2019 Berlin Marathon Training: Week 6

15 July 2019

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During marathon training you have good weeks and you have bad weeks. This week wasn’t a good week for me. I was actually in quite a bit of pain after last Sunday’s long run and so I spent most of the week trying to take it easy and recover. But it’s sooo hard to take a break! 

MONDAY

So Monday was interesting… starting with torrential rain/flooding and ending with pretty decent running temperatures. Like I mentioned in the intro, I was still a little sour from Sunday’s 14 miler and I have this recurring pain in my upper left thigh that is starting to worry me so I kept it short Monday and ran 5K with Pacers 14th street. We had a huge group for the 3 mile run!

TUESDAY

I hate missing the monthly Track and Shack run but I had a birthday party that evening so I ran a quick 5.3km all by myself like a big girl in the morning. My leg still wasn’t feeling great though 😦

WEDNESDAY

It was one mile benchmark at OrangeTheory and I didn’t want to miss it! I always compare myself to other runners and let it to me and get me down. Wednesday’s benchmark mile helped me remember the only comparison that really matters:

Me in January: 10:45/mile or 6:41/km

Me in July: 9:38/mile or 5:59/km

Of course it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t still find a way to beat myself up over that. Back in April, I ran one of the Crystal City 5Ks at a 9:18/mile or 5:47/km. So I know I’ve made a lot of progress and it’s great to see some concrete results, but I also know I can do better and have to ask myself what held me back during the benchmark… 

THURSDAY

REST DAY.

FRIDAY

It’s Britney b*tch! I had been really itching to take a spin class so when I saw that Christine, one of my favourite instructors, was teaching a BRITNEY themed class at Flywheel Dupont Circle at 8AM, I just couldn’t resist (though it was probably not the ideal “rest my leg” activity)!!

SATURDAY

My bestie Caitlin was in town visiting and helping me celebrate France’s national holiday in style. She’s also training for Berlin but we thought we’d have some fun today. First, we took a special Core Power class on the rooftop of the Pod Hotel in Chinatown. In the afternoon we headed to the Wharf to do some Stand Up Paddleboarding which was super fun.

There’s just something about being on the water on a got sunny day! Also, we worked out our arms and core so I’m totally counting it as cross training.

SUNDAY

A long day that started with my usual 6:30AM long run with PR =DC= DTP. I took a step back since I had barely ran this week and just ran 8 miles. My leg still doesn’t feel great 😦 I actually had company the whole route (we ran along the mall), not from Caitlin who’s much faster and ran with some of the other peeps in the group, but from another girl who had just gotten back from Sweden. We talked running, traveling… it was nice!

After that, we did a little recovery at the pool and then it was on! Full on Bastille Day celebrations starting with one drink at Opaline at the Sofitel, another drink at the rosé garden at the Four Seasons Hotel/ ENO Wine Bar, lots of drinks at the French Embassy and lots of food and dancing at Bistro du Coin. It was an ambitious agenda. I might need to call in sick Monday 😉

Bilan de la semaine: The low mileage (25km / 15 miles) is really frustrating and I’m not 100% sure it actually helped but I couldn’t just stop altogether (could I?). I’m happy I did different activities like SUP-ing, yoga and spinning but I need to get back on track next week.

What I’m watching/reading/listening to: My attempt to read more books by international authors took me to Japan for the second time. Hiromi Kawasaki’s The 10 Loves of Nishino is a quirky  love story told through the eyes of 10 different women who help draw a portrait of a mysterious ladies’ man.

I’m also listening to Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson and really enjoying that. 

What I’m eating/drinking: I had a lovely dinner with Caitlin, Calla and some of Caitlin’s friend at Zeppelin, a new(ish) sushi, yakitori, and izakaya bar  in Shaw. But the highlight was this cute little Bastille Day themed religieuse from Dominique ansel that Caitlin brought on the train with her. It was filled with Nutella so obviously I’m in love. 

What I’m looking forward to on week 7: I hated being forced to take a break this week and I’m looking forward to getting back to a 50+ km mileage week, if my leg allows it. Also, Wednesday is Corey’s birthday and there’s lots of fun stuff in DC planned for 50th anniversary of the Apollo missions.

2019 Berlin Marathon Training: Week 5

7 July 2019

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How is it already July!?! But at least I’m happy to report as we have reached the halfway point of the year that I am a tiny bit more than halfway through my goal of running 1,000 miles in 2019! Wohoo! Here’s how I added some miles this week:

MONDAY

I hadn’t been to Pacers 14th Street in a while so it was nice to catch up with some of my running friends. It was too hot for leggings but since it was Canada Day, I dressed to celebrate 😉

I was thinking I would do 5 miles but I arrived late, just as the longer distance groups were leaving. So 3 miles it was!

