marathon training

10/28/2015: Morning Workout, November Project, 5:28 a.m., Wards Island: Aggressive Dance Moves!

/ Jim McEvoy / Leave a comment

Hey! Did you know the NYC Marathon is only four days away? Haha, you probably already knew that. But just in case you haven’t read a newspaper, seen an advertisement on the subway, or checked your Facebook feed lately: The NYC Marathon is ONLY FOUR DAYS AWAY!

November Project NYC

Morning crew! Katie, Ashley, Me, and Sarah

For many, the NYC Marathon means increased traffic in New York City. For others, the day has no special meaning. For me, it indicates the culmination of over a year of hard work returning to the sport of running, and a chance to participate in an event I never thought possible. So, when I lined up with the members of November Project NYC to take our post-workout group photo this morning, and half the members raised their hands when asked if they were running this Sunday, I realized just how many people are looking to Sunday as both the celebration of their hard work, and the beginning of the next chapter in their running stories.

Of course, before we got to post-workout, we, you know, worked out. Here’s what we did:

  • Do 10 pushups.
  • Run across the Wards Island Bridge and down to the East River footpath.
  • Do 10 burpees.
  • Run back across the Bridge to the starting area.
  • 30 seconds of AGGRESSIVE dancing (or, if you are Myles, you dance by doing burpees)
  • Run back across the Bridge.
  • 20 mountain climbers.
  • Run back across the Bridge.
  • Repeat for 35 minutes.

I covered about four miles during this workout, and spent my time talking to fellow Tribe members Rob, Jess, and Ian. I also spent a little bit too long on the aggressive dancing portion when John played “Rebel Without a Pause” by Public Enemy because, hey, who doesn’t love bouncing to Chuck D, Flava Flav and Terminator X at 6 a.m.? I also threw up more high fives today than ever before, in part because I could feel the collective excitement of the impending NYC Marathon.

November Project NYC

Amazing! Thank you, Liysa! And yes, those are aqua socks.

At the end of the workout, I received a good luck card from the Tribe, which was so thoughtful and wonderful! I also received a colored safety pin from Liysa, who advised me to pin my shoe so that if I felt beat up and in pain during the marathon, I could look down and channel the spirit of NP_NYC. Amazing! I have already pinned my shoe. Thank you, Liysa! I know you’ll do great on Sunday.

NP Marathon Card Cover NP Marathon Card

NP_NYC is running #Mile7 of the NYC Marathon. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but the Tribe will be loud, supportive, and ready to rock all day. So excited to run through there and throw down lots of high fives and smiles.

I know we’re all tapering and not hitting the roads as much, but despite that:

Happy running, everyone!

Weekend in Vermont! Road Running, Trail Running, Pumpkin Ice Cream, and a Severe Lack of Moose Sightings

/ Jim McEvoy / 1 Comment

I traveled this past weekend with my girlfriend, Melissa, and her parents to their home in Wardsboro, VT, about as far south in Vermont as one can live. We had temperatures in the 50s, likely the last warm days before the snow falls and people trade in their running shoes for cross country skies. We rolled through hills covered in gorgeous maples with leaves turning orange, red, brown, and the occasional tree maintaining its green coverage, and ambled through country roads shaded by tree branches and lined by horses and cows. More importantly, we slept without the subway’s rumble under our apartment. Really beautiful, even if the sun stayed behind the clouds for most of the weekend.

Isabella the dog

Meet Isabella, the cutest dog in all of Vermont!

When I arrived on Saturday, I ran a quick 5.5 miles on Wardsboro’s main road, a quiet stretch lined by cabins on one side and a river on the other. My out route was entirely uphill, and my in route entirely downhill. Even though the occasional car rushed past, I enjoyed the solitude of the run, and the fact that I ran fast on my in trip downhill without pushing too hard. The house, however, was up a steep hill, which slowed me down a bit but reminded me of the many bridges to come during the NYC Marathon.

We then attended the Gilfeather Turnip Festival, at which there were neither turnips nor turnip soup (we arrived too late). We did, however, get to sample some Vermont maple syrup candies, learn about goat cheese (unpasteurized goat cheese is a big thing in Vermont), and visit the bustling Wardsboro government office.

Wardsboro, VT

A might government center.

Later that day we rode to a pumpkin farm, where we ate cider doughnuts and lots of pumpkin ice cream.

Pumpkin farm

Can you tell which one is not a scarecrow? I sure can’t ;).

Cider doughnut

I ate three more of these after my 9-mile trail run, nailing the marathon training nutrition plan.

We hit the trails on Sunday, and I did a 9-mile trail run in Jamaica, VT, while Melissa and her parents hiked . The trail was only about 3 miles long, so I ran out, back to the start, out again, and then ran a short distance back to my crew. The trail was mostly flat with a few steep uphills and, like the road, was bordered on one side by a river. I tried to keep the run easy, but made it up and down the trail in about 19 minutes each time. I felt great at the end, though, and as the marathon approaches, I’m happy to get in some hard runs close to marathon pace if only to train my mind about how that pace feels.

