Life After Marathons: A Running/barre3/Coffee/Life Journal

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We have to visit this because my kids cannot deal with game length, and frankly I also need to get up and walk around. I wondered why it existed, so I have learned something new from the discussion thread today!
 
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We have to visit this because my kids cannot deal with game length, and frankly I also need to get up and walk around. I wondered why it existed, so I have learned something new from the discussion thread today!

Yay learning new things!
I'm guessing that when they create these things for all-star games they give them to the teams to do with as they wish, and some of them decide to display them.
When I go to Philly in a few months I have to hunt around Citizens Bank Park and see if I can find their Mickey Mouse.
 
When I go to Philly in a few months I have to hunt around Citizens Bank Park and see if I can find their Mickey Mouse.

It’s been a while since I last saw it (because of where I seat when I go to games and not deliberately seeking it out) but if it’s still in the same spot then it’ll be on the 300 level somewhere in the teens section.
 
It’s been a while since I last saw it (because of where I seat when I go to games and not deliberately seeking it out) but if it’s still in the same spot then it’ll be on the 300 level somewhere in the teens section.

Thank you!! We'll probably be looking for tickets in the low 320s or 420s (we like to sit behind home plate), so it shouldn't be too far of a trek to find it.
 


A few quick thoughts: (all related to my grocery shopping trip, actually)
1 - goodrs came today. I wore them to Fairway. They felt decently comfortable (maybe a drop big). Will probably run in them tomorrow.

2 - So, I mentioned that I kinda regret not trying the hard seltzer post-race. I've been wanting to buy it locally to try it, but keep chickening out (/buying alcohol at 7-11 requires talking to someone, and no thank you). I actually had it in my cart at Whole Foods this AM, but I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the flavor (Blueberry Acai), so I put it back. Well ... I happened to notice that Fairway, the semi-expensive supermarket I go to occasionally that's kinda far away (as opposed to the expensive supermarket across the street that I go to sometimes), had the Rosé flavor (which is the one I really wanted to try) on sale, and since I wanted to go there for coffee anyway (see below), I decided to make the mile-ish trek. So I'm having Rosé Hard Seltzer with my dinner tonight.

3 - I think last summer we talked about cold brew and me possibly having beans ground for me at a store instead of using standard grounds, but I never pulled the trigger. Every time I think I'm going to do it, I chicken out. This week I decided I was gonna do it. I went to one local store that my roommate said had beans that they ground ... but there was nobody there to help me and I kinda got scared to ask for help. I looked at whole foods today, but again, nobody there to help me, even though I stood there for a few minutes looking confused. So I decided to go to Fairway. At first there was nobody there, but then someone came, and I asked her what she recommended for cold brew. I walked out with a medium Guatemala Antigua coffee. I only got half a pound because it's a new coffee to me and I don't know if I'll like it, but if I do, I'll go back for more. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't exorbitant.
This is gonna be a little bit of a challenge since coarse grounds require a longer steeping period than the store bought grounds I usually use, so I have to experiment, but hopefully I can figure it out (I'm thinking 22-24 hours?).

So ... that was my day. Now I have to get some crap done because I'm having a super unproductive day. Sigh.
 
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So ... my day started with not properly route planning my run this morning. Then the shoe at NYRR situation (we'll talk about that later, since I'm waiting to see if they respond to my email). Then the shopping trips. Then the extreme tiredness. Then the baking with a new (to me) recipe and I don't know how it came out. Most recently, I poured the entire bottle of teriyaki sauce over my chicken because I wasn't thinking, so now there will probably be too much sauce (I'll survive, but I don't feel like making rice or noodles to eat it over, so I may just use a bowl to better contain the sauce).

I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but ... today has been a bit of a day.
 
Trying to decide if I want to do barre or a treadmill class at Mile High Run Club tomorrow. It's not really treadmill weather, but I lost an essential part of my earbuds and I'm waiting for Harman/JBL to send me the replacement part, and I don't do running without music (before anyone says "try it, you might like it" ... I tried it today. 3 torturous miles. Had I had my metrocard on me, it would have been a lot less. By about 1.75 miles I was ready to take the subway home ... but alas, no metrocard), so a treadmill class is really the best way for me to get miles in. I dunno. Right now I'm thinking barre3 in the morning, and then maybe Mile High in the afternoon/evening if I still feel like running.

Also ... there's been a lot of shopping lately. Some running/exercise related, some not (any of my dress wearers buy from ModCloth? Is their stuff any good? I bought a few dresses, but I don't know what to expect). I may do a shopping post at some point, may do a shoe post, may lump it all together, may do nothing. I dunno.