TUESDAY

Another Tuesday group run with Pacers Navy Yards. This was a difficult run for me. Ian who usually runs with me wasn’t there and I was quickly left behind and ended up running alone which gave me plenty of time to feel sorry for myself. The sad part is I actually ran at a decent pace for me (6:23/km or 10:17/miles) but instead of feeling good about myself at the end of runs like this, I just feel inadequate and discouraged. I know I’m a slow runner but sometimes it’s just tough to be reminded like that…. 

WEDNESDAY

I ran to the November Project and back. Since Trump is taking over the Lincoln Memorial where the group usually meets on Wednesday, we met at the Library of Congress for an Independence Day themed workout (think 76 bicycle kicks — not 1776 luckily!). 

THURSDAY

Happy Independence Day America! Corey and I joined Pacers 14th Street for an 11AM 3 miles run. It was HOT 🥵

Also, I know this is a Berlin Marathon training recap but today marks 100 days until the Chicago Marathon, which I am also running. Don’t you love when race lotteries play jokes on you like that 😝 I’m training for Berlin since that one comes first and that will be my time goal marathon for the year (my goal is sub-5). In Chicago, I just want to have fun and soak up the experience! And eat all the deep-dish pizza post race!!!

FRIDAY

Guess who had to work today? Moi! But I did sneak out early to take Tammy’s 3:30PM class at OrangeTheory Tentleytown. It was endurance day and I didn’t get as many splat points as I’d like (though as a runner I never do lol) but it was still a good workout.

SATURDAY

REST DAY is the best day!

SUNDAY

Big run this week, I had to get 22-25 km / 14-16 miles and do it quickly enough so I could catch the US-Netherlands World Cup final! It was SO humid and hot, this was a rough one but I did run 23km/14.3 miles in the Custis Trail. This was my longest run to date this year !

Bilan de la Semaine: I feel like I struggled all week. The heat and humidity is really hitting me hard and my legs just felt tight the whole time. I know I need to stretch and foam roll more … I ran 50.4km/ 31.3 miles, still at the lower end of where I should be. My Monday and Thursday runs were 3 milers when they should have been 5ers… gotta work on loner weekday runs next week! 

What I’m reading/listening to: Officially met my goal of reading 30 books in 2019 when I finished Speak no Evil on Saturday. I guess I should revise that goal now 😝 I read a lot…. and I didn’t turn my TV on once (though I did watch the World Cup final, of course, at Brooklyn’s Pint. Congrats 🎉 🇺🇸). So nothing to report on the watch front. I finished listening to You Can’t Touch my Hair by Phoebe Robinson during my long run and also finished Exit West by Moshin Hamid by the pool Sunday afternoon.

What I’m eating/drinking: I had THE most amazing meal at Tail Up Goat Saturday night.

The formaggio ravioli with broccoli rabe pesto, sweet + spicy peppers, cherry tomatoes and fennel pollen breadcrumbs was the perfect dish to carbload with before Sunday’s long run. The rosé I had at Molly’s afterwards, well, not so much…

What I’m looking forward to on week 6: Sunday is France’s national holiday (you probably know it as Bastille Day but the French just call it le quatorze juillet) and my bestie Caitlin is coming down from New York to help me celebrate. Good thing she’s marathon training too 😉 We’ll be running our sweet 16 next week !

5 of the Best Books We’ve Read So Far This Year

5 July 2019

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BOOM! It’s July and that means we’re officially half way through 2019. My “reading goals” this year were to read more books by non-American authors, and particularly more books by French writers; to read more from diverse authors and to read at least two books a month. I set out 30 as the ideal number of books I would like to have read in 2019 since that’s just slightly over two a month. And guess what!? I just finished my 28th books (We Kissed Them With Rain by Futhi Ntshingila) so I think I’ll easily crush that goal 😉

Here’s a little summary of what I’ve been reading, some trends if you will, and the 5 books that have stood out so far.

Books by Diverse Authors

So far, I have read twelve books by diverse authors. In addition to books I already mentioned in this post, I read Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan; The Farm by Joanne Ramos; We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates (audio book); Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires and We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irb (audiobook). That last one was not my favourite…

Books by Foreign Authors

We Kiss Them with Rain by Futhi Ntshingila (South Africa) and My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Nigeria) were wild quick reads and I loved both of those.

I had more mixed feelings about North of Dawn by Nuruddin Farah. He’s Somali novelist though he lives in Norway where the story takes place. Finally I did squeeze in a French book: Ta deuxième vie commence quand tu comprends que tu n’en as qu’une by Raphaëlle Giordano. It was cute. And I definitely need to read more books in French the second half of the year!

Getting to Know DEMs (aka political memoirs)

The 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have books and I’m trying to read as many of them as I can, in the order that I can get them at the library. So far, I’ve listened to Cory Booker’s United; Pete Buttigieg’s Shortest Way Home and Kirsten Gillibrand’s Off the Sidelines.

