NYC Marathon Recap

Journey to the start (Ana)

One of the big things for marathon day is what will race day weather be like, especially for the NYC marathon which requires you to be up early for transport to the start line on Staten Island but but your actual start time could be several hours later. This requires planning the appropriate clothing and food for the 5+ hour journey (in my case). A few months out it was forecast to be a low in the 30s and a high in the 40s. Over time, the weather slowly changed to looking like potential rain and a higher temperature. Race day weather ended up being less than ideal and quite warm for November in New York, with a low in the mid-60s and a high in the 70s with very high humidity. So much for all the warm clothes we planned on wearing and then donating to charity at the start line! We ended up still taking all the clothes with us so we could still donate them.

Line to get on ferry

 My wave did not start until 11:30, but before I even had this information I had to select my transport from Manhattan to Staten Island. My friend that I was going with (Renee) was going to be in an earlier wave than me, but we wanted to go together so we selected the 7:30 am ferry. We were up before 6 am and did not have to wait long to get a train to the ferry station around 6:40 am. The train was absolutely packed with people and it did not look like we would fit but we managed to squeeze in. It was crazy how full it was and even more people got on. We made it to the ferry station early and managed to get onto the 7:15 am ferry to Staten Island (which was also pretty packed). We went outside on the back of the boat so we could get great view on this journey. This was my first time on a boat in New York City and it was really cool to get to go by the Statue of Liberty

Once we got off the ferry we had to walk up to the street and wait for bus to transport us to Fort Wadsworth, the location where the marathon starts. To say it was a total sh!t show would not be an understatement. There were busses lined up along the sidewalk and people as far as the eye could see trying to get on the busses. We were in the back and it was maybe 20-30 people deep trying to get on a bus.  There was one guy yelling for people to step back and to keep walking toward the front. Renee and moved up a little. We watched to busses pull up in our area and people fill them up and there was no movement in our line. I wondered if we should move up, but then one tiny school bus pulled up at the back where there was no line and opened its door. A few people rushed toward it and I grabbed Renee and and we ran toward the door. I wasn't sure we would be able to get on and then the next thing I knew we were in the last seats on the bus and on our way to the start village. We later read on a marathon help face book page that some people waited over 2 hours to get on a bus! I was so thankful we made it in only 10 or 15 minutes. 

Upon the arrival to the start village we had to clear security and then look for our appropriate start village based on the color we were assigned (I was orange which started on the top left side of the Verrazano Bridge). We found orange start village and realized it was just some booths with food and drinks, including one from Dunkin' Donuts. We ended up walking back to a grassy area that had some shade to hang out until our waves started. We ate some food, put on sun screen, used the porta potties multiple times (there were plenty of them!), and tried to pass the time. Renee was gone within an hour to start with her wave and I had another hour on my own which was excruciating because there was zero cell service due to almost 50,000 people trying to use their phones at the same time. Finally it was my time to head to the start wave and soon we were off.

Miles 1 & 2 Mike Appel

So there I was finally running the iconic New York City marathon after 6 months of planning, thinking, training, and stressing. It was so surreal to be running across the Verrazano Bridge toward Brooklyn after this being all I had thought about for so long. The first stretch was supposed to be the steepest section of the race, but the excitement of being there made it seem like nothing. There are no spectators on the bridge so its just you and the sound of feet for a couple of miles. The view from my side of the bridge (left) is looking towards Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, which was lovely. I guess sometimes the fire boats will be out there blowing red, white, and blue water, but if they were there that day, they were already gone by the time I started.

Soon we were on the downhill stretch and heading into Brooklyn. One borough done, four to go! It was great to make it the party that was Brooklyn. When people say that the NYC Marathon has the best spectators they are not lying (sorry Chicago, you don't compare). THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE! I think maybe it is just their excuse for a big party when the streets are closed and I'm sure having it be the first full capacity marathon since the pandemic started (2020 was virtual and 2021 was only 25,000 people) helped. I really tried to embrace the moment and high-five all the people, especially the kids.

                                                                   Mile 3 (Brooklyn): Cari

The Brooklyn party continued and I kept ticking off the miles (I took photos and sent them to the sponsors, but they aren't exciting enough to share here). 