Also ... I oversteeped my cold brew. I did 24 hours, probably should have done 20-22. Sigh. Still has a good flavor, just a bit too bitter.

The end.
For the next 20 minutes, at least.
 
I have found some of the stuff from ModCloth good quality for the price and well sized, and some of it way off. Either way, it was easy to return and get a refund.
 
I have found some of the stuff from ModCloth good quality for the price and well sized, and some of it way off. Either way, it was easy to return and get a refund.

Thanks for the info! I'd seen mixed reviews online, so it's good to hear someone's actual experience. Hopefully the stuff I ordered will be good, but if not, I'm glad the refund process will be easy.
 
there's been a lot of shopping lately.
Same here. I finally bought the "Marathoner" coffee mug I wanted and hinted at my husband that I wanted but of course he didn't get the hint. *eyeroll* But I had a Memorial Day promo code so at least I saved some money.

I have never ordered from ModCloth but I love their stuff!
 
Same here. I finally bought the "Marathoner" coffee mug I wanted and hinted at my husband that I wanted but of course he didn't get the hint. *eyeroll* But I had a Memorial Day promo code so at least I saved some money.

Husbands, am I right? (Not that I'd know)
But yay for saving some money!

I have never ordered from ModCloth but I love their stuff!

I love their stuff (although I didn't get the super cute stuff, only the medium cute stuff), so I'm glad I finally decided to buy!
 
So ... I ended up at both barre and Mile High Run Club today. Plan for the rest of the week is early barre3 tomorrow, attempted outdoor 5-6 miler Thursday, and either another early barre3 or rest day Friday. Although honestly, I'm thinking about taking a rest day tomorrow. I have to decide before bed (so in the next 10 minutes or so).
UPDATE: Decided to cancel because I have evening plans so its gonna be a long day.

The early barre3 is because they're doing construction on my building lobby and I don't like having to use the service entrance. It makes me feel like I'm supposed to have some sort of electronic key fob that I don't have to get in and out of certain areas of the building (like the service entrance). So I gotta be home before the construction starts. And no mid-day errands.

I owe you guys updates about the shoe situation and a shopping megapost. Will start working on at least one of those tomorrow. May wait a while on the shopping one since my Brooks order isn't scheduled to arrive until June 6th, or I may just post what I bought and review/comment in a later post. No idea when the ModCloth order is supposed to arrive, but I bought 3 dresses for under $100, so I really hope their stuff turns out to be good.
 
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I also need to do a pre-race update for my race next week. Between life and a race-giveaway situation, I haven't been super excited about this race, but it's happening, so I have to at least figure out what to wear.
 
Pre-Race Update: NYRR 1 For You 1 For Youth 5K
Wednesday June 5th, 7:00 AM



Getting My Stuff:
So … this saga.

Packet pickup started last Thursday (like a week and a half before the race). The giveaway for this race was announced as a pair of the New Balance Fresh Foam Zante Pursuit (this race is called “1 For You 1 For Youth” because it’s an extension of the NYRR/NB program where if you buy a pair of shoes at the NB Run Hub, New Balance donates a pair of shoes to NYRR youth programs, so for this race, not only did participants get shoes, but for each participant, NB donated a shoe to the youth program).
Thursday afternoon I got an email that due to inventory issues, my giveaway would be fulfilled with either the Zante Pursuit or the Zante Solas. Knowing my luck, I figured I’d end up with not the shoe I wanted. Sigh.

My plan was to run down to the Run Center on Friday morning. Plan was for a 3 mile run, and since it’s pretty much a straight shot down Columbus/9th Ave from me to the Run Center, that seemed like the perfect way to get my run in.
… Except it’s like a mile and a half from my apartment to the Run Center (you'd think I'd have remembered this, since I stopped in there like 2 days before to refill my water bottle). And I wasn’t planning on running back with my shoes. So I ended up modifying, randomly running crosstown through Central Park, stopping for a Breakfast Run To Tiffany’s photoshoot, and then heading to the Run Center. I got my (shoe-shaped) bib and they gave me my shoes. I took a look, and lo and behold, it was the Zante Solas (also, they were black, and if you guys know me at all, you know I’m not a black shoes kind of person). I was tired and they were busy, so I didn’t want to raise a stink then and there, but when I got home, I sent an email to NYRR expressing my displeasure.

