Even though the park is still filled with snow, NYC got a taste of spring last weekend and it was glorious running weather. After a mishap on some ice on Wednesday, I’m just glad I was able to run at all, let alone with only one layer and some exposed skin. It was a technically a short week for me with the holiday on Monday and a vacation day on Tuesday, but for some reason it still felt pretty long. Not necessarily in a bad way, though! The details:
Monday: REST
Was in Pennsylvania visiting my friend Meghan and her almost two-year-old Amelia, so unless you count 1.5 hours of babysitting as a workout (arguable, that child has a lot of energy), I did a lot of sitting and it was nice. Also am slowly turning Amelia into almost as big a Boo fan as myself, which is adorable on many levels.
Tuesday: 10 miles easy, strength (abs, arms)
Wanted to do a workout (as per usual Tuesday), but another snowstorm and unplowed roads meant an easy run was pretty much the only thing possible. Took it easy and tried to enjoy the snow whilst telling myself it would be the last snowstorm of the season…
Wednesday: 11.3 miles total: 2 miles w/u, 2 x 20 minutes at tempo pace w/ 3 minutes rest, then 1 x 10 minutes at tempo pace, 2 miles c/d
A wacky but good workout. Met Betsy after the first tempo set and felt pretty good – goals for the tempo miles were between 7:30 and 7:45 and we hit all of them on the low end. This was the longest tempo workout in this training cycle thus far, and a pretty big confidence boost towards my goal for the Philly LOVE Half at the end of March.
Wasn’t able to think about it too much at the time, though, because on the cooldown home after Betsy and I parted ways I did an awkward turn and BOOM. Slipped on some ice and slammed my left knee into the ice patch as hard as humanly possible. Like, I saw stars, didn’t stop my Garmin (haha) and almost vomited kind of pain. After some momentary delirium passed, I saw my spring marathon goals flying away – I was that sure something was seriously wrong. Some nice older man helped me get up and walked with me for a little bit to make sure I was ok (thank you! and sorry for all the swearing…). After a few minutes the shock wore off and I was able to jog slowly home.
Tried to ice the knee during the day (plus to working in a hospital – was able to fashion an ice pack no problem) and it was pretty sore and stiff the rest of the day but not terrible.
Thursday: 9.5 miles easy, strength (arms, abs)
Told myself I’d stop running if the knee hurt, but it felt surprisingly good and loosened up nicely a few miles into the run. It was warmer out and I felt great, so I went with it. Crisis averted?
Friday: 10 miles with 5 x 30 second strides at the end of the run, strength (legs, abs)
Saturday: 8.25 miles easy, strength (legs, abs)
Planned long run for Sunday due to my first day working at a clinic run through the hospital’s medical school for uninsured patients in Harlem. Ever since I started “the journey” towards being an RD I’ve wanted to work with low income patients because there is so much need for nutrition intervention and education, so jumped at the chance to provide nutrition counseling to patients a few times a month at the clinic. The first day went well and I’m really excited for the weeks and months to come.
Sunday: 17.1 miles: 4 miles warmup, 8 miles at MP, ~5.1 miles cooldown
Nothing funky about this workout, just 8 straight miles at marathon pace in the middle of the run. Was pretty tired starting out, and the MP miles felt a little harder than maybe they should have, but eventually fell into a nice grove and got it done.
Total: 66.15 miles
Towards the end of the long run, the knee started to feel a little funny, but I didn’t think much of it as I finished up. Did some icing when I got home and thought it would be fine the next day, but it was super stiff and sore on Monday and I couldn’t run at all. Took Tuesday off as well for some extra rest, and am now trying to get back into the usual routine. The knee still doesn’t feel totally normal, but it’s improving. Hopefully there was just some extreme bruising and a little inflammation going on that’ll heal with lots of icing and reduced mileage this week.
post long run breakfast: Greek yogurt, strawberries, ginger snap granola
I keep replaying the fall in my head and wishing I had taken just a few different steps or another route home. It’s funny how quick everything can change, and how little control we have sometimes. If that episode weren’t enough to make me completely over winter, the expected -12 degree windchills tomorrow morning will just about do it. I can’t wait for spring and to finally see (and run on) the bridle path dirt, as opposed to the snow/ice/slush mix it has been buried under for weeks!