4: Vanessa Feagin

5: Kim Groebner

6: Juli Goldstein

7: Grishma Kharod

8: Mike Stoddard

9: Catherine Garcia

I was VERY excited about hitting mile 8, sponsored by my uncle Mike because my cousin Garret was going to be there waiting for me with his girlfriend Kai! I haven't seen Garret in over 10 years (he was still a young teenager) and had never met Kai. They both wanted to hug me but I said no because I was so sweaty, but they insisted on hugging me anyways. It was so amazing to see them and such a boost since it really was not the best day. After this I got progressively more and more miserable because of the heat and humidity. Around Mile 10 (Mara and Janice) is when it really hit the fan. I didn't feel great and I really wanted some water. At the aid station THEY HAD RUN OUT OF CUPS, so there was no way to get fluids unless you had your own container. It was ridiculous. The same was true of the aid station for mile 11 (Jeannie and Jerry). As a side note, around miles 10 and 11 is the neighborhood of Williamsburg which is predominately inhabited by Hasidic Jewish people. Because of this there are no spectators and no cheering...like almost deafening silence. All you hear is the sound of your feet and your thoughts of misery. 

The cup given to
me by an angel

After I discovered there was no way to get fluid at mile 10, I texted my friend Jessica to ask her to please get me a bottle of water (she was meeting me at mile 13). Shortly after that I had the most miraculous thing happen, a lone Hasidic Jewish girl was standing at the edge of the sidewalk with a cup of water extended out toward me. It was the most incredible thing that happened to me that day. I kept the cup until I saw Jessica and could carry the bottle the rest of the way. From there on it was honestly just a sufferfest. I probably should have gone even slower than I already was at the beginning because of the weather, but alas, here I was miserable and not even half way through the race. I really didn't care about my finish time, my whole goal with the NYC marathon was to just enjoy the experience. This is my biggest regret that day is that I definitely got caught up in my misery and missed out on some of the experience. I wanted to take tons of photos and videos and interact with the crowd. Oh well it is what it is. 

I made it through mile 12 (Hilary Gaughen) and got to see another angel, my college roommate Jessica! I was sooooo happy to see her and she was there at mile 13, the mile that she sponsored, with a lovely bottle of water. We hadn't seen each other since 2018 when I went to visit her in Costa Rica the year she was living there with her family. It was another boost I need and she had the great news that she was going to be waiting for me at mile 22! Another thing to look forward to!

Mile 13 with Jessica!

So from there on out I was just ticking off the miles until I got to Jessica again. Right after I left her it was on to the Pulaski Bridge (mile 14: Dianna Blau) which took me into Queens (mile 15: Morgan Brown) and then pretty quickly onto the dreaded Queensboro Bridge (mile 16: Dana Haberling) which takes you into Manhattan for the first time. So I was three boroughs down and two to go (we visit Manhattan twice). 

View from the Queensboro Bridge (Dana Haberling)

According to NYC Marathon lore, coming off the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan is supposed to be an amazing experience. This is mainly due to transition from the silent Queensboro Bridge where no spectators are allowed to a wall a sound from spectators in Manhattan. Maybe it was because I was in the last wave, but this was not my experience (although I may have just been in a told brain fog and blocked it out). It still was very cool and turning the corner off the bridge was very pretty. I soon hit miles 17 (Jono Berry) and 18 (Rita Traxler), but 26.2 seemed a gazillion miles away. As a side note, I am not posting most of my selfies from my miles like I did from Chicago because, although I was completely miserable, I am smiling and not looking that miserable. I think this is just because I was just happier to be one mile closer to the finish.

And then I got to mile 19 (Jules Crumley)...and this is where everything changed for me. I just felt so miserable running (alright it was actually more of a jog) but knew that I was not going to give up. Walking felt so much better. I started doing the math (which honestly isn't easy that far into a run) and realized in the remaining 7 miles I could power walk and only add on about another 15-20 minutes to my time. So that's when I made the decision I was going to walk and not feel bad about it (and actually physically feel better). It really was the best decision! It took so much pressure off me and now I was just focusing on making it to mile 22 where I got to see Jessica again. Mile 20 (Suzy Kohin) took me over the Willis Avenue Bridge and through the Bronx. Mile 21 (Andrew Berry) was an epic achievement of crossing the Madison Avenue Bridge, the last bridge (!!!), bringing me back into Manhattan. Every year you will see Emily with he the LAST DAMN BRIDGE sign handing out treats (which were very much needed this year). Make sure you stop and say hi, and maybe even take a picture if you ever run the marathon!

LAST DAMN BRIDGE

Only 5 miles left and one mile to Jessica! I was so happy to back in the final borough, Manhattan (again), running through Harlem. The sun was starting to set, the lighting was amazing, and the finish was in reach. Soon I was at mile 22 (Bob Broilo) and got another quick visit with Jessica before I headed off on the last four miles!

