Epicurious Runner

VCM Training Week 7: Life Happens

Last week was a rough week. My friend’s dad has been sick and after a long and hard battle, he passed away on Monday. There was no question whether or not Derek and I would be headed up for the services, so we left Wednesday night with a couple of other friends in our backseat and headed to Newport, NH to try and beat “the storm”.

Over the next few days, we cried, we drank, we ate, we laughed, we bonded, and I ran. It was an exhausting trip, to say the very least. I basically spent those few days pretending like I was in college again! It was nice to see so many friends, sad that it was under those circumstances, but I wanted to live a little over those few days, so I just went with the flow and had no regrets, even though I woke up hungover a few times. Also, sleeping on an air mattress for 4 nights didn’t do me any favors.

Also, we played this game called Left, Right, Center, it’s a dice game and it’s freaking awesome! All you need are these specific dice and each player needs 3 quarters. It’s a super simple game and I won twice! Now I have a zillion quarters to do my laundry.

We also had this cute pup to keep us company all weekend. Her name is Dolly.

Back to last week:

Saturday – 18 miles (9:24 avg. pace) This was THE BEST RUN EVER. Okay, so that’s a bit dramatic, but it was one of those magical days where everything just felt right! I ran with Theodora, Jen, Jocelyn, Jess, and Ashley, but not all at the same time. I also had 6 solo miles in there and I kept my pace pretty damn consistent the whole time. I ran the whole thing in Central Park, hills and all! This was my fastest training run ever, I probably could’ve PR’ed a marathon that day.

Sunday – 4 miles (10:02) Recovery run with my friend Megan. I brought her to run in Central Park for her first time! She’s signed up for a 10k there, so I figured she should get used to the hills before race day.

Monday – Revolve Real Ride. This was my first time at Revolve and it was great! I had bought a coupon off of Gilt City to use, so I cashed it in and got a good sweaty ride in here. The staff is super friendly and accommodating, I highly recommend!

Tuesday – 3 x 1600, (7:44, 7:43, 7:41) 6 total miles This was another awesome speedwork session! I ran my repeats faster this week than any other week, and I had awesome negative splits. This week’s work is giving me a boost of confidence for this coming Sunday’s NYC Half.

Wednesday – Rest (unplanned) I planned to get in an easy 5 miles, but was locked inside my apartment. How does that happen? I gave my keys to my friends because they were going to be taking care of our cat while we were gone, and then when I woke up Wednesday morning, my husband wasn’t home yet. He was still at work, so I was kind of stuck, since I didn’t want to leave my door unlocked and I wouldn’t have been able to get back into my building after I was done running. I was all dressed and ready to go too before I realized it.

The town sort of still looks like this. It’s kind of in the middle of nowhere.

Thursday – 8 miles (9:18 avg. pace) I went out hoping to get at least 6 miles in. I ran through Newport, NH and I’m not super familiar with it, so I figured I would just wander and hopefully find some good roads to run on. Luckily there was a wide shoulder or sidewalk to run on during my whole route and it surprisingly turned into a really good run. I was overdressed, but the weather was great and it still hadn’t snowed yet, so the ground was nice and dry. I was also a little hungover, so it felt good to sweat it all out and get on with the day. I returned and impressed everyone with my mileage, haha.

Friday – Rest

Total: 36 miles, 1 cross training day