NYC Marathon: Training Update

This is my first official blog dedicated to my training for the NYC Marathon.

The NYC marathon is the largest marathon in the United States, and rivals the London marathon for the largest marathon in the world. Due to its popularity, there is a lottery system to get into the race. It seems like about 1 in 6 people got in through the lottery this year (and that's just a guess based on how many people I know who entered it and were accepted vs. denied). And one of them was my fiancé, Greg. I was unfortunately denied, so I opted to raise money for charity and "earn" my entry that way. This will be Greg's first marathon, and I definitely want us to share the experience.

When it came time to choose the charity, I realized there were a lot of options. Most of them revolved around fighting some kind of disease, none of which have directly affected me (thankfully). So I chose a charity that was relevant to the marathon and relevant to my family history: The Central Park Conservancy. This organization cares for Central Park and goes far and beyond what taxpayer dollars would cover.

My father grew up in New York city in an apartment building that faced central park. Throughout his childhood, he would play in the park and he built many memories there. He eventually moved down to Virginia where I was born. We would visit my grandparents and uncle in New York, and I had the opportunity to play in the park, just like my father.

My grandparents passed away about 7 years ago. It was very sad for me because I had a strong relationship with them. Every time I go to New York, I remember them and all the wonderful times we had together. My uncle is my only remaining family member in Manhattan and it will be great to have his support when I run the marathon.


So if you are reading this, please help me meet my fundraising goal of $3,000. I am currently 46% of the way there and every dollar counts! Click here to donate now.

Now for the training aspect of it! My attitude when training for this marathon is that I want to motivate Greg and support him in his first marathon. I don't care as much about our finish time, although I really think Greg is capable of that golden 3:40. His half marathon PR is the McMillan equivalent of a 3:40, and he has built up even more endurance since then.
We've been doing most of our runs together-- but sometimes I run a few extra miles on my own or I do a recovery run when he has a rest day. For interval work, we go to a track and run at our own paces. He's faster than me on the intervals and I wouldn't want to hold him back.

My past few weeks have been:

Week of 6/28: 41 miles (includes a 5K race)
Week of 7/5: 45 miles (inc. 13-miler)
Week of 7/12: 47 miles (inc. 16-miler)
Week of 7/19: 48.6 miles (inc. 15-miler)
Week of 7/26: 52.5 miles (inc. 18-miler)

Each week includes one speed work, one Fartlek, and one long run. For this week I am planning on 56 miles. And then next week I am getting married so I have a recovery week!