Fast forward a few days … I finally hear back from them on Wednesday afternoon. The response is basically a canned email of “sorry, this is what happened.” I was not happy, so I wrote an email expressing that, reminding them that I had already said I wouldn’t have registered had I known I wouldn’t be getting the Zante Pursuit (and also that $60 for a 5K is ridiculous), and asked for a refund. That got their attention, and the person I was emailing with said that she would try to find a pair of the Zante Pursuit in my size, and if not, they would refund me when I returned the Zante Solas. She then emailed that she was able to find a pair of the Pursuit in my size, and I could go in to the run center to exchange the shoes. I had somewhere I needed to be on Wednesday night, so I stopped in at the Run Center and made the exchange. Super easy.

And the Zante Pursuit are gray and purple … still not quite as loud as some of my other shoes but I do tend to wear gray with accent colors.
wzanpwv_nb_02_i


Outfit:
Current forecast is for high 50’s and mostly sunny. So I could go long sleeves or short sleeves. I don’t want to check a bag and it’ll be a drop chilly walking over, so I could go long sleeves, but that’ll be hotter during the race. Hmm.
This will probably be a last-minute decision.

Shoes will be the old Zantes (the ones I wore for the WDW 5K). Not sure yet when I’m going to start wearing the new ones. May have to do with when I retire the 880s. But more on that in a different post.

Getting To The Race:
This is an exciting one. First time I get to say this.
I’m gonna walk to the race.
It’s about a mile, I think? I could take the M86 bus, but that’s more hassle than it’s worth.
Planning to leave the house around 6:15-6:30ish to get there 6:30-6:45ish.

Race Plan & Goals:
No idea. I’ve been inconsistent with training lately (I know it probably doesn’t seem like that from Strava, but I feel like I’ve been inconsistent … some of you may have also noticed that I’m not so much posting on my running insta because it just doesn’t feel right while I’m so inconsistent). Smart money is probably on taking it easy - running the race at EC or Easy/LR. Especially because hills (including Harlem Hill, which is probably my least favorite). But I also kinda just want to go for it. I dunno. It’ll probably be a game day decision.

Goal is to finish. I think. It’s not a good day or a good course to go for sub-30.

May use my “High Energy High Efficiency” playlist (which was originally created for work), if only because I just put this gem on it:
Is it just me, or did Snow age very badly? (Listen to the whole song, but if you don’t know what I’m talking about and don’t have time to listen through, go to about 2:30)
For those of you who have no clue what I’m talking about, here’s a fun throwback to 1992:

Post-Race:
I’ll grab a bagel and either eat it on my way back to the apartment, or bring it home in one piece, put some cream cheese on it, and eat it at home.
Or I could be fancy and go to the new gluten-free bagel place (which is not far from the finish), but that costs money, so I think I’ll take the free bagel.

Most important topic: Coffee will be cold brew at the apartment. It may be race day, but it’s also Wednesday, so I’ll be busy doing boring life stuff.

Track Me:
Note: Since there’s a race between now and this race, tracking is not yet available.

Bib Number is 439.
Tracking Website: https://liveresults.nyrr.org/ (if you go there now it will say Italy Run … that will change after the Italy Run)

Remember that the only timing mats will likely be start and finish, and it’s gonna use my predicted time for the finish, so it’ll probably say I’m at 3.0 miles like 30 minutes after I start and then will just stay there until I finish.

And ... that's all I got. I have not so much been thinking about this race outside the shoe drama. I have to remember to set an early alarm next Wednesday.
 
Anyway ... life update ... my Garmin was having some GPS issues so I asked for a replacement and after proving that it was in fact having GPS issues (although it's been a bit better of late), they agreed to send me a new (/refurbished) one. In order for me to get the new one before I had to send in the old one (I wasn't sure when I'd be back at the house to get my FR10 and I didn't want to be sans Garmin for a few weeks), I had to pay a $200 deposit (which apparently will be refunded when they get my returned device). I thought about asking for the Rose Gold one, because even though I like the silver, I kinda regret not going Rose Gold (even though it was way more expensive back then), but I didn't, and now I'm a little sad about it.

Anyway ... I'm not super impressed with Garmin customer service right now. I'm glad they're replacing it, but this process has been a bit of a hassle. Although the rose gold thing is my own stupidity. I should have asked. Worst thing that could have happened is they would have said no.

Anyway ... I'm working on a shoe update. It may be up within the next few days, it may not be up for a few weeks. Life is weird these days.
 
❤❤❤
Sending out lots of love to everyone reading this who may need a little extra love today.

I've been having a rough week and a friend of mine also mentioned that she was having a rough week and it reminded me that there's a group of people here who I care about but don't check in with as much as I used to, so I don't know if any of you are having rough weeks. So I figured I'd stop by and send out a little love. And a reminder that I'm always available to talk (except on weekends and holidays), either on the thread or by DM or whatever.

🧡💛💚💙💜
 
Running Shoe Update

Let’s talk about everyone’s favorite running topic: shoes!