Jamaica, VT trail run

Looking super dorky on the trail.

Jamaica, VT trail

View from the end of the trail.

After my run, we hiked to the end of the trail and up a dam. Atop the dam, we surveyed the land, enjoyed a snack, and took some pictures. The views were incredible, and I cannot wait to return in the winter and cross-country ski down the trails.

Jamaica, VT trail

Halfway up the dam trail and feeling good.

Jamaica, VT dam

View from the top of the dam.

Aside from some pushups and core exercises, those runs comprised my workouts in Vermont. We spent the rest of our time attempting to go to flea markets (which were all closed due to the overcast and slightly rainy weather), eating homemade turnip soup, and watching horror movies, including “Plan 9 From Outer Space” and “An American Werewolf in London.” I left Vermont feeling exhausted but relaxed and ready to conquer another week, although disappointed that we did not see any moose.

Jamaica, VT trail

And of course, what trail hike would be complete without a trail ride?

Vermont moose

Seriously, behold the majesty of this stuffed moose! See how much larger it is than the deer in the background? Amazing.

NYC Marathon in FIVE DAYS! My schedule for the next few days looks like this:

  • Wednesday, October 28: November Project NYC 5:28 a.m. workout on Wards Island, and 7 p.m. shakeout run in Central Park
  • Thursday, October 29: 3-4 mile run in Central Park, with some stretching and core work at the gym. Also, Happy Birthday, Katie!
  • Friday, October 30: Potential NP_NYC 6:28 workout at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park
  • Saturday, October 31: 2 mile run followed by epic Halloween party on Long Island, followed by all the sleep
  • Sunday, November 1: NYC Marathon, all the cheesecake, all the parties, all the sleep.

So close!

Happy running, everyone!

10/21/2015: Morning Workout, November Project, 5:28 a.m.: It’s a Long Fly Ball!

/ Jim McEvoy / Leave a comment

Taper time is slow time. With no workouts on Monday and Tuesday, I almost didn’t know what to do with my life. The next 11 days before the NYC Marathon are going to drag!

Good thing I had November Project NYC to enjoy this morning.

I woke up at 4:30, strapped on my workout and bike gear, and rode over to East End Avenue and 86th Street. I crossed the 72nd Street transverse in Central Park and rode up East Drive to 84th Street, and then across to the East River. I had never visited the Park that early, and it was dead quiet. Eerily quiet, especially after Sunday’s 22-mile run through the crowds of beast cancer walkers. Once I returned to the City streets on the East side, however, cars flew past and I had to wait at stop lights. At 5 a.m. What a contrast.

The workout

In honor of the Mets’ strong postseason run, our workout was baseball-themed. We broke into teams of six or eight, and then split into groups of three. We then played two “innings” of baseball.

Top of the 1st

Group 1 began by running suicides on the basketball/hockey court next to our staging area. Each “player” started on the base line, ran to a line at the top of the key, did a pushup, ran back to the baseline, then to the center line, did two pushups, back to the baseline, then to the far key, three pushups, back to the baseline, all the way to the far baseline, four pushups, then over to the benches next to the court for four dips, and then back to the baseline. That scored one “run.” Repeat for 7.5 minutes.

Group 2 began by running a grotto/stair loop with one burpee to cap it off. That scored one run. To score a second run, each player had to run two stair loops and do two burpees. For a third run, three stair loops and three burpees. Repeat for 7.5 minutes.

Bottom of the 1st

Group 1 and Group 2 switched workouts.

November Project NYC

Scoring runs before the sun.

Top of the 2nd

Group 1 returned and performed suicides, but did squats instead of pushups, and step-ups on the bench instead of dips. This was supposed to last for 7.5 minutes, but we somehow kept going for over ten.

Group 2 returned and performed grotto/stair loops, but did Coopers (a burpee with straight arms and a higher jump) instead of burpees.

Bottom of the 2nd

Groups 1 and 2 performed the opposite workout.

The “winning” group was the group that scored the most “runs.” That happened to be my group, “Go Blue,” with 81 runs, one run ahead of the second place group. We won a pumpkin! I

Overall, it felt great to be outside in the near-60 degree weather. it was also fun (in a sadistic way) to do suicides, something I haven’t done since high school hockey practice. I definitely held back in order to preserve myself for the marathon, but I felt tired and ready for a nap afterward. Riding my bike home after the workout felt good. I ran about 3-3.5 miles throughout the workouts.

At lunch I hit the gym later to stretch and to do some core work. I generally follow this core routine, and threw in a 75 second plank for good measure. My stretching included moves to stretch my piriformis, IT bands, hip flexors, quads, glutes, and hamstrings. Definitely do not want any injuries creeping up before the marathon!

For the rest of the week, I will be running another 15-18 miles (including a longish run of 8 miles on Sunday), and spending the rest of my time reading recaps of past NYC marathons, race strategy guides, and trying not to talk excessively about the marathon. Woot! So pumped.

Happy running, everyone!