NYCM Training: Lucky week 7

Seventh week done! It was a great week, too. Work was crazy, but I still got all my runs in. I did miss cross training on Monday though...ah well, can't do it all!

Workouts:

• Monday: rest
• Tuesday: 4 mile run
• Wednesday: 7 mile tempo run (8:33 pace!)
• Thursday: 4 mile run
• Friday: rest
• Saturday: 14 mile run (9:14 pace)
• Sunday: 7 mile run

Total mileage: 36

I realized that I missed weeks 7 and 8 of training when I trained for the May 1 marathon, so I'm pretty excited that I'll get those weeks in during this round of training. I hope it'll help me out in going sub-4!

This week was pretty similar to last week, but I had an awesomely speedy tempo run on Wednesday which was a huge confidence boost. This view from the reservoir helped speed me up, too:

Pre-sunrise

15 minutes later...

...and another 15 minutes later

It was SO pretty! And all of these pictures are slightly crooked!

I switched my Saturday and Sunday runs since I had a big night of birthdays Saturday night and didn't want to have the long run hanging over me on Sunday. Plus it was the last Summer Streets weekend, and I wanted to take full advantage of it!

Voila, le map:

et les splits:

• Mile 1 - 9:07
• Mile 2 - 9:57
• Mile 3 - 8:54
• Mile 4 - 8:58
• Mile 5 - 9:09
• Mile 6 - 8:50
• Mile 7 - 9:00
• Mile 8 - 9:13 --> Powerade gel around 8.5
• Mile 9 - 9:12 
• Mile 10 - 9:19
• Mile 11 - 9:22
• Mile 12 - 9:16
• Mile 13 - 9:54 (EVIL 72nd Street staircase!)
• Mile 14 - 9:02

Total time: 2:09:25, for an average pace of 9:14! Pretty good!

This run was definitely tough. It was hot out, but I just kept repeating "Go as slow as you want, but just finish the run", which kept me going. I'm so glad I got it done!

Sunday was a 7 miler that was meant to be at goal race pace, but it was slightly slower than that. It was raining, and for the life of me I couldn't get me legs to move any faster. I now totally see why the 7 mile run is on Saturday and the long run is on Sunday. 

I've been running without music lately, including on Saturday's 14 mile run. Wednesday's speedy run was done to the tune of last week's This American Life podcast (which was about working at an amusement park and was awesome), but other than that I haven't really been listening to music on my runs. I think it depends on my mood most of the time -- sometimes I just want to zone out for a 3-mile run, and sometimes for a crazy long run I just want to take in what's going on around me. I've heard people say for longer runs it's important to run without music so you can listen to your body and your breathing (which I actually paid a lot of attention to -- three steps breathing in, three steps breathing out. It's a good little rhythm!). I think it's a good thing, but there's definitely something to be said about getting pumped up listening to a song! 

Before the marathon, I was chatting with a few people and we were discussing what makes you a "real runner", and one of the things that one of the girls mentioned was running without music (which she said she never does). I can't remember the other things, but she was shocked that I'd done long runs (including 19 and 20 mile runs) without music. There's SO much to look at on the runs, and you get to think about crazy things during runs that you wouldn't usually think about if you were listening to music...for example, my friend Shawna thinks about the possible zombie apocalypse and how, since she's a running, she'd be able to outrun all of the zombies that might chase her during said apocalypse. It's true, your mind goes to some weird places during runs, but it can be so refreshing to see where your mind wanders. Sometimes I definitely sing songs in my head though...and might utter "Two more miles, you can do it!" under my breath when I'm losing motivation and want to stop. While I don't think it's what makes you a "real runner", I think running without music is a good skill to have -- that and running along from time to time. (I actually do nearly all of my runs on my own, which I'm SO glad I did last time I trained for a marathon since I was totally alone for most of the race!)

So...what do you think makes someone a "real runner"?