Sunset in Harlem

Mile 23 (Jane and RJ) was done in a flash and the next thing I knew I was entering Central Park and finishing mile 24 (Nick and Nova). Mile 25 (Amy McMinn) took me down the east side of the park. 

So close!!!!

Soon I was at my last mile and it was really dark. Mile 26 takes you out of Central Park and onto 59th Street along the south edge of the park. Renee and another friend from work, Caitlin, were going to be somewhere close to the finish line. Caitlin texted that they were going to be at the stage by Columbus Circle. As I am reading her text right now to write this blog I realize I completely misread what she had written. In my mind at the time, I thought her text said they were right before the stands at the finish line. Renee texted she was just past the 800 meters to go sign on the left. In my mind I was thinking that 800 meters to go was after the 26 mile marker and inside the park (so a fraction of the 0.2 left to go), when I reality it would have been about a 1/2 mile to the finish. Math is hard!

You can see in the video how in the zone I was wanting to get to where I thought my friends were. I cannot believe I didn't hear them yelling for me. Needless to say, I totally missed both of them and spent the last 0.2 miles looking for them and getting totally disoriented before I hit the finish line in confusion. Once I crossed the finish line I wanted to take a selfie that showed me with the finish line banner, but they don't actually have one, just markers on the ground. At that point I just gave up and wanted to get my medal and food and go find Renee. I wish I would have soaked it all in more, but such is life.

Crossing the finish line (Dad)

I did it!!!!

Getting from the finish line back to the hotel was a marathon in itself (Renee sponsored this section which was fitting since we did most of it together). It was a little over a 1/2 mile to get from the finish line to 77th Street to exit Central Park). From there it was another mile to meet up with Renee at Lincoln Center and then another mile walk back to our hotel. Once we got there it was time for some stretching, a nice long shower, and some food (we got Smashburger)!

Despite the fact that I was miserable and there was a lot of complaining in describing the day for me, it was still the most amazing race I have done. Yes it would have been nice to have cooler temperatures, but maybe the crowds were so big because of the weather! Nothing really can compare to the NYC marathon. I also have to say that while marathons are a very selfish endeavor that take us away from many other things in our lives, there are two really important things beyond me that are associated with being able to do this race. 

The first is getting entry through running with Back on My Feet, which led to me volunteering for the Atlanta Chapter. I did have to pull back some on volunteering leading up to the marathon because it got to be too much with the training, but I will start running with them again soon. The weekend of the marathon we got to attend a brunch with all the other fundraisers, volunteers, and members of Back on My Feet.  We learned how we raised almost $350,000 and what that money would be used for. One new member talked about what BOMF has done for him and how it is has changed his life. It really does mean a lot to be doing a sport I love (most of the time) with a charity that uses the same sport to help people improve their lives and the money I raised is part of that. You can still donate to the charity here. 

Back on my Feet Brunch Marathon Weekend

The second thing that really made the entire race have a bigger meaning was running the race in the memory of the tissue donor for my ACL repair. I had sent his family a letter and my Triple Peach medal from 2019 and I got a letter back from them in October of 2020. Their son Bubba (his nickname) had died in a motor cycle accident at the age of 25 They kept the medal with some other keepsakes of him and asked me to keep them updated on my recovery. The memory of this letter popped up on my Facebook feed just a few weeks before the marathon and I took as a sign that I needed to try to find them.  Contact between donor families and recipients is somewhat anonymous, but I was able to find Bubba's mom on Facebook through the information she sent in her letter. I wasn't sure if it would be unwelcome contact, but I took a chance and sent her a message. I heard back from her within a few days and she was very happy I reached out. She ended up donating to Back on my Feet (yes I was balling when I saw it) and told me that Bubba's 30th birthday would have been three days after the marathon. I have kept in touch with her ever since and hope that one day we can meet in person.

For Bubba

20 Miles Done, 3 Weeks Until NYC Marathon!

I had been dreading weeks 13, 14, and 15 of training since I started this process in July. The last 3 weeks of training required me to run 16, 18, and then 20 miles.  It sounded so impossible, along with the 55 minute tempo runs, 70 marathon pace runs, and strength training during the week. My 18 mile run was miserable, so I expected the 20 mile run would be even worse...much to surprise it felt pretty good! My pace was 32 seconds per mile faster than my 18 miler!!!! It probably also helped knowing it was my last hard long run. And when I say last, I mean last ever. Nick doesn't believe me, but this is my last marathon every You can quote me on that. Now I just get to enjoy the taper in training leading up to the marathon, 12 and 8 miles the next two weekends are going to seem like nothing!