They’ve all been snoozers, though Mayor Pete’s book was the best written of the bunch (you can tell he was a literature major at Harvard!) And yes, so far I’ve been able to get these as audiobook from the DC Public Library which is great since the candidates are reading their own work. Unfortunately, once I’m off the waitlist from Kamala Harris’ The Truths We Hold I will have to start getting hard copies since that’s all my library has for Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Julian Castro. That’s a bummer because I was really looking forward to Bernie screaming his words at me!

Speaking of presidents…. 

I read three memoirs written by former presidential aides: Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump by Dan Pfeiffer (Obama’s former communications director and current co-host of Pod Save America); From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein (she was Obama’s stenographer) and Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House by Cliff Sims. I found Beck’s book surprisingly entertaining and fun and thought the other two were duds.

… and speaking of memoirs

So I’ve read a LOT of memoirs in 2019 it seems. In addition to the six books I’ve already mentioned I also read:

  1. Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi
  2. This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philipps **
  3. Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
  4. Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs
  5. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
  6. We’re Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union **
  7. Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh **
  8. Educated by Tara Westover

3 of those were audiobooks (as noted by the **) and I loved all of those except Small Fry. It came with such great reviews, I was definitely  disappointed. I loved all of the other books.

Educated, Heavy and Notes from a Young Black Chef are probably three of the best books I’ve read so far this year.

Essays and Short Stories 
Essays have been my sweet spot this year, especially when I’m running. I *love* mixing it up and getting both the audiobook and hard copy versions of this type of book so I can go back and forth between the two. Read a few chapters here and there, listen to a few more during my runs. That’s really worked out for me. I Miss you when I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott is one I actually wish I had done in audio/hard cover but read exclusively. Otherwise, The View from Flyover Country: Essays by Sarah Kendzior was an absolute stand out in this category for me as was Heads of the Colored People (short stories).
So if I had to pick just 5…
  1. Educated. Shocker. Like all of America I devoured this novel and loved it. I got to discuss it in my bookclub too which was interesting.
  2. Heads of the Colored People. Nafissa Thompson-Spires’s debut short story collection was the DC Public Library’s pick for DC Reads, its literacy program that promotes reading for pleasure through citywide celebrations over one book in May. I had no idea what to expect when I picked it up and I was pleasantly surprised. My only regret is that I couldn’t make it to any of the talks with the authors or discussions that were organized around the city.
  3. The View From Flyover Country: Essays by Sarah Kendzior.
  4. Notes from a Young Black Chef. I’ve read a fair amount of chef’s memoirs and they tend to be even more blend than political memoirs. Kwame’s book is absolutely an exception to that rule and I highly recommend to check it out.
  5. My Sister, the Serial Killer. Sometimes you just need a quirky, fun read and that one is just that.
Tell me about what you’ve been reading so far? Anything I should add to my reading list? As I mentioned, I’m eagerly awaiting Senator Harris’ book and until then Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala and The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai are next on my bookshelf… 
ps: I’m looking to do these updates more frequently. But until the next one, are you on goodreads? Here’s a link to my profile, let’s be book friends! 

A la découverte de Montpelier… mais celui du Vermont !

2 July 2019

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Montpelier avec un L et pas deux c’est pas dans l’Hérault mais dans le Vermont, un petit état agricole dans le Nord des Etats Unis, avec le Québec au Nord et le Massachusetts au Sud. J’y suis passé récemment en revenant de Montréal et s’il n’y a peut être pas de quoi y passer tout un weekend, c’etait quand même une jolie petite ville pour passer quelques heures ou une après-midi. Voici quelques coups de coeur et bonnes adresses dans la “plus petite capitale des Etats Unis.” 

Avec moins de 8,000 habitants, Montpelier a donc la distinction d’être la plus petite capitale des Etats Unis. C’est aussi la seule où l’on ne trouve pas de McDonalds! Ce qui n’est pas trop grave, on ne comptait pas y aller 😉 Pour déjeuner, nous nous sommes arretées au restaurant Skinny Pancake, recommendé fortement par mon amie Caitlin qui a passé pas mal de temps à Montpelier (elle a fait son Master of Fine Arts au Vermont College of Fine Arts). La specialité là bas c’est les crêpes, pas du tout comme en celles de Bretagne et faites avec des ingredients hyper-locaux, surtout les fromages. C’est une chaine que l’on retrouve un peu partout à travers le Vermont d’ailleurs. 

Le Three Three Penny Taproom,  une véritable institution à Montpelier où l’on peut deguster des craft beer locales. 

La Vermont State House, siège de l’assemblée générale du Vermont, offre des visites gratuites toutes les demi-heures.

Le bar à gelati Chill, sur State Street, où j’ai goûté une super glace à la béterave! Bien sûr le Vermont est célèbre pour ces glaces puisque c’est de là que viennent Ben & Jerry’s qui ont d’ailleurs leur siège a Montpelier (mais pas la factory qui se visite à waterbury à 20 kilomètres au Nord — voir un peu plus bas).

