Training for NYC Marathon

I have not written one single training post for the NYC Marathon. In part because I have been so busy but primarily because NYC is not a “goal race” for me. I am not running it for time – I’m running it for the experience. I always love reading about others training, however, so I thought that some of you might be interested in my buildup to the race.

I started training for NYC in August. I wanted an easier, more laid back plan and my coach delivered. I have been running 4-5 days a week (mostly 5) instead of 6. A lot of my workouts have been time based, which I like. I’ve also given myself more grace than I typically do if I have to move a run around or even miss a run. I probably missed 3 runs over this cycle, which is pretty unheard for me. It was totally fine – which of course it was and I didn’t stress a bit. 

So far, I have run about 350 miles preparing for NYC. I expect to run another 30 or so miles in the 13 days before the marathon, for a total of around 380 miles leading into the race. To contrast that with my Grandma’s buildup – I ran around 800 miles while training for Grandma’s. To be fair, that was a six month long trainer cycle and it was a gradual buildup. My buildup for Berlin was just under 600 miles. So this is a lower mileage cycle and I’m totally fine with that – this was the point. I wanted to run enough to be able to successfully complete NYC but I wanted to also have a life and have as much fun while marathon training as possible. My plan is currently to train again for sub-4 in March…but that is all dependent on how I feel after NYC. 

I do not have a specific goal time for NYC. I imagine I will run in the 4:15-4:30 range and that sounds good to me. I am so excited about the experience and can not wait to experience each of New York’s boroughs. I do plan to write a race recap so check back here in a couple weeks to hear how it goes! 

Who else is running NYC?