Post 20 miles

I really have to thank Nova for being a really great running partner and sticking with me through every single mile of this training. I did not know if I would be able to do another marathon after losing Endo last year. She was with me through all my runs for 2 of the 3 marathons I have done. I tried running with Nova early on after my knee surgery, but she was so skittish. On one run she freaked out about people running in our direction and pulled me to the ground, got away from me, and ran into the street. After that I stopped running with her because I didn't want to injure my newly repaired knee or have something happen to her. I started up with her again a couple years later and thought I would see how she did with my long runs for the marathon. With every increase in distance, she easily did it and came home and still had plenty of energy. Everyone was so worried about her doing these long runs when it really is me they should be worried about. 😂

Speaking of worrying about me, I do often get asked how my knee is feeling while I am training. The honest answer is, it feels 100% normal. I occasionally get sensations, I wouldn't call it pain, but just a feeling that reminds me that my knee is there. For those of you that weren't around for it, I destroyed my right knee when I fell 9 feet while bouldering at the climbing gym. I honestly had no idea if I would ever get to run, bike, climb, or be active in general again. I could barely walk and just going to work for an hour was extremely painful. I ended up taking a lot of work off in 2019 while I recovered. Initially I had to to physical therapy on my own to get back range of motion, strengthen the leg, and wait for swelling to go down before surgery. After surgery I was back to doing those same things, but this time going to a physical therapist twice a week and doing exercises on my own. I took therapy very seriously after having several friends tell me they hadn't and their knee/leg was never the same and they regretted it.

Hiking in Colorado

I ended up doing about 2-3 hours of therapy a day. At the 6 week mark after surgery I was cleared to get out of the saddle on my bike (which was on a trainer in the basement) and started doing rides with Peloton. I ended up doing all the exercises I was assigned, in person PT, and 2 rides a day throughout my recovery. Because of all this hard work I was able to get my surgery leg equal to my non-surgery leg in about 6 months, 3 months earlier than it usually takes. I was bushwhacking in Colorado 6 months out from surgery and as part of my recovery I ran the Peachtree Road Race 4 1/2 months after surgery, followed by the 10 miler in October and the Thanksgiving Half. I am very grateful for my surgeon, my physical therapist (Poonam the punisher, love you Poonam!), and the donor of my grafted tissue. I often forget that I didn't know if I my life would ever go back to the way it was pre-injury, it seemed so impossible. Please consider organ and tissue donation, it is an amazing gift.

See you in 3 weeks NYC. Cannot wait to run my LAST MARATHON EVER in the big apple! There is still time to donate to my charity Back on My Feet!

Last Six Weeks Before the Marathon!!!

Today I completed part 2 of Peloton's Road to 26.2 with a 12 mile run. This week (week 12) was a dropdown week, which I really needed after not feeling great after my 16 mile run last week. I took all the weekday runs easy and didn't over do it, but did do some heavy lifting for the Strength for Runners classes. It really paid off because the 12 mile run felt AMAZING. I didn't feel tired, my legs felt great on the run, and my last mile was my best pace (it helped that a slept great last night). Today's run gave me the confidence boost I needed going into part 3, which will mean 16, 18, and 20 miles the next three weekends. I guess I should just trust the process at and realize that just because I felt exhausted and burnt out after my 16 mile run that it didn't mean that I would not be able to keep going. The dropdown, taper, and recovery is there for a reason!

At this point I have figured out my clothing, hydration, nutrition, and recovery plan for my training and marathon day. There were several weeks in a row that I kept getting chafing, something I had only gotten on one run in the 10 years I had been running previously. I have a friend (thanks Melissa) that does a lot of ultras and she recommended to try Squirrel's Nut butter, so I ordered the anti-chafe stick. I now rub it all over the area where the bottom of my sports bra lands and I haven't had any issues since. My last several long runs I have worn the same sports bra and since it has been ok I will be wearing that for the marathon. I will wear a Back on My Feet singlet I earned for hitting my fundraising goal. Bottoms wise, I have not totally settled on what I will wear.  I prefer to wear short length bottoms with calf compression sleeves, but if it is really cold I will go with longer pants. I ordered both Athleta and Brooks bottoms that had pockets to try out and for shorts I prefer the Athleta ones because they are longer. I really am loving having the pockets so I don't have to wear a belt to carry my phone and gels. For compression sleeves to wear while running I got Zensah because they aren't as tight as some of the other brands. After running I switch to CEP full length compression socks and will likely wear them to sleep in after the marathon (and probably on the flight home too). I also ordered some Oofos Ooriginal Recovery Sandal based on some runner websites I am on. They are like rubbery clouds that I can wear after my runs (and just in general) to help to absorb impact and aid in recovery.