Un tout petit peu en dehors de la ville, le Falls General Store met en vedette le made-in-Vermont dans son petit combo deli-magasin. Bonus: le pont couvert de Northfield Falls est juste derrière la boutique (et les ponts couverts Upper Cox Brook et Slaughterhouse Covered Bridge un peu plus bas sur la Dog River). Avec 106 ponts couverts dispersés à travers l’état, le Vermont s’enorgueillit de posséder le plus grand nombre de ponts couverts du pays. 

Après le Québec, le Vermont est le plus important producteur de sirop d’érable. La Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks, juste en dehors aussi de la ville, se visite et produit du sirop d’érable depuis 8 générations.

En dehors de Montpelier, nous avons quelques autres petits arrêts. Voici donc quelques autres bonnes adresses dans le Vermont:

La brasserie Harpoon à Windsor. 

Ben & Jerry’s, la célèbre crèmerie vermontoise située à Waterbury, offre des visites guidées toutes les demi-heures qui se terminent bien sûr par une dégustation de glaces. J’adore aussi la petite visite du cimetière des parfums de glaces “décédés”.

Le Worthy Burger à South Royalton, minuscule village où se trouve la fac de droit de l’Université du Vermont. Les burgers sont décadents, cuits sur feu de bois et peuvent etre accompagnés de bières de microbrasseries locales (il y en a plus de 18 sur l’ardoise!) 

Donc voilà… un tout petit aperçu d’une petite tranchette du Vermont. J’aimerais beaucoup y retourner, visiter Burlington ou la region autour du lac Chaplain… En Septembre, il y a un demi-marathon des ponts couverts… ca pourrait être une bonne excuse!! 

 

2019 Berlin Marathon Training: Week 4

30 June 2019

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Ugh. It’s hot and humid back in DC! Here’s how sweaty week 4 went down:

MONDAY

For my last (cool) run in Montreal, I ran to Fairmount bagel 🥯 with a 6 km detour through Mont Royal. I wish I had had more time in Montréal to discover more routes ! But I’m definitely happy I got to re-discover this city with my sneakers 😉 And I had such a great long weekend there.

TUESDAY

I met up with Pacers Navy Yards for their neighbourhood Shake Shack run (on the last Tuesday of the month each Pacers store runs to their local Shake Shack where every runner gets a free beverage — beer, wine or shake.) It was a great run, almost a tempo run for me as Ian kept me at a pace (6:16/km) that was a push for me (my run in Montreal was at 7:19/km) but that I could still handle. I wouldn’t have pushed myself as much on my own though !

After the run, I had a beer and headed home to do some post-trip laundry 😉 

WEDNESDAY

It was strength day at Orange Theory. We mostly did .1 mile at alternating speed between push and base pace with some all-outs in the end and increased incline too on the treadmill. The BOSU made quite an appearance on the floor. My abs are definitely gonna be hurting!

THURSDAY

My first track session with =PR= DC DTP called for 800s. There was only one slight issue: when we got to the track at Wilson High School it was closed due to some pretty major water damage and will remain unavailable through the end of July.

 

We did our 800s on the street outside of the high school, but it’s not quite the same, there are some pedestrians and also slight inclines here and there… hopefully we’ll come up with an alternative location for the next few weeks but I specifically picked  this training program in part because I loved the convenience of the Thursday evening track session in Tentleytown… 

FRIDAY

I knew I would be watching France-USA in the afternoon and that a run wasn’t happening after that so I ran solo in the morning, which was a bit painful after track the night before and staying up to watch the debate. Also, it was really hot! I meant to do more than 5.7km but that’s really all I had in me 😦

SATURDAY

Rest day ! I saw the film Yesterday with Calla in the evening and it was SO cute. 

SUNDAY

For Sunday (long) run day, I had to get in 16-20 km / 10-12 miles and I did the full 12 or 19.5km. My =PR= DC DTP did the Mount Vernon Trail, which is one of my favourite local routes. I just love getting to Gravely Point and taking a little plane-watching break! The heat was definitely an issue and I felt I had to drag myself at time but I did it! Recovery time at the pool felt magnificent afterwards!

Bilan de la semaine:  I got in 5 runs, including a long run, a tempo run and track. YES! Total kilometers covered for the week: 51.6 km/ 32 miles, just a nudge more than the week before. And since Sunday was the last day of June, I can say I round up the month with 190 km ran / 118 miles, quite an increase from 60 km / 32 miles in May! Also, I’ve officially passed the halfway point (831.4km/516.6 miles) in my goal to run 1000 miles in 2019.  

