Anyone else apply to the NYC virtual for guaranteed 2027 entry? It lines up pretty well with a 22 mile training run for Philly and then I can just walk the last 4.2.

htxag09 said:

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CDub06 said:

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Got an email from United yesterday:

Quote:

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Select MileagePlus Premier members get another chance to run in the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon on November 1. Space is available on a first come, first serve basis, so reserve your place on the starting line!


This experience includes:

One guaranteed entry to the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon

Access for one to United Airlines pre-race hospitality

Access for one to post-race hospitality at Tavern on the Green

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Thought this was just a second chance lottery, so I entered. But it was actually guaranteed entry, so I'm in for the NYC Marathon for the first time! Big time excited.

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Woah....that may be the best United perk I've seen...

Congrats!

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Agreed! That's awesome.

What level are you in United to get that perk?

I'm going to get this thread off of 666 posts by complaining about the humidity. It's been ROUGH the last month or so. Need to switch to running in the morning.

Average Joe said:

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I'm going to get this thread off of 666 posts by complaining about the humidity. It's been ROUGH the last month or so. Need to switch to running in the morning.

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Think I may have had severe dehydration after my run Saturday. Started feeling a little nauseous then my entire body felt about as sore as I've ever felt. Much better by Sunday, but gut still didn't feel great.

Wasn't a long run either, like 6 miles.

Only other thing I think it could have been is/was whatever they call the summer virus. But never had any cough, sinus, or congestion issues.

htxag09 said:

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Average Joe said:

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I'm going to get this thread off of 666 posts by complaining about the humidity. It's been ROUGH the last month or so. Need to switch to running in the morning.

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Think I may have had severe dehydration after my run Saturday. Started feeling a little nauseous then my entire body felt about as sore as I've ever felt. Much better by Sunday, but gut still didn't feel great.

Wasn't a long run either, like 6 miles.

Only other thing I think it could have been is/was whatever they call the summer virus. But never had any cough, sinus, or congestion issues.

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I had a 3.5 mile base run that murdered me. I settled into my normal base run pace, nice and slow, and my heart rate wouldn't settle in. Just kept rising. Had to walk a few times to keep it reasonable. I was drenched. Felt like I couldn't catch my breath the entire time.

Ark03 said:

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I ran my first half yesterday at 45 years old. I took 20+ years off, started jogging seriously a year ago, then did a 24 week Garmin/Coach Amy plan leading up to yesterday.

I was so slow. But, I controlled my pace, didn't crash or blow up, didn't have to walk. Fueling and hydration worked well, even though it was warm and humid and I probably sweated out 2 - 3 liters of water.

But, where do I go from here? I almost feel like the Coach Amy was too conservative - my mileage dropped quite a bit when I started that plan, at 4 days a week. Do I just do a Garmin connect plan with a target for a new race in the Fall? I feel like I have a lot of room to improve - especially in my pacing. Would I benefit most from adding more weekly miles? More varied training?

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There are a lot of plans out there based on what your goal time is for a half or full. If you think that the plan you had was too conservative then you might be able to easily slide into one of the more aggressive plans. Since you're still kind of new at this, don't discount the value of your slow mileage days, it's fun to run at a good brisk pace, but it's not all about speed. For instance my race pace is about 7:00/mile, but I do a lot of my training around an 8:30 pace when I'm getting mileage in because it's a nice easy comfortable pace that I can recover from quickly.

In the past I've just tried to vary it between adding miles and adding speed when I'm building towards a race and a goal time. Because I'm a pretty experienced runner, I also let my body decide most of the time what kind of run it's going to be and I try not to fight my body. I've had many tempo/threshold days that ended up more as slow and low days, and some of my slow days have unexpectedly turned into race pace workouts if I start to really feel it and decide to push. I guess my point with that is that at 45 (I'm 41) it's not always a good idea to push through the pain, so make sure you listen to your body.

I feel your sentiments though because I often ponder what I'm really training for and what the right combination is for my body to unlock some extra speed on race day.

Ags2013 said:

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Anyone else apply to the NYC virtual for guaranteed 2027 entry? It lines up pretty well with a 22 mile training run for Philly and then I can just walk the last 4.2.

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I applied for the NYC virtual also, kind of dumb to pay $212 to run a "virtual race" but I think I might just pick up the Marine Corps Marathon and run that one since it would count as my 26.2 virtual race and guarantee me entry for 2027 NYC.... IF I get picked in this lottery.

I'm located up in Indiana, so some of these places aren't that far of a drive for me.

AggieEP said:

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Ark03 said:

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I ran my first half yesterday at 45 years old. I took 20+ years off, started jogging seriously a year ago, then did a 24 week Garmin/Coach Amy plan leading up to yesterday.

I was so slow. But, I controlled my pace, didn't crash or blow up, didn't have to walk. Fueling and hydration worked well, even though it was warm and humid and I probably sweated out 2 - 3 liters of water.

