect that after we got home, Craig I went back to Cotuit with the paddle boards. Craig thought I would be too tired to join but I couldn’t not take advantage of the day. We dropped in at Ropes beach and paddled into the wind about a mile to Sampsons, rested on the beach for a bit then padded pack with the wind at our backs. I spent the rest of the day on the couch watching football. Go Bills!