Week #11: The three bridges run, a reality check, and some cool mileage statistics

I think that this is the first week where I've started to feel blah about running. Maybe it's because of how much I did last week, or maybe the holiday threw me off, but either way, I just wasn't feeling it much this week. 

Monday

This was an SRD, but I had orchestra rehearsal, where I managed to juggle oboe, flute, and piccolo. While the first oboist is decent, there is one solo that is hard for him, plus with all due respect, he can't keep time, so I've been learning his solos in case he never ends up coming in during the concert or something like that. I'm also doubling him officially in one solo since it's very hard for him. Then again, he deserves a lot of credit for picking it up again after 60 years. 

I have to get the instrument repaired - I think there is a spring that is too tight or something because my octave key isn't working as well as it should. Also, I ordered a few reeds to see which brand I like best. While most oboists make their own, I'm nowhere near competent enough to do that. I've tried, and I'm terrible. Still, the orchestra is a fun experience, and getting to improve my oboe abilities is a great bonus when I thought that I would only get to show off my piccolo skills :-)

Tuesday

However, having orchestra meant that I got back home late, and therefore didn't wake up early enough to do as many miles as planned. I really didn't want to go out at all, but since Yom Kippur would start that evening, I knew that I would regret missing this workout. 

As usual, my Garmin was out to lunch for the first half mile, but I got just over 5 done that day. I guess my speeding up indicated that I just wanted to get it over with already. 

I left work early, and then went over to my parents for dinner and then to services to officially start off Yom Kippur.

Wednesday

Yom Kippur = No Eating or Drinking = No Running

Thursday

It was pouring in the morning, so I didn't get to go running until after work. Since my run was short on Tuesday, I wanted to make up a mile or two of it that day. 

Although I was looking forward to run again, I still felt a bit blah at the beginning. So did my Garmin, because it didn't start getting a signal until I was 0.6 miles into my run. (Someone might need to replace her Garmin soon)

Friday

Once again, there was a threat of inclement weather, so I went after work before having a late dinner with a friend. As usual, the Garmin fails to record 0.8 miles. Sigh. It's a running theme this week. 

Overall, the run felt good, and I ran into a former co-worker in the park, who later texted me to tell me that I shouldn't be running in the dark by myself. While I appreciate his concern, I've done many early morning runs in the dark, and know how to handle myself, and where the safe places in the park are. 

After that, I realized that I had a rare Saturday rest day tomorrow, and so decided to sleep late...

Saturday

...only to wake up just before 7am. Yeah, I fail at sleeping in. I did relax most of the morning, then after organizing my room, went over to see Matt and Erin's new apartment, which is very close to my parents. Although they weren't completely unpacked, it is a really nice place, and I look forward to seeing it once it's completely set up. 

My friend Rachel came in, and this is when I got the reality check. My indicator half is next week, and I originally figured that if I got in my usual high mileage earlier in the week, my legs would be rested enough for Staten Island. Rachel told me that I was insane, and really, I knew she was right. I guess I was worried that if I took this taper, then I would lose fitness, but in reality, if I didn't taper, I wouldn't really get a chance to see what I am capable of next week. So next week's plan has been adjusted to allow for a taper, and really, considering how I've been feeling lately, I could use a running-lite week. Thanks Rachel for giving me the reality check that I sorely needed. 

Sunday

Rachel came in so that we could do the Flyers' Three Bridges Run together. I had 20 on the schedule, and her insane coach put 22 on her schedule. We went with the 10 minute pace group, and we got to go over three bridges, including the Pulaski Bridge and the Queensborough bridge, both of which would be included in the NYC Marathon. It was good to get exposure to them

Once again, my Garmin was a pain in the butt and wouldn't get signal for about a quarter of a mile, so I manually lapped the entire thing based off of getting mile 1 from Rachel's Garmin. If you look at the splits, the numbers under the time column are the accurate ones. My real pace was 9:57mm on average, but since my Garmin doesn't realize I did 20 instead of 19.75, it thought I ran slower. 

Still, there were people who ended up with 20.5 miles, while I barely got 20 in there. It just goes to show how unpredictable the Garmin will be during the marathon, and that doing manual splits will be my best bet.

I also tried a new fueling strategy that I think will work for the marathon - take two shot bloks every four miles. It worked nicely here, and I have confidence that it will work out for the marathon as well. 

The one thing I didn't like was that I thought the group started out a bit too big for my taste, but as we got further in, the group kind of spread out. Also, I thought that we were at the water stations a bit long. I still plan on doing the second go-around of this run in a couple of weeks because the more exposure to the bridges, the better. 

Another highlight of my day was getting to have face time with Belle, who is still in Spain. It was great to finally have some one-on-one time with her, and to catch up. I ended up eating dinner with the rest of the family that evening. 

Monthly & YTD Statistics

Since tomorrow is October 1st, I have some very exciting statistics to share

Total Week 11 miles: 42.74 

September Mileage: 211.62 = averages of 49.38 per week and 7.05 per day. This is a personal best month for me by about 10 miles. 

Year to Date Mileage Done: 1,368.73 - after next week, I will beat my total yearly mileage for 2011

Miles needed to meet my YTD Goal: 131.27 or 8.75% left out of 1,500

3rd Quarter 2012: Average of 42.55 miles per week and 6.08 miles per week

Soon to Come

The Staten Island Half is less than a week away at this point. I am both very excited and very nervous about it - getting sub-1:50 would mean the world to me and I believe that I have a shot at it considering how much work I've put in since I've gotten my HM PR of 1:52:28 in March. But we'll see what happens. 

Thanks for reading!