But, where do I go from here? I almost feel like the Coach Amy was too conservative - my mileage dropped quite a bit when I started that plan, at 4 days a week. Do I just do a Garmin connect plan with a target for a new race in the Fall? I feel like I have a lot of room to improve - especially in my pacing. Would I benefit most from adding more weekly miles? More varied training?

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There are a lot of plans out there based on what your goal time is for a half or full. If you think that the plan you had was too conservative then you might be able to easily slide into one of the more aggressive plans. Since you're still kind of new at this, don't discount the value of your slow mileage days, it's fun to run at a good brisk pace, but it's not all about speed. For instance my race pace is about 7:00/mile, but I do a lot of my training around an 8:30 pace when I'm getting mileage in because it's a nice easy comfortable pace that I can recover from quickly.

In the past I've just tried to vary it between adding miles and adding speed when I'm building towards a race and a goal time. Because I'm a pretty experienced runner, I also let my body decide most of the time what kind of run it's going to be and I try not to fight my body. I've had many tempo/threshold days that ended up more as slow and low days, and some of my slow days have unexpectedly turned into race pace workouts if I start to really feel it and decide to push. I guess my point with that is that at 45 (I'm 41) it's not always a good idea to push through the pain, so make sure you listen to your body.

I feel your sentiments though because I often ponder what I'm really training for and what the right combination is for my body to unlock some extra speed on race day.

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Thanks very much! Last week I kicked off a new training plan in Garmin for a fall race, trying coach Greg this time. I'm liking it so far.

The Coach Amy plan I did from Jan - June put me in nothing but zone 2 training for the first few months. The Greg workouts already have me doing stride repeats, speed repeats, and progressive runs - and, it feels like it picked up at my current fitness level, so I didn't feel like I was taking a huge step back, like I did when starting the last plan.

That said, it does include a lot of slow runs (based on seeing about 12 workouts so far), so I'm hopeful I continue to build my base as well. I do need structure at this point. I still don't know how I'm going to feel until mile 2 or 3, and I need something to push me or I could see myself doing 3 mile Z2 jogs for the rest of my life.

My long run yesterday was 90 minutes starting at 94 degrees, and it'll be closer to 99-97 the same time Sunday afternoon for the next one when I'm scheduled for 1:45 It'll be interesting to see if I can maintain this as it gets into the summer months. This time last year my "long" runs were probably only 4 miles.

Average Joe said:

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I'm going to get this thread off of 666 posts by complaining about the humidity. It's been ROUGH the last month or so. Need to switch to running in the morning.

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humidity is the worst in the morning, just fyi. Between 8 and 9 pm might be "hotter" but will be 60% humidity versus 95% in the morning.

I can't bring myself to run at 8pm. Granted I have two small kids so my soul has been sucked out of me by then but still.

Does it actually feel better that late?

I'm with you there between work and kids. If it isn't at 6am, it isn't happening.

Some of the best training I ever did was on night runs, but I was deployed in the desert in Saudi Arabia... so there wasn't really another option unless I wanted to melt.

Now I try to vary it between morning runs, late afternoon runs and a few evening runs just to change up the conditions I train in. I'm not sure if it has a positive effect or not, but at least mentally I like to know that I can run in any conditions.

Some of my best training came on night runs too but that was pre children. I'm going to give it a go tonight and see how it feels

Pre-kids, my runs were almost 100% done in the late evening. Now, with dinner, bedtimes, etc. it just isn't practical. It was cooler, though. Finding and running in shade was nice, even in Houston.

I will say as my miles and intensity (tempo runs or intervals) increased it started impacting my sleep. I'd have trouble sleeping, legs would feel restless, etc. after longer or harder runs.

I've spent several years training Ironman and except weeks and some lunch runs did the bulk at night after work. Come home, help with kids dinner and bed by 8 out the door or into the garage soon after to get the work done.

With anything finding the routine helps. Can't be sporadic. Get the routine and the family learns the expectation. We work around and do the best we can to achieve our goals.

Ragoo said:

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Average Joe said:

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I'm going to get this thread off of 666 posts by complaining about the humidity. It's been ROUGH the last month or so. Need to switch to running in the morning.

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humidity is the worst in the morning, just fyi. Between 8 and 9 pm might be "hotter" but will be 60% humidity versus 95% in the morning.

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I can't win.

when weather cools down this winter, you'll feel like a superhero

I'm banking on this as well. I'm running Berlin in late September and the summer training is absolutely kicking my butt. I ran a 5k time trial last week and was 30 seconds slower than i was in March. I keep telling myself that it's heat related but morale is low

gcracker13 said:

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I'm banking on this as well. I'm running Berlin in late September and the summer training is absolutely kicking my butt. I ran a 5k time trial last week and was 30 seconds slower than i was in March. I keep telling myself that it's heat related but morale is low

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compared heart rate from both efforts?