All my hydration/nutrition during running is thanks to Melissa's recommendations. I have always just drank water with all my training and races until now, but Melissa suggested I try Tailwind and gave me some to try. Now I have been using it for all of my runs and some of my recovery. I prefer the Endurance Fuel Naked (unflavored). Since it is so hot out and I also don't want to have to run loops back home to refuel, I learned a trick when I was training for Chicago Marathon and broke my arm and had to use a Camelbak instead of carrying a water bottle. I ] fill the Camelbak about half full and lay it on its side with the lid open (obviously make sure it doesn't leak out) in our chest freezer. The next morning before I run I run it under hot water just enough to get the ice to release from the sides and bottom so the liquid can get to the tubing. I then make more water and Tailwind mix and fill it up. It ends up being plenty to last me up to 20 mile runs. Previously for nutrition I had used Huma gels but Melissa told me there was something even better out there now, Spring Energy. I initially ordered a sample pack so I could try everything, but in the end I really like Speednut (both with and without caffeine to mix it up) because they have 250 calories! I also ordered Wolfpack to have right before the marathon starts.

Finally is recovery! As always my go to as soon as I get home is to drink a glass of the yummy delicious Horizon Chocolate Milk. After that it is straight to my Peloton bike to do a recovery ride to help me cool down followed by some stretching. Based on recommendations by Next Level, it is really important for women of a certain age (cough cough pre- and post-menopause) to get some protein within 30 minutes of heavy lifting or long endurance cardio so my next priority is eating. I clean off the stink with a shower, get my compression socks on and throw on the Oofos sandals if I am walking around. One last bit of recovery is that after my longest run of the cycle, I go for a two hour massage that includes some cupping. I will also do some more stretching based yoga before I go to bed. And finally...sleep, sleep, and more sleep! It is my goal to get at least 9 hours of sleep every night, although this often doesn't happen. 

I must at least mention, if you would like to support my journey to the NYC marathon and my charity Back on My Feet, please go to my charity page and donate to help a great organization. And to finish it off, Nova and I finally got a somewhat decent photo on our long run today!

Half of Training and a Half Marathon DONE!

Jono and I

Labor Day weekend was week 9 of 18 weeks of training for the NYC Marathon. I was supposed to run 12 miles, but noticed there was a sale on the Rock 'n' Roll Washington half marathon on World Running Day. After texting my brother-in-law (Jono) who lives in Seattle to see if he was around that weekend, I impulse registered for the race. Luckily plane tickets were not too bad, and I had a $200 voucher for Delta. Washington here I come!

Megan at Métier

Jono picked my up at the airport and we went straight to west Seattle to eat an early dinner at Il Nido and it was DELICIOUS. Afterwards I was pretty tired and headed to bed early. On Friday we went to the race expo so I could pick up my bib and then we got some take-out tacos. After a nap Jono, Megan (Jono's girlfriend), and I walked to the local farmer's market and picked up some things to make dinner that night and on the way back we stopped for a beer at local Black-owned brewery Métier Brewing Company. 

Jono and Megan both had to work on Saturday so I was on my own to do whatever.  I first went to the farmer's market that Megan was working at to get something to eat for lunch and to check out the lovely produce. I then went to see one of my good college friend's from U.C. Santa Cruz that lives in Seattle. Unfortunately she was sick so I could only hang out with her for a few hours (originally I was going to hang out with her all day Saturday and spend the night). I capped off the day hanging out with Megan at their apartment. We got some take-out Ethiopian food and just chilled out and until I went to bed early since the race was at 6:30 am and I had to be up by 5:00 am (which is not as bad as it sounds for me since that is 8 am Atlanta time).

Sunday morning went smoothly and I was able to Uber to the start line. The race was not too big, so I started shortly after 6:30 am.  I took photos at every mile, but they were mostly boring since the course wasn't too pretty and I only felt horrible when there were uphills. And let me tell you there were some serious uphills which can be seen from elevation map from my Garmin. I did really appreciate that steep downhill, people were hauling ass...plus there was a special guest which I will post a photo of later.

