Exciting Work News & A Love/Hate Relationship

Today was a pretty good day. While it started off a bit sweaty (more on that later), I’ve been looking forward to today for a few weeks now. I made sure to wear my cute new navy skirt, my favorite sassy gold heels, and be in a great mood. Why?

Today, my office ‘officially announced’ my promotion! I say that because my manager told me the exciting news a few weeks ago and the promotion was effective June 1st on my starting anniversary, but they were waiting until today’s staff meeting to share the news with the entire agency. It was killing me not to be able to share it with all my team members and friends at work, but I kept the secret well and only shared my excitement with  family and non-work friends 😉

I am now a Senior Associate, which basically means I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, but with a new title and a few more responsibilities. And my lovely co-workers Jamie and Anjelica were so sweet to make me a cute card and bring me a huge Crumbs cupcake to celebrate! How cute are they!!

And I just ate the entire Crumbs cupcake in bed while writing this post. #WINNING is right!

In running news, summer weather has really hit NYC in full force. With highs in the mid 90s today, I’ve been reminded just how much summer running takes out of you! This morning I struggled through 4 easy miles along the Hudson River, and was a sweaty mess by the time I finished around 7:30 am. And so begins the love/hate relationship I have with summer running.

I love…

• When you wake up in the morning, it’s light out! So much easier to get out of bed.
• That you can run decently late at night and it’s still light out!
• That there are tons more runners, walkers, and bikers out in the park
• Getting a sweet sports bra tan (kind of badass, but not really attractive)
• Sports bra runs, though I feel a bit awkward in the city streets until I get into the park.
• The feeling after a good, sweaty run. Somehow I think more sweat=more hard work
• That cold showers can actually feel refreshing!
• Seeing fireflies on night runs
• That my favorite trails are not covered in snow 🙂

I hate…

• Feeling constantly dehydrated, and having to make frequent water fountain stops
• Needing to squeeze in runs either early morning or late at night; no more leisurely weekends to sleep in, eat, and run around 1 or 2
• Thick, humid air making runs feel a bit harder than they should and not being able to breathe well
• Getting so super sweaty you can actually wring out your tank top and/or shorts (really, it’s gross), or the stinging in your eyes when sweat drips down your face

Well, I guess all in all there are more ‘loves’ than ‘hates’ on this list. I expect the hate list to grow a bit more as we get into July and August 🙂 Just have to remind myself to not get too dramatic: I’ve survived summers past, and will survive this one as well. Imagine that?!

This weekend I am racing the NYRR Mini 10K, which will actually be my last race this ‘training cycle’. After the 10K, I am going to take 3 weeks to run what I want to, when I want to, but not stick to a schedule or weekly mileage plan. Basically, I want a bit of a mental and physical break after this race while continuing to run ‘for fun’ until the beginning of July when I will start slowly building up my mileage and kick off my training plan for the NYC Marathon on November 6th!

Gearing up for a race 4 months in advance might seem like a long time, but you really need it to get ready for a marathon. I want to get in a good base slowly and work on upping my mileage for this year’s race. Last year, I ran the highest mileage I’ve run in my life up to that point: I hit around 45-55 miles per week most weeks and barely a few weeks in the low 60s (see my full training schedule here), and found I responded really well to higher mileage training. I could actually notice my fitness levels increasing run by run, despite not too many or too long tempo workouts.

As I look to break 3:00 this year, I want to bump up the average weekly mileage a bit by 5 or 10 miles per week on average, and try to get in at least one workout per week. This will be so much easier (and more fun!) with the Central Park Track Club weekly workouts and all the new running friends I’ve met! I still need to work on mapping out my plan, and will post it when I figure it out, but those are my initial goals.

Which brings me back to Saturday’s Mini 10K. I am aiming to break 40 minutes in the 10K this time around. After my 40:36 at the Healthy Kidney 10K and 32:06 at the Spring Lake 5 Miler,  I know this is within reach if I keep it steady on the first 2-3 miles and save a bit for the end. Hopefully knowing it’s my last true race effort for a while will help me out!

What’s your favorite season for running? What do you love and hate about summer/hot weather running? I love running in the fall. Give me short sleeves and capri spandex, and a trail with leaves turning and falling and I am happy! Fall also reminds me of cross country season and the kick off of a school year, which always meant excitement about running and getting miles in.