This spring, I’ve got two big goal races: the United NYC Half Marathon in March and the Jersey City Marathon in April.
I ran the Fred Lebow Half Marathon last month, and from late December through January, that’s what I was “training” for. Although it wasn’t really long enough to be a solid training cycle.
After a recovery week last week, I’m ready took ahead to the spring. For the next eleven weeks, I’m my training will be focused on these two races.
This will be the first time that I’ve run the NYC Half. I ran Brooklyn last year, and I had a great time. I’m excited about the race itself, but I also picked this race strategically. I want to qualify for the 2026 New York City Marathon, and I think I’ve got a good chance of running 1:25 (my qualifying time) in March.
I came up a little short in Brooklyn last year, and in part I think it was due to the lingering fatigue from having run the Jersey City Marathon a few weeks prior. This year, I’ll be able to go into the race fresh.
The stakes are high at Jersey City, too. My other big goal for this year is to qualify for the 2026 Boston Marathon. I’ve met my qualifying time in each of the past two years, but I came up short against the cutoff time each year.
In April, I’m hoping to not just beat my new qualifying time – 3:05 – but also go sub-3:00 to ensure that I’ve got a good chance at beating this year’s cutoff. I don’t plan on running another marathon in September, so this is likely my last chance to qualify for 2026.
So with that in mind, here’s how the first week went.
The Plan for the Week
Last week, I only ran 60 miles to give myself a little recovery from Fred Lebow. This week, I plan to bounce back up to 70 miles, and I’ll stay in the 70-75 mpw range. My general approach will be to run a workout in my Sunday long run and a second, faster workout later in the week. I’m also going to try to incorporate at least one day of strength training each week.
Here’s the daily breakdown for the week:
- Sunday: 16 mile long run, 2 x 10 min @ HM pace
- Monday: 6 miles easy, trails
- Tuesday: 5 miles trail AM, 5.5 miles tread PM
- Wednesday: 6 miles trail AM
- Thursday: 5.5 miles miles tread AM, 5.5 miles tread PM
- Friday: 8 miles I workout AM, 4.5 miles tread PM
- Saturday: 8 miles easy AM
And here’s how things went.
Sunday: A Long Run in the Frigid Cold
It took me a few days to recover from Fred Lebow. It wasn’t until yesterday that I really felt back to normal and had a good easy run at a normal pace. So I was hopeful that my long run today would go to plan.
When I woke it, it was cold. Like really cold. Temps in the low teens. I slept in, had a second cup of coffee, and finally made my way out around 9:30. By that point, it had warmed up to almost 20F. I was chilly throughout the start of the run, but I felt ok once I got warmed up.
The plan was to warm up, run 10 minutes @ around HM pace, switch back to easy pace for a while, and then finish up with another 10 minutes @ around HM pace. This is inspired by a workout in Jack Daniel’s 2Q plan, where he incorporates threshold intervals around a long period of easy running.
The warm up part felt good. My legs felt fresh, and I ran up and over the first hill. After a couple miles, I incorporate a few sets of strides to loosen up a bit more. Those strides didn’t feel quite as comfortable as the easy pace, but I figured I’d ease into it.
About five miles in, I got back to a fairly level part of the route. I pressed the lap button on my watch to start the interval and kicked into gear. I had plugged an optimistic range – 6:20 to 6:35 – into my watch. In the beginning, I was a little off, but I managed to get down to around 6:35 for a couple of minutes.
Then, I hit a minor incline, and I could feel myself slipping off pace. When I took a left turn and things leveled out, I ran smack into a pretty stiff headwind. Throughout the end of the rep, my pace drifted upwards of 7:00. I split the first mile in 6:50, and the full 10 minutes averaged 6:55.
From there, I eased back into my easy pace. Despite struggling at the end of the interval, I felt under control very quickly. And over the next few miles I easily averaged ~8:30/mi. Feeling good again. I kept things easy through the hills, and I waited until I was back at the flat Reservoir loop to do the final interval.