For the three races I ran during marathon weekend, I wore three different models of shoes: New Balance Fresh Foam Zante v3 (5K), New Balance 880v8 (10K), and Brooks Levitate 2 (marathon).
5 months later, let’s talk about what’s going on with each of these pairs of shoes.

New Balance Fresh Foam Zante v3:
These have ~165 miles on them. They’re my default shoes for any tempo runs less than 6 miles and anything less than 5 miles. They’re super comfortable for 5 or less, and while I can stretch them out to 6 miles, it gets a little uncomfortable in the last mile or so.

I actually have the replacement for these shoes already. As mentioned earlier, with my registration for the NYRR 1 For You 1 For Youth race, I got a pair of the New Balance Fresh Foam Zante Pursuit. I haven’t decided if I’m going to wait a bit to start running with them or immediately start rotating them with the v3 (I may try the Pursuit for tempo and the v3 for non-tempo shorter runs, or the other way around, or just alternate days). Really not sure how I’m going to do this yet. So that’s shoe question #1.

New Balance 880v8:
These have about 350 miles on them. I don’t know if they’ll make it to 400. Ideally, these should be my 10K to Half Marathon shoes, but they’ve been causing some pain over 10 miles, so I think I’m done with this model after I retire these shoes.

With these shoes, there are two questions:
  1. How do I get them to retirement?
  2. What do I replace them with?
How do I get them to retirement?
So, there are two ways I can take them to retirement. One is to wear them for most of my runs until they’re ready to retire, ie, retire them ASAP. The other option is to only use them for runs over 5 miles (ie ones where the Zantes would be less comfortable), meaning they wouldn’t be retirement-ready until the end of the summer most likely.
Either way, I may not replace them as soon as I retire them.

What do I replace them with?
So, definitely not replacing them with another pair of the 880v8. I can't do anything over 10 miles in these. The 880v9 is out now, and while I’m willing to try it if I can’t find something else I like, it’s not going to be my first choice. Here are some of the shoes I want to try first:
  • Brooks Ghost - I tried these when I was looking for marathon shoes. They reminded me a lot of the 880s, which is why I was hesitant to buy them then (I needed a shoe I knew I could trust, not one that could have issues). But I do want to give them a try and see if they will work as a middle distance shoe. I have a 25% off coupon from Brooks (more on that in my general shopping post), and from what I understand Brooks has a very generous return policy, so I think I may buy these direct from Brooks, do 10 miles in them at least once, and return them if they don’t work.
  • Saucony Ride ISO 2 - When I bought my first pair of 880s, I was deciding between the 880s and the Saucony Ride. At the end of the day, I liked the 880s a little better, but I do want to try the Ride to see if they would work for me now. I know that with switch to the ISO design I may not like them as much, but I still think it’s worth trying.
I haven’t decided if I want to try the Ghost and then try the Ride if the ghost doesn’t work or just start off by going into the running store and ask to try these two shoes (and see if they recommend something else) and just use the Brooks discount for something else.

Ideally, whatever shoes I get to replace the 880s will be my shoes for the Princess Half (which is currently scheduled as my next half).

Brooks Levitate 2:
These have about 150 miles on them. I think that if I only use them for runs longer than half marathon distance, I can stretch them out to the NYC marathon. So the ideal situation would be to keep these in their box until September-ish and not use them again until the last few months of marathon training. If I can put less than 100 miles on them between now and November (should be doable if I limit them to very long runs), then I can get away with only having ever owned one pair of marathon shoes.

What’s Next?
So … first thing that’s gonna happen is the 880s being retired. Assuming that happens soonish, I have a few options.
Since I’m not planning to run anything longer than 6 miles over the summer, I can try to stretch either the Zantev3 or the Zante Pursuit out to 6 miles, and get a replacement middle distance shoe once I start NYC marathon training.
Or … I could use the Levitates for anything over 5.5 miles (which means I might have to replace them before the marathon, so not ideal).
Or … I could replace the 880s as soon as I retire them (with one of the models mentioned above).

If I decide to stretch out the 880s until the end of the summer, I'll have to rotate in the Zante Pursuit right away, but I'll still save the 880s for the rare occasion when I go over 6 miles. If I retire these once marathon training has started, I'll replace them right away. As of right now, I can probably still get 7-8 miles out of the 880, which means I can get through my first few marathon training long-ish runs without having to use the Levitates ... but we'll see if that's still the case come the end of the summer.

I’m really leaning towards retiring the 880s sooner rather than later and then not replacing them until late August. Hopefully by then it’ll be a little easier for me to justify spending the money on another pair of shoes.

Any thoughts on this?
 

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