numbers
In all honesty, I’ve had this post pretty much ready to post for about a month now, since I finished the OneNY challenge and received my official race swag. BUT then I decided to join another challenge, and I wanted to include that in here … so instead of just filling in with OTHER posts in the meantime, I just, ya know, waited. So at long last, here’s the number-story I’ve been wanting to share with you all!
1000 km. 621.4 miles.
That is the length of New York State, from Niagara Falls allll the way out to Montauk, aka The End. That’s also how many miles I ran between May 15 and August 23, to complete the OneNY Challenge!
The log! There was a little runner tracking along the route too, which was really fun to watch as I made progress, and to see which town I was in.
15(ish) weeks.
Length of time available to cover that mileage, by running or walking – or a combo of both – an average of about 6 miles per day! I opted to only count my running miles, as that 40ish miles per week is right about MY average so it would be an actual challenge to stay on track and complete it in time.
8.16 miles.
I headed out on a Sunday afternoon, just before dinner, to snag the last few miles in the challenge. The weather was questionable – really, I probably should not have been running outside – but I was determined to get it done. Running in a downpour (when it’s warm out, at least) is invigorating and refreshing. Trying to run fast to finish before a serious thunderstorm is a fun(?) challenge too. This run brought back memories from a summer long run with one of my college teammates (we lived in neighboring towns so we logged a lot of miles together!) – we got stuck about 5 miles out on the bike path when the storm clouds started rolling in … we were trying to “outrun the storm” since we were not only outside, but also sandwiched between metal fencing, a river one on side and grassy fields on the other. We did make it :)
OneNY race swag - a super soft lightweight hooded long-sleeve, a spinning medal, and a neck gaiter (thanks, COVID).
60.92 or 51.62?
Peak mileage for this marathon training cycle. The 60 is an inflated number because it had two long runs (Monday and the following Sunday) – so it doesn’t really reflect a normal week for me, but it also was what I ran in that single seven-day window. Discounting the 60 mile week, I did have 5 weeks of the 13 in the cycle that were right around 50. My goal for this year was to peak closer to the mid-50s, but I am happy with my consistency around 50 and feeling good.
2020?
A big goal for my training this year was to reach 2020 miles over the course of the year. Leading up to the marathon I ran in mid-September, I had logged over 1400 … so that goal is still intact and achievable!
Update: As I’m finalizing this to get ready to post (at long last!), I am now over the 1500-mile mark for the year. With 14 weeks left in 2020, I need to average 36.8 per week to “run the year”. Wish me luck!!!
26.2 (& a race recap)
Well that’s a familiar number – that good ol’ marathon! I always chuckle when someone asks “how long is this marathon?” when they aren’t too familiar with the running world, and don’t know that a marathon is a specified distance – it’s always 26.2! I do love marathon training – really, I love the training more than the race itself. Long runs and threshold / cruise intervals are my FAVORITE parts of running, which is great since they make up the bulk of marathon training!
I ran a race – yes, a real live in-person race!!! – in mid-September. It was a beautiful course up in the Adirondacks, mostly on dirt roads, and with rolling hills – great! The weather was perfect: low-40s at the start and warming up to the low-60s, no wind, not too much sun (except on one out-and-back section, where it felt REALLY sunny for several un-shaded miles…). I had my trusty race crew at the ready: Alex and Emma, with their masks on of course, and their sidekick Stella – Emma really enjoyed cheering for me and all of the other runners she saw, and felt she deserved the post-race cider donut more than Mama … (good thing they allowed to get a second plate). One of my best friends and confidants also drove up from Syracuse for the race (her long run buddy was in it too – she ran a 2 minute PR and nailed another BQ!!!) with her mom and dog, and they took advantage of a beautiful day and went for a hike after!
Emmie and her piggy mask, ready for cheering on Mama (and everyone else!)
Approaching the 15-mile mark and turnaround, in Inlet.
Despite all of the perfection in the set-up, and near-perfect execution through about 16 miles, it didn’t fully pan out how I wanted it to – and how I had envisioned it. I got a cramp around 16, so relaxed the pace to let that settle and then got ready for a solid last 10K – that lasted for another 2 miles or so, until my hip decided to lock up. I don’t know why it happened: it hadn’t happened at all in training, or really at ALL since it happened to BOTH hips around mile 18-19 of the Shires of Vermont marathon – talk about a rough finish!). So, I walked a couple times and eventually my hip loosened up enough to at least jog instead of shuffle.
Finish time: a disappointing 3:32. I know, I know – I still ran a marathon, and that time is actually about my average so it wasn’t a total bust. Heading into this race, I was more fit than I ever have been, mentally tougher, and had a better fueling strategy than past marathons – yet I was still almost 20 minutes off of my goal / estimated time. As runners, THIS is what keeps us coming back for more – it’s what keeps us hungry enough to grind those early morning miles, and after-work strength sessions.
At least we had a nice view for the rest of our weekend!
561 / 680+
That is the distance from Atlanta, GA to Washington, DC – and the path of the NEXT challenge I signed up for: Oiselle’s Womxn Run the Vote virtual relay! We had 7 days as a team to collectively log almost 700 miles (or “miles”, as in other time-based activities that converted to miles), and learn about prominent leaders/activists and landmarks from the Civil Rights movement along the way. As a team of only 8, out of the allowable 20, we clocked 561 miles – and I am pretty proud of us! This relay raised over $260,000 for Black Voters Matter with 10,000 registrations plus donations – INCREDIBLE! I am happy to have been a part of this relay and this fundraising effort. As I was nearing the end of the week and feeling like I hadn’t contributed enough to my team, I had to remind myself WHY we were doing this, and that kept me going.
8:42
This is one I am really excited about and proud to share. At some point in the last month, this was my average hours of sleep per night, according to my Garmin. I feel fantastic. Fortunately (in some regards), my work hours really petered off as summer vacations wound down and I have been able to sleep until my body was ready to wake up – on most days, at least.
For most of the summer, I was getting up at 5am (earlier on some days) to get my run in before Emma woke up and we all needed to get fed, showered and ready to go. Getting to bed by 9pm was a priority – OK, I still go to bed at 9pm even without the early wake-up ;-)
Alright, there you have it … the numbers recap. I like numbers – and patterns. Today my run ended at 41:11.4 – that made me smile. It’s fun to think about how a number – or a combination of numbers – has a story attached to it … which likely also has an emotion attached too! Thanks for joining me in my number-story!