After missing several days of training due to the move and subsequent start of law school (which is enough of a story for an entirely separate blog), I am back at it after a ten mile run in the park with my sister yesterday. Now that the humidity is slowly fading as we near the fall, these long runs are becoming much more comfortable and truly even enjoyable. We picked up the pace and finished the run in much quicker than our last ten-miler, even running the entire Great Hill at an 8:20 pace, forcing ourselves up the hellish incline in preparation for its very pointed position at about mile 24 of the actual marathon course. This week is perfect for recovery, however, as we have only a 6 mile run on Wednesday and 3 miles on Thursday. This should put us in perfect position for our 12-miler on Saturday- from Jen's apartment on the Upper East Side to mine in Brooklyn Heights and back. This path is also strategically planned as it allows for Jen to get more comfortable with bridge running (in this case, the Brooklyn Bridge, which isn't part of the actual marathon course but can be a bit unnerving to run over as you can see the east River in all its grungy glory rushing past under the grate beneath your feet). Moreover, it gives us a chance to refill our bottles and hit the bathroom without having to walk into a random convenience store and drip sweat all over their floor while we refresh our Gatorade supply and ask to use the bathroom.
Now that we have transitioned into fewer (but longer) runs, training is also a lot less demanding on our schedules. This may seem counterintuitive, but it is much easier to carve out three or four longer time blocks on a school schedule (as Jen is a teacher and I'm a newly minted law student) than it is to find time to run six days a week. After this weekend's long run, we will face another half marathon, a 15-, 18-, and 20- mile run on subsequent Saturdays, with several 6, 8, and 10 mile runs peppered on weekdays. Additionally, to aid in recovery I get to do more biking in my training time (including to class, because I now have the distinct honor of being nerdy enough to BIKE to LAW SCHOOL), and it's nice to mix it up a bit instead of strictly pounding out miles on the pavement day after day. Ergo, in many ways, as training gets harder, it actually gets easier; between an augmented level of fitness and the excitement of the impending big day, the dedication to training feels much less forced and much more natural and pleasant.
On one final note, on August 31st I will be joining over one million runners across the world in Nike's The Human Race, which I will be running for the World Wildlife Fund. This race, whose registration proceeds go entirely to charity (either the WWF, Livestrong Foundation, or UN Refugees' Agency) will be taking place in four U.S. cities (among the 21 other cities around the globe), including my current and former homes of New York City and Chicago. Thus the highlight of this amazing experience will not only be knowing that my dollars and footsteps are going to a stellar cause, it is that I will be running both in person alongside my sister and training partner, and in spirit alongside several dear friends in the midwest. I wish them the best of luck in this 10k, and in the remainder of their training for the 2008 Chicago Marathon-- a race for which I will always have a soft spot in my heart.