After steep uphill at mile 5

Thank you to all of my mile sponsors from the race:

1 Savanna Blair

2 Shell

3 Julie Kuipers

4&5 Amy King

6 Emily Peterson

7 Jane and RJ

8 Deb Arora

9 Kita and Kai

10 Lolly and Maple

11 Amy McMinn

12 Anne Whitney

13.1 Renee Galloway

So, as I mentioned there were a lot of hilly parts with some slowly climbing and others were STEEP. We were rewarded with a long, steep downhill at mile 10. Overall mile 10 was by far the highlight of the entire race because of a special appearance by Sasquatch. The last 3 miles were a little miserable. I got a second wind at mile 11 but it was gone for the last mile and then the last turn for the 0.1 of 13.1 miles was a steep hill. NOT COOL. Megan was awesome and woke up early to cheer me on at the steep finish. After she drove me back to the apartment and then she and Jono made me delicious breakfast before I had to head to the airport to fly back to Atlanta. Megan also made me the sweetest painting of Endo and I running in front of the mountains of Washington! Side note: I sat next to Chili from TLC (T-Boz was in the row behind us). 

So now I am back in Atlanta and starting the second half of training, which will be much more difficult than the first 9 weeks. This weekend I have to run 14 miles. Wish me luck! Oh and thank you to everyone that has donated to Back on My Feet!

A Megan Fisher Original of Endo and I

6 weeks down, 12 to go!

And just like that I completed 6 weeks of training, Part 1 of the Peloton Road to 26.2 training. I really enjoyed being able to just go through and click on the next class I was supposed to take in the program (no thinking required).  I ended up deciding on the following training schedule, incorporating some of the classes from #hardCORE on the floor (HCOTF):

Monday:        10 minute core (HCOTF)

                       Tempo run (40-55 minutes)

                       30 minute strength for runners

                       10 minute glutes and legs (HCOTF, optional)

                       30 minutes of upper body (HCOTF)

Tuesday:        10 minute core (HCOTF)

                       10-15 low impact Peloton ride

Wednesday:  10 minute core (HCOTF)

                       Marathon pace run 40-70 minutes)

                       30 minute strength for runners

                       Yoga and foam rolling (HCOTF recovery)

Thursday:     10-15 minute low impact Peloton ride

Friday:          10 minute core (HCOTF)

                       10 minute barre (HCOTF, optional)

                       20 minute run

                       30 minutes of upper body (HCOTF)

Saturday:      10 minute core (HCOTF)

                       Long run (8-20 miles)

                       20 minute Peloton recovery ride

Sunday:         Yoga and walk (HCOTF recovery day)

Nova sucks at selfies

Overall, I would say I am feeling great! I really do think the strength training, stretching, and yoga I started doing since my last marathon has helped. That being said, I still have a long ways to go and I felt fatigued during today's 40 minute tempo run (I ran 10 miles on Saturday), which has me a little worried. But these are the days that make me stronger...and I listened to my body and skipped the 10 minute glutes and legs strength class. I am a little nervous about about ramping up to more than 12 miles, but part of the training is building mental strength, so I just need to trust the process. PLUS, this being my 4th marathon I KNOW deep down I can do it. 

Running through Krog Tunnel

I haven't been blogging much, but since I last posted I started volunteering with my charity, Back on My Feet! Back on My Feet operates in 17 cities in the United States. There are four different Back on My Feet chapters in Atlanta. I went through all the necessary training to volunteer, followed by an onboarding process. During the onboarding process I learned about the different chapters and what they were like. I left it up to the volunteer coordinator to pick which chapter was a fit and needed more volunteers. I was assigned to Team Trinity, which operates out of a shelter downtown near the Sweet Auburn Market. They run every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:30 am. I will just be joining on Fridays, since that fits best with my training plan of having a 20 minute fun run that day. I have been out three times with them so far. There is a 2 or 3 mile option, so I have opted for the 3 mile walk/run, usually ending up with one person along the way. Running provides a great time for interaction and getting to know people, and I am really happy that I get to really see the work this charity does. 

And speaking of the charity, this is where I ask you to donate if you haven't already (or donate again)! I am almost to my fundraising goal of $4000. I have all my miles claimed for the NYC Marathon, but I am running the Rock 'n' Roll Washington (State) on September 4th and you can sponsor a mile of that race. My fundraising page for you to donate at is here and these are my miles that are left and the cost:

1 Savanna Blair

2 Shell

3 Julie Kuipers

4 and 5 Amy King

6 Emily Peterson

7 Jane and RJ

8 Deb Arora

9 Kita and Kai

10 Lolly and Maple

11 Amy McMinn

12 Anne Whitney

13.1 Renee Galloway

I will blog about my experience after the race. Thank you for your support!  

Back from California, Time to Train!