Tuesday March 24th I ran 5.6 miles at lunch. Average pace 8:12/mile and HR was 156 and peaked at 170.

Today I ran 5 miles at lunch. 9:00/mile HR 165 and peaked at 180.

So consider the effort between the two and area under the curve it makes sense that I was :45/mile slower today because the work my heart was doing versus the cooler month.

Two words:

Ice Bandana

I have been trying this on my evening (5pm-7pm) and my longer runs. It is actually a bit too cold at first but once you start moving it works wonders.

Ragoo said:

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gcracker13 said:

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I'm banking on this as well. I'm running Berlin in late September and the summer training is absolutely kicking my butt. I ran a 5k time trial last week and was 30 seconds slower than i was in March. I keep telling myself that it's heat related but morale is low

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compared heart rate from both efforts?

Tuesday March 24th I ran 5.6 miles at lunch. Average pace 8:12/mile and HR was 156 and peaked at 170.

Today I ran 5 miles at lunch. 9:00/mile HR 165 and peaked at 180.

So consider the effort between the two and area under the curve it makes sense that I was :45/mile slower today because the work my heart was doing versus the cooler month.

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I really shouldn't complain too much, because I'm still in conditioning mode building a good base. My longest run has been 6 miles. My first marathon isn't until January so my training block doesn't start until September. I'm not running by pace but by HR, so it just means I'm running slower and longer times.

But it's easy to say I shouldn't complain while sitting in the AC in my office.

I started running in February, and I've dropped from 14/mile to 10:45/mile maintaining the same 160-170 bpm range. It just REALLY sucks when it feels like I'm breathing through a straw.

gcracker13 said:

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I can't bring myself to run at 8pm. Granted I have two small kids so my soul has been sucked out of me by then but still.

Does it actually feel better that late?

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I have Crohn's, which is brutal on my energy levels. My party trick is that I can pretty much fall asleep at will. I have 3 kids 12 and under, so I definitely get it. There have been a few runs where I've had to down a large cup of coffee at 7:30pm just to make it out the door for a 6 mile run at 8pm.

I was not selected for the virtual NYC marathon, so no NYC for me in 2027 as of now. Super lame how hard it is to register for some of these races.

Keep it up! I'm slower than I want to be but running fast takes a lot of time. Keep stacking those days.

Ragoo said:

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Keep it up! I'm slower than I want to be but running fast takes a lot of time. Keep stacking those days.

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I'm never going to set any land speed records or anything. Goal for this marathon is to finish without dying and to figure out if this is something I want to keep doing. I've really enjoyed pushing myself so far, but things might change when the mileage really starts getting up there. It's also a great excuse to get in shape and stay in shape.

AggieEP said:

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I was not selected for the virtual NYC marathon, so no NYC for me in 2027 as of now. Super lame how hard it is to register for some of these races.

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Same

Now that I'm 5 months into base building, I have a couple of observations and a question.

First observation is that I feel the same no matter how long or short I run. The first mile feels sluggish while I warm up fully. Then I can tell I'm loosened up, but the rest of the way I feel like I can't finish. Then end up finishing just fine. The after run high is real, too. Doesn't matter if it's 2 miles or 6 miles, slow or fast, always feels the same.

Second observation is that there are so many variables to figure out. Stride length, strides per minute, heart rate, uphill/downhill, etc. It just adds another challenge figuring out the best combo while also concentrating on breathing and everything else.

My question is about strength workouts. I base run Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and long run on Sunday. I've been working legs on Wednesdays (calf raises, lunges, banded squats, Bulgarian split squats) and various ab exercises once or twice a week. What can I add that will help? I plan on adding some upper body when I'm cleared from my broken thumb, but feel like I can do a lot more to make life easier.

Is your question about what you can add to help your running (get faster) or what you can add to do strength training (bulking) without negatively impacting your running? Kind of two different answers depending on the exact ask.

For me since I'm always just doing strength training to augment my running and get faster, I do high rep low weight dumbbells and body weight only because I want to add strength and muscular stamina but not any bulk.

Also, while all the running data we have now is nice, I wouldn't get too caught up in most of it. You're just starting out and the data might mean more once you have a few races under your belt and you are really game planning about what you need to do to achieve some of your goals.

I'm a pretty serious runner, (sub 1:25 half marathon PRs) but my cadence and stride length isn't something that I actively monitor and try to adjust. I train to a pace and the data just kind of takes care of itself. I know that at race pace I'm going to hit a cadence of 170 and a stride of 1.5 meters which is good enough for me. You'll see people talking about 180 as a magic number, but you can find just as much evidence debunking a focus on cadence.

AggieEP said:

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Is your question about what you can add to help your running (get faster) or what you can add to do strength training (bulking) without negatively impacting your running? Kind of two different answers depending on the exact ask.

For me since I'm always just doing strength training to augment my running and get faster, I do high rep low weight dumbbells and body weight