I marked the starting point in my head, and when I got there I tried to speed up. I was less successful this time, and the fastest I could manage was ~6:50/mi. I thought about quitting, but I decided to just push through with a tough tempo – slower than anticipated but as fast as I could manage. And that was an average of 6:59.
I jogged the final bit home, and I stopped at 16 miles. I was beat. These are always tough workouts, but this was tougher than usual. I think my legs were still a little fatigued from the race last weekend. So I’m going to hope that with a few more days of easy running, I have a little more spring in my step for my next workout.
Monday: A Snowy, Slow Recovery Jog
Sunday night, we got a light dusting of snow. Nothing crazy, just about an inch or so. It was a little chilly, but the temps were in the high 20’s and rising quickly throughout the day. So I decided to brave the cold and go out for an easy jog on the snowy trails.
When I first broke into my jog, I felt tight. This was gonna be one of those days. I felt a little better a couple miles in, but there was no question this was going to be a slow recovery jog. The snow on the ground didn’t help either, since it made my footing a little uneasy.
But it was an enjoyable hour in the woods. I could see all of the animal tracks from the wildlife scurrying around, and I passed a few people out walking their dogs. Eventually, I made it back home and after a quick, hot shower, I got to work.
Tuesday: Feeling a Little Better
After Monday’s slog, I was hoping today would feel better. And it did.
I started off with an easy 5 miles on the trails in the morning. When I left the house, it was over 40 degrees and it felt like spring.
Uneventful out and back. Felt less tight in the beginning, and my pace was below 9:45/mi towards the end. Still an easy recovery jog, but getting back towards normal.
After work, I hopped on the treadmill for 50 minutes to hit my mileage goals. I felt fine in the beginning. The effort was a little high, and my heart rate drifted upwards towards the end. It could have been the heat in the basement, or it could have been the large snack I ate late in the afternoon.
I didn’t feel great. But today was better than yesterday.
Wednesday: A Normal Morning On the Trails
I had to head down to the office Wednesday morning, which meant that my schedule was a bit tight. I slept in just a little too late, and so I shuffled things around for the week to reduce the morning’s mileage from 8 to 6.
It was cloudy and cold. Yesterday’s spring like temperatures were gone, and winter was back. Yesterday, there were some muddy parts where I slipped and slid a little bit. Today, they were all frozen over and crunchy.
Otherwise, it was a pleasant, uneventful trail run. Felt pretty good. My legs felt unburdened, and I had to pull myself back a few times from speeding up too much. The pace drifted below 9:30/mi in the second half. A good sign.
I was originally planning to do an easy double in the evening on the treadmill. When I got home from work, I laid down for a quick 20 minute nap. I often do this after my commute, and it helps me recharge for an evening workout.
Today, it backfired, and I couldn’t peel myself off the couch. I reviewed the week’s plan in my head and made the adjustments.
Thursday: A Snowy Day on the Treadmill
Originally, I was going to do my workout at the Reservoir Thursday morning. But we had bad weather that involved freezing rain and light snow from just before dawn through the mid morning.
So, yeah. The treadmill it is.
With the world largely shut down due to the impending snowstorm, I lingered in bed for a bit. I eventually moseyed on down to the basement and hopped on the treadmill. Did 50 minutes, and I felt much better than I did on Tuesday night. Heart rate and effort were more under control.
I still had some virtual meetings to take and some work to do, so I went about my work day. And afterwards, I hopped back on the treadmill to finish up with a double.
The evening felt largely the same as the morning. 50 minutes, felt good, heart rate and effort under control.
Friday: Back Outside For My Workout
One of the downsides of shifting my workout from Thursday to Friday is that I didn’t have as much time Friday morning. The workout – which I’ll repeat throughout the next several weeks – is a simple interval workout. 7 x 3 minutes at effort (~5k pace) with 2 minute jogging recoveries.