The cows are the cutest

I got back on Sunday from my big trip to California. I had been invited by Dr. Woutrina Smith, someone I was in graduate school with at the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine, to be an instructor in Rx One Health Field Institute. I was more than thrilled to accept the invitation, which I had to arrange through work to make it official. This invitation also gave me the chance to visit with faculty in the veterinary school and at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory (CAHFS) in Davis. Another added bonus was I got to visit with many friends (including Woutrina) and former colleagues that I have not seen in over four years. Since the last time I had seen Woutrina she married and had an adorable baby with another friend from Davis (and CDC), Dr. Brian Bird. Brian and I had some serious bonding time working together running the CDC Ebola Laboratory in Sierra Leone during the 2014-2015 outbreak. 

The trip started out with a visit to CAHFS which arranged by my friend Dr. Heather Fritz (I was also staying with her). We were able to fit in a lunch with Woutrina and our amazing PhD advisor Dr. Pat Conrad, who recently retired. Such a great time catching up with some of my favorite people at one of my favorite Davis restaurants Sophia's. The week also included a run with Heather and her daughter, a 27 mile (!) round trip bike ride to Winters, dinner with some of our good friends from my favorite climbing gym Rocknasium, and dinner with some of my former colleagues in the diagnostic bacteriology laboratory in the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

Safety First

The Rx One Health Course started on Sunday with some introductions and food and then continued Monday and Tuesday with classroom based lectures, trainings, and projects. We discussed one health foundations, disease surveillance methods, human health inequities, and community engament. I must mention part of the course included precautions for prevention the spread of disease among the participants. There were very strict protocols put into place for the 25 participants from over 10 countries and the instructors involved. All the non-US based participants tested before coming to the United States, arriving at least five days before the course started. They tested again upon arrival (as did I two days after I arrived since I also got to Davis early). Everyone in the course tested in Davis the first day of the course and again on Tuesday through Healthy Davis Together (which ended on June 30), the day before the course was field-based. Everyone wore masks when indoors and we ate all our meals outdoors. Protocols were in place to deal with positive/sick people and those potentially exposed.  I was initially reluctant to go, but once I heard all of the plans in place I because much more comfortable.

Clover Valley

So back to the course, for those of you who are not familiar with the One Health, it is the concept that there is a connection between human, animals, and the environment. Humans do not exist in isolation, and we must also consider animals and the environment when dealing with issues or nothing will be solved. This course was designed to inspire ecosystem health stewardship and train future leaders in the One Health approach. We first visited Clover Valley Ranch, a beautiful valley in the Sierra Nevada that is undergoing restoration through collaboration of multiple groups. This valley was overgrazed by cattle, which impacted the watershed, humans, and animals of the area, and also downstream. You can read a little more about some of this project here. There is also work being done to study the animal populations, mainly focusing on the rodents and the diseases they may carry. The course participants got to learn how to properly use personal protective equipment (PPE), methods for trapping rodents, and how measurements and samples are taken from the rodents before they are released back into the wild. In addition, the Dixie Fire of 2021 burned through some of the land, so they are looking at changes pre- and post-fire and also comparing burned areas to non-burned areas. 

Sea otter at Elkhorn Slough

The next stop after Clover Valley was Hastings Natural History Reservation which is owned by the University of California, Berkeley. While at Hastings we learned about the work being done there along with discussion on antimicrobial drug stewardship, working with wildlife, and the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. One day we visited Alba, a farm that trains low-income field laborers on organic farm management.  We also toured the Elkhorn Slough and the Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center, learning about the coastal ecosystem and care for the environment, plants, and animals that live in these ecosystems. The last few days of the course the participants were given a scenario in which they had to integrate all of the knowledge they had learned over the two weeks and take charge of a situation to come up with a plan of action, including holding a (fake) press conference in which they had to answer some tough questions. They were amazing as was this course. I was so happy to get to know these amazing people that participated in the course. They were a diverse group of people with such different backgrounds but they were all similar with their intelligence,, thoughtfulness, along with being so much fun! I cannot wait to see where life takes every single person involved. I highly recommend the course, find more information here. 

And now I am back from my California adventure and my next adventure beings!  This week I begin my 18 week training plan for the New York City Marathon! I completed my first week of training this week which consisted of a 40 minute tempo run Monday, a 40 minute race prep run Wednesday, a 20 minute shake out run yesterday, and a 4 mile (short) long run today. In addition to the running they have two days of 30 minute strength for runners classes during the week, and I added on five days a week of core and two days a week of upper body strength training. I even made it to the climbing gym! I am so excited to being this journey and see how my body does after doing strength training the last six months.  Honestly, a 20 mile long run seems totally impossible right now, but I guess that is why I have 14 weeks to get there. Please follow along me through my journey through this blog and social media. You can donate to my charity Back on My Feet, I am also hoping to do some volunteering with them leading up to the race!