What I’m watching/reading/listening to: I’ve been quite the little reader in June! This week I finished When in French, Off the Sidelines and We kiss Them With Rain rounding out the month with 9 books read ! Wow. I watched both of the democratic debates, obviously and now I’m not-so-patiently-waiting to get off the waitlist so I can read Kamala Harris’ memoir. As I mentioned, I saw the movie Yesterday Saturday night. It was the perfect low-key (and air-conditioned) activity the night before a long run. 

What I’m eating/drinking: it is officially that time of the year when my entire diet consists of only rosé and tomato-buratta/mozzarella!

And nuun tablets and gu during my runs 😉

What I’m looking forward to on week 5: I’m honestly dreading this week a little bit. It’s going to be really hot again and holidays are always a little disruptive to one’s routine. Having NO July 4th plans whatsover and having to work Friday is also kinda bumming me out… 

2019 Berlin Marathon Training: Week 3

23 June 2019

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This is it! The 2019 Berlin Marathon is now officially LESS than 100 days away. Sh*t’s getting real y’all 😉

MONDAY

I’ve been working pretty much every Monday nights lately so I haven’t been able to make it to Pacers 14th Street runs 😦 It was good being back though it was hot and muggy (so your typical stormy summer evening in DC) and the run itself was pretty gross. 3 miles was good enough.

TUESDAY

Last BodyPump class at Gold’s Gym on 19th and L 😦 I met up with my friend Madalene who works nearby for coffee at Gregory’s afterwards. I love the almond berry toast there! 

In the evening, I joined Pacers Navy Yard for a five mile loop and ended up doing 9km with Ian and Aaron. I rarely have peeps running at my pace for longer distances and they were game to keep going despite the pouring rain. The rain wasn’t entirely unwelcome since it made for cooler running weather.

WEDNESDAY

Another day another social run. This time I ran for 🌮s! After a 4 miles loop in loaner Hokas, we headed to Chaia Taco. I had the spicy zucchini and it was yummy !

THURSDAY

Squeezed in my weekly OrangeTheory class at 7:15AM. It was an interesting workout with lots of rowing but I only got 7 splat points 😭 My legs felt pretty tight on the treadmill though. I then headed into work for a half day before getting on the train for Connecticut. One of my reading goals this year was to read more books by international authors (ie.: not Americans) especially French writers. I figured since I was going to a French speaking city, I should bring some French books along so I read a chunk of Ta Deuxième Vie Commence Quand Tu Réalises Que tu n’en as Qu’Une which I had started back in January but never finished.

FRIDAY

Travel day –> rest day! Elena and I drove up to Montreal from New Haven, CT. We made a couple of stops along the way, including… After checking into our AirBnB on the plateau and meeting up with Sara, we had dinner at Liverpool, the easier-to-get-reservations-to restaurant from the team behind Joe Beef. Duck should always come with a thick slice of foie gras on top of it !!

SATURDAY

First run in Montreal! I didn’t venture too far and did 7km around Parc Lafontaine. The temperatures are so much cooler in Montreal, sooooo much more pleasant for runs!

SUNDAY

For Sunday (long) run day, I really wanted to run the Lachine Canal so I did and bonus my friend Sonia who lives in Atwater joined for parts of the run which was super fun!

I ended my 18.5km / 11.5 miles long run in Westmount where I met up with my college friend Brett and his daughter.

Bilan de la semaine:  I did it! I ran 5 times this week!! Total mileage was 49.5 km/ 30.75 miles, (being 500 meters short of 50km is KILLING me!) at the bottom end of the recommended 30-50 miles you should be running per week during marathon training but within the margin at least….. And I did some decent cross training with BodyPump AND OrangeTheory all while traveling so I’ll call that a successful week!! 

What I’m reading/listening to: This week’s getting to know Dems had me listen to Off the Sidelines by Kirsten Gillibrand (got through 3 chapters during my runs). And I *finally* finished Ta Deuxième Vie, which I had started back in January but never got into.

What I’m eating/drinking: I’ll write a more detailed post on all the Montreal yumminess.  On Wednesday I attended a seminar and tasting focusing on Beaujolais wines. I had never had white wine from the region and my mind was kinda blown 🤯

What I’m looking forward to on week 4: Corey’s back! Also, my Thursday track sessions return on Thursday and I’m weirdly really looking forward to running around in circles at Wilson High school again! 

My Summer Running Plans

18 June 2019

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For the first time in a while, I don’t really have anything to answer when people ask me  when my next race is. My next race is Berlin. That’s in 15 weeks. Until then I’m just training and settling into a routine of workouts, tracks and long runs. Feels a bit weird 😉

Since we’re almost half-way through the year, it seems like a good time to look back at my running goals for 2019 and see what I have left to accomplish. One of the items I was able to cross off recently was running my first trail race. My friend Caitlin and I ran the Rockwod Ramble 10K in Rockefeller State Park. It was probably one of the smaller races I’ve ever participated in and one of the hilliest (though I think Paris-Versailles and its Côte des Gardes was still worse!) but it was super fun and not too too far from New York City.