Normally, with an extended warm up this’ll add up to 5 loops of the Reservoir – 9.5 miles. But I was crunched for time, so I shortened the warm up to ~2.5 miles and would only hit 8 miles on the morning. Those extra two miles will end up on Saturday morning’s easy run.
I felt ok while I warmed up, but I was a little tight. Towards the end of my warm up lap, I proceeded to run a set of strides. Over the course of the three strides, things opened up a bit. After that, I did some leg swings, and my right hamstring was noticeably tight. Mental note to keep an eye on that.
When I started the first rep, my stride felt a little clipped due to my hamstring and it took me a minute to get up to speed. The pace zone on my watch was set at 5:55 to 6:15 – and I was hoping at this point to be in the 6:05-6:15 range. In the first rep, I couldn’t quite get there.
But that first rep really helped loosen things up. The next few reps, I started off on the slow side but I was able to get on pace after thirty seconds or so. I improved as I went, and the last rep was the best rep. I pushed a little harder on that one, and I got down to ~6:00/mi for a bit. But I faded a little at the end and averaged 6:13/mi.
Overall, it wasn’t a great workout. Average pace was 6:19/mi – so a little slow. But it was moderately windy, and I haven’t done much running at this effort since December. So I’m hoping this was about knocking off some rust – and I’ll do much better the next time around.
In the evening, I hopped on the treadmill for some easy miles. I did 40 minutes and called it 4.5 miles. My legs felt a little tired, but given the fact that I did a workout in the morning, I felt pretty good.
Saturday: Ice Skating on the Trails
We’d gone out to a local comedy show last night, and so I slept in a little late to sleep off the beer. I was also brewing beer this morning, so I had to get things situated for brew day before I hit the trails.
By the time I got going, it was already around 10AM. It was chilly – high 20’s and overcast – but not bad. Snow is in the forecast, but it’s supposed to come much later in the evening.
I planned on doing an easy 8 miles on the trails. Immediately when I turned onto the trail, though, I noticed quite a bit of ice. The freezing rain we got Thursday morning must not have had a chance to fully melt in the shade of the forest.
It was thin at spots, and parts of the trail were very runnable. But parts were also thick with ice, and I had to slow down and tip toe across a couple stretches.
I decided that I didn’t want to do eight miles of this, so I followed the trail down to the back entrance of the Reservoir loop. After about a mile of slipping and sliding, I exited the forest for the paved loop. Much better.
The fatigue of yesterday’s workout was definitely catching up to me, now. My legs felt a little heavy, and everything just felt a bit worn down. I took it slow, and I finished up. My pace was a little north of 9:00/mi for most of that flat part.
Towards the end, I also felt something off on the top of my right foot. I thought maybe my shoelaces were too tight. It didn’t really hurt, and the feeling would just come and go briefly.
When I got home, I checked it out. Everything felt fine to the touch. But every once in a while, I’d flex my foot just right (wrong) and I’d feel some discomfort. I’m hoping that I just tweaked something, and that it’ll improve with a good night’s sleep. But I’m going to keep an eye on this.
After I finished brewing my beer, I took a well earned nap on the couch. When I woke up, my foot felt normal and I haven’t noticed it since. I breathed a sigh of relief, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that it was nothing serious.
Reflections and Looking Ahead
For my first week of training, this wasn’t the home run that I had hoped for.
At the start of the week, my long run was disappointing. I felt great early on, and I hit my mileage, but the tempo segments were way off pace. I’ll chalk that one off to not being fully recovered from last week’s race.
There was evidence of that lingering fatigue early in the week, but my legs felt progressively better as the week went on. But Friday’s workout wasn’t great, either. It was better. I was almost on pace, and I felt strong-ish. But I couldn’t quite get up to speed.
It’s a rocky start. But I’ve got four more weeks of solid training before the United NYC Half. Just gotta keep grinding away – and if this week was better than last week, next week should be better than this week.