Rainy run today!

4 Weeks Until Training Starts!

The New York City marathon will be the fourth marathon that I have done. When I trained for my first marathon (DisneyWorld, January 2012). I had several friends that also signed up and we followed the Hal Higdon Novice 2 program. This was a great introduction to marathon training since I had just started running only seven months before. I found as the training went on, I ate so much more than normal (I had many episodes of being hangry) and my body changed with my legs and butt getting bigger (I even split some shorts when I was at the climbing gym). My second marathon was Chicago in 2014, which I ran for charity (Team Paws Chicago). For this marathon I only wanted to run three days a week, and Endo was my only training partner. I followed the Hal Higdon Marathon 3 program. You can read more about my training on my previous blog posts, starting here with my first week. I did have to modify one week, when I crashed on my bike four weeks before the race and broke my wrist (I ran 10 miles instead of 20 for my long run two days after the accident). By the time I got to my third marathon, DisneyWorld in 2018, I was much more confident about my abilities and knowing that I would be able to finish, so I sort of made up my own training schedule that was somewhat a combination of Novice 2 and Marathon 3, and only did one 20 mile run. 

Fun Friday night

So here I am 4 1/2 years since my last marathon in January of 2018. I have run the Peachtree twice (10k), a 10 miler, and one half marathon since that marathon. That's it. Running, and life, was majorly derailed for me in 2019 when I badly injured my knee at the climbing gym and had to have knee surgery six weeks later. I'll save that story for another day. And then the pandemic...so no races because of obvious reasons.

What am I going to do for training this time? Well, out of recovery from knee injury and surgery, I found Peloton. Yes, THAT Peloton, the one people that think it is a cult (the best thing about it is the instructors). Say what you want about it, but I finished physical therapy and got my surgery leg to the strength of my non-surgery leg three months earlier than most people (similar to what the serious athletes do), which I largely thank Peloton for. I got a digital subscription and started doing rides on my road bike placed on a trainer at week 6 post-surgery when my doctor cleared me.  I would do all the physical therapy sessions, home exercises, and usually two rides a day every day seven days a week for about 20 weeks. I have no issues with strength or flexibility of my injured leg now, the only real issue I have had is a continued fear of getting injured again from falling while bouldering (I am very slowly working through this). Once physical therapy was done I still continued to do Peloton rides and eventually got into doing strength, stretching, and yoga classes. I then had a friend invite me to a Facebook group called Hardcore on the Floor (if you are interested I can invite you to the group) that is run by a trainer. She lays out a training plan for you every day in a calendar using Peloton workouts with two lower body, two upper body and one fully body strength training days and two active recovery days a week. I have been doing this program since January 1 and have definitely seen some improvements.

Wait, wasn't I supposed to be talking about marathon training?  Oh yeah, so this is where Peloton comes in. They have an 18 week marathon training program that I am going to follow called Road to Your 26.2. This plan  has four days a week of running with three runs during the week (Fridays is only a 20 minute easy run which basically is just me taking Nova to the dog park) and a long Saturday run (or Sunday if that is your preference). The plan also includes strength training geared to runners, which I like now that I actually do strength training. I don't think this plan would be great for a first time marathon runner since the weekday mileage does not get as high as many of the other programs, but I confidence with my abilities and happy to not do to high of mileage every week. 

Starting the beginning of July I will be doing this training and also incorporating in some of the Hardcore training, but making sure I don't overdo it. Since I start doing Hardcore I really feel more in tune with my body and knowing when I need to rest and when I can go hard. I am super excited about training. No really, I am. I had not been running long distances during the pandemic, but the last few weeks I am upping my miles and my body feels good and I know I can run further. Not sure how much Nova can take, but I will still try to take her out for parts of my runs (I miss you Endo). So I present to you my 18 week marathon training plan*:

*The 1/2 marathon is not part of the training plan, there is supposed to be a 12 mile run that week but I signed up for a race in Washington, so depending how I feel week 10, I'll do either 12 or 14 miles (it is supposed to be 14 miles that week)

I am heading to California for work on June 15th and will hopefully get to update while I am there, but as soon as I get back the training begins! In the meantime, feel free to donate to my charity, Back on My Feet here!