I definitely want to do more trail running in general, though it’s always difficult since I’m a transportation challenged city-girl (ie I don’t have a car). 

I cheered other racers at the Rock’n’Roll half and full marathon back in March and volunteered at the expo for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler so I can technically cross off that item.

I’m looking forward to doing some more cheering at the end of October since Caitlin and basically every other runner I know will be running the Marine Corps Marathon (pretty sure some version of the “Pain is just Bread fr Pain” sign will be involved again!). Unfortunately I don’t think I can commit to volunteering at that one since I do want to be there for Caitlin and cheer her on at a couple of spots along the course and at the end but I’m going to see if I can volunteer at some smaller races here and there… 

Completing on the Abbott World Marathon Majors and running a marathon under 5 hours will have to wait until this fall. I have two opportunities to cross that one off since I’m running Berlin and Chicago but I just have to make it to those starting lines injury free first. And as I ramp up marathon training for these races, I’m well on my way to achieving my “run 1000 miles” goal. I’m currently a little over 700 kilometer (430 miles) in so I’m getting close to the halfway point. However I’m not doing great on running a Ragnar Relay. Corey is currently signed up for the Ragnar Trail Vermont mid-August and has extra spots on his team but the timing isn’t ideal for me and the trails may be a little over my abilities since I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve ran trails.  I may settle on getting a team together for the Washington DC Growler Relay on September 7th. Most legs are 6-7 miles, the race takes place over one morning and I would only have to travel to Reston so it wouldn’t be too disruptive to my marathon training while still giving me a taste of that team-in-a-van running thing. And that brings to one of my first goals for running this year: having fun, enjoying running and making some running friends! I participate in a lot of group runs because it just make running seem more social but I still struggle to go beyond having running acquaintances from the running groups. I hate being an introvert sometimes 😉 I also hate that I run so slow and can’t seem to get over feeling so self-conscious about it. I feel like I can’t really ask people to run with me because everyone is so much faster… 

So that’s where I stand with running right now… just settling into a marathon training routine for the summer months, hopefully running my first relay race in September (and then back to back marathons!) and trying to get over being shy, awkward and self-conscious and make deeper connections with local runners. 

What are your summer running plans?

ps: this is my first time doing a link-up post! I recently started following Kooky Runner, read her summer running plans post (she’s also running Chicago and just in the same holding/training pattern as me right now) and thought it’d be fun to participate in the Link-up  post she does with Zenaida.

2019 Berlin Marathon Training: Week 2

16 June 2019

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Slowly getting into the grove of things with week 2. To be honest, I was feeling a bit down all week, so it felt good to get out and run it out. Here’s what training looked like the second week of June:

MONDAY

Rest day!  

TUESDAY

Back to Body Pump. I’m going to try and go every week until the 19th & L Gold’s Gym closes. 

Since Tuesday was the second Tuesday of the month, it was also Track & Shack. We had a *huge* group out of the 14th street Pacers store!!

I opted to do the three miles run (5.36 km) since I had already worked out in the morning and it was super fun running with Tammy (she’ll be running Berlin in September as well) and meeting Myles the Doodle (and his owner Susan) IRL. It was also a bit of a bittersweet night because it was the last night I got to see Corey before he headed out on his super fun Viking adventure (he’s running the Ragnar in Sweden and I’m super jealous!) and we got into a weird fight 😦 

WEDNESDAY

The weather was perfect for a run, sunny with low humidity. I was still upset over the stupid fight with Corey and dealing with other things at work so I also really wanted to clear my head! I ran to summit to Soul on 8th Street (3.5 km) and then joined their running group for a three mile loop around the Capitol (total 8.4km). I did feel better afterwards.

THURSDAY

I’ve been running with Pacers Pentagon City on Thursdays since that’s the group Corey leads. But no Corey means no need to go to Virginia (no offense to all the other fun runners in the group!) and instead, I joined Pacers Navy Yards for an almost 5 miles loop (I cut it a little short at 7.7km). It was awesome having two runners at my pace for the whole route… I’m usually all by myself in the back. Since I’ve been basically alone in the office these days it was nice just having a little company for a change. We had drinks at Bluejacket next door afterwards and it was also nice to feel a little social for a bit. 

FRIDAY

Shaw Yoga was offering a free restorative class at 5PM so I squeezed that in before heading out to Silver Spring for my friends Kevin and Julien’s going away party. Since they couldn’t ship out their opened bottles of liquor we all volunteered to help them finish them …

SATURDAY

…. ouch! I remembered why I don’t go out that much anymore. I was signed up for a 90 minutes OrangeTheory class and it was rough. I mean 60 minutes are hard enough on a good day. 90 minutes with a bad hangover did not feel good 😦 Laying by the pool reading a book afterwards did though. It was a beautiful day in DC!

SUNDAY

Sunday officially kicked off my =PR= DC  Distance Training Program (known as =PR= DC  DTP from here on). My group meets at 6:30AM on Sundays (le gasp!) at the Georgetown waterfront. The route for this week was Rock Creek Park and I “only” had to do 6-8 miles. I ended up doing 12.6 km / 7.8 miles.

Bilan de la semaine: Overall it was a good week. I ran four times for a total of 37.4 km / 23.2 miles. For cross-training I did bodypump, yoga and OrangeTheory. I’m a little mad at myself that I wasted a good 90 minutes OTF class though.

What I’m watching/reading/listening to:  I watched Ava DuVernay’s new Netflix mini-series “When They See Us,” about the 1989 case in which five black and latino teenagers (the Central Park Five now the Exonerated Five) were wrongfully convicted of the violent rape of a jogger. I knew nothing about the case or story prior to watching the four episodes (and Oprah’s interview with the cast and Korey, Kevin, Antron, Raymond and Yusef) and it’s a devastating watch. The final episode which focuses on Korey Wise’s story (Korey was slightly older than the other boys who were sent to juvenile detention centers. He was tried as an adult and send to Rikers Island.) was particularly difficult.

I read this article (in French) about a journalist that faked a runner’s instagram account, bought 15K followers and fooled brands (and the city of Montreal!) into wanting to enter into sponsorship agreements with her. Fascinating read!  (<click to read!) As far as books are concerned, The View From Flyover Country: Essays by Sarah Kendzior turned out to be THE perfect, if slightly depressing, companion for my solo runs. I finished it in two days mixing paperback and overdrive and I definitely wish it had been longer!

I also finished I Miss You When I Blink (hardcover) which I had started a while back and is one month overdue at the library (oops) and started When in French (mix overdrive + hardcover). So far it’s a snoozer.

What I’m eating/drinking: not much fun to report here though I did make this amazing Seared Beef with rice vermicelli from Mark Bittman’s latest cookbook “Dinner for Everyone.” I am really loving that cookbook!

What I’m looking forward to on week 3: I’m off to Montreal on Thursday so I’m definitely looking forward to that trip and to hanging out with my college besties. Of course,  traveling is always a bit disruptive to one’s routine BUT I’m also super stoked to run through my old city (I lived in Montreal for four years) and I’m already trying to figure out a good route for a 10-12 miles run! I’m thinking Canal Lachine but if anyone has some good Montreal recommendations (running related or not! Girl’s gotta eat too. And drink.) please share them in the comments!! 

What I Talk About When I’m *not* Talking about Running

12 June 2019

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Spoiler alert: not much 😉 Seriously, it’s starting to feel like I have nothing to talk about beside running…

Until recently at least I could always fall back to talking about books. But guess what? I’m currently reading Haruki Murakami’s  “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” so even that’s no longer a safe space lol. 

It’s particularly upsetting because I wouldn’t even call myself a runner. Sure I run a lot, but I’m not really good at it so I think of myself more as someone who runs than a runner per se (something along the line of drawing versus being an artist I guess…) I always knew marathon training would take a toll on my social life. That was kind of the point anyway. I wanted to go out less, add more structure to my life. Mission accomplished on that 😉 But I don’t think I was quite prepared for that feeling you get when you start turning down invitations and even worse when you’re no longer turning them down because, well, no one is inviting you to hang out anymore.

Since my divorce, I don’t have anyone beside my cat to come home to. I don’t have any family here. My friends are my only support system so I was determined to hang on to them and chase that elusive run-life balance. I mean, there had to be a way to prioritize exercising without turning into a complete running hermit right? I got creative. I squeezed in some run-mutes home so I could catch the tail end of happy hour. I got up earlier to catch a spin class before work and free up an evening. I make 8PM dinner plans on Thursdays on the red line so I can go there straight after track. I had friends over to my pool on Sunday so we could be lazy together after my long run. It wasn’t easy but I eventually found some kind of marathon training – social life groove.
But then I ran into a different issue. I couldn’t seem to put running out of my head. I became that person who can only talk about one thing: running. What have I have been up to? Marathon training. What was I doing this weekend? Running (duh, did I mention I’m running a marathon?). That’s cool(ish) when you’re around other runners but not so much everyone else. And it didn’t get better after the Marine Corps because obviously I had to make sure everyone and their mother knew I had just ran my first marathon. I was probably the world’s most boring date… until I started dating a runner. Yeah, we could talk about running together!  On the downside though we both had to fit each other around our running schedules which sometimes meant that yes, we went on a group run on Valentine’s Day. So romantic 😉

I learned a lot last year training for my first marathon. I learned a lot about myself, of course. What I can endure, how strong I can be. That was kind of the point. But I also learned a lot about the training cycle and I have a better idea of what to expect this time around. I am keenly aware that I turned into a bit of a marathon-monster and deeply appreciative of the few friends that stuck with me as I turned down fun plans and bored them with running-talk when we did get together. At times marathon training sucked. But clearly not enough for me not to want to do it all over again.  Now I just need to figure out what to talk about instead of only talking about running. All tips are appreciated …. 

2019 Berlin Marathon Training: Week 1

10 June 2019

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The 2019 Berlin Marathon is 110 days away and since it’s not going to run itself, I officially kicked off my training this week. And while I tried to have fun in May and do a ton of non-running focused workouts, I was definitely getting antsy and I’m thrilled to get back into the routine of marathon training! Here’s how week one went down:

MONDAY

Rest day! I had ran two races over the weekend, a 10K trail race in Rockwood, New York and a 5-miler in Central Park. My body needed a rest so I met up IRL with my insta friend Anja for drinks at Le Diplomate. She lives in Berlin, so it was sorta marathon related 😉 

TUESDAY

I hadn’t been to Body Pump in ages so I went back to Gold’s Gym for a morning class… and found out that the L and 19th street location is closing at the end of the month. Sad. I loved that class and it was just 3 credits on Class Pass. 

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday was Global Running Day and I did a couple of things to celebrate. I went for a run, of course. Courtney organized a morning run around the monuments (I ran to and from home as well so it was a 9km run for me / 5.6 miles) and it was super fun to meet some new gals and snap lots of pictures. We also bumped into Kevin Plank at the Lincoln Memorial so I was glad I was wearing Under Armour shorts! I also bought new tennis shoes! Sticking with Brooks but went with the Ghost this time around… 

And I signed up for two 2020 races: the Charleston Half Marathon which will be the day after my birthday in January and the Washington, DC Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon in March. Busy day! 

THURSDAY

I joined Corey and the Pacers Pentagon City group for a 7KM / 4.3 miles run in the evening. It was really hot and there was a really big hill but it was a good run. 

FRIDAY

I have not been sleeping well lately (I tend to fall asleep very easily but then wake up after 3 hours as if my body doesn’t need any more rest… which it definitely does!) and I finally had a great night sleep so I had a lazy morning and a kick-ass spin class at FlyWheel City Center with Christine, one f my favourite instructor. I don’t know about you but I *love* closing out the week with a post-work Friday workout, followed by a nice relaxing evening.

SATURDAY

So Saturday was another rest day… since I had a double workout day scheduled for Sunday (more on that in a sec) I decided to take it easy. I could probably have done a yoga class but I was spending the night at a friend’s near Annapolis so I skipped working out altogether. 

SUNDAY

My friend Tammy is fundraising for Team for Kids ahead of the New York Marathon in the fall (she’s running Berlin as well too!!) and she had organized a donation class at Orange Theory Tentleytown. I’ve actually taken many of her classes and I wanted to support her so I signed up. But I also wanted to do a long run that day, so I knew I was up for a little more than I should. But that’s ok once in a while… I was worried about doing that long run since I didn’t know the area where I was staying but it turned out the B & A Trail was right there and it was a great running route! I cut my 10 miles run a little short at 13.3km/8.3 miles since I know I would get a few extra miles on tread later on, which I did. I ran 2.6 miles on the treadmill in class which round up my day at 10.8 miles and my week at 33.5km/20.8miles. 

I think it was a good first week. I’d have liked to do an additional run and maybe a yoga class to force myself to stretch but I also think I properly listened to my body and took some appropriate rest day. Next week will be the first training run with my long distance training program on Sunday and I’m definitely looking forward to that! Not looking forward to waking up at 5AM 😦

What I’m reading/listening to:  this week I finished Joanne Ramos‘ The Farm (in hardcover) and Pete Buttigieg‘s The Shortest Way Home (on Overdrive) and started The View From Flyover Country: Essays by Sarah Kendzior (mixing paperback and overdrive for this one.)

I think I definitely found my sweet spot for books to listen to while I’m running and that’s essays (celebrity memoirs are pretty great too!). The View from Flyover Country was the perfect companion to my long run! I’m hoping to be done with that book tonight so I can (finally) finish Miss You When I Blink. I’m doing that one on hardcover from the library but I think it would have been a great one to listen to. 

What I’m eating/drinking: I really struggled with how to properly fuel my runs and my recovery when I trained for Marine Corps last year and nutrition is definitely an area I want to work on this time around. That being said, I don’t have much to report on that this week though I did *love* sipping DC Brau‘s Lavender Lemonade Berliner Weisse by the water in Annapolis. The brewing company teamed up with local author & illustrator Marcella Kriebel to design the prettiest cans for their purple beer! And the beer is actually really good and refreshing too! 

What I’m looking forward to on week 2: more of the same really. I’d like to run at least 4 times this week though and maybe find a way to squeeze in a yoga class somewhere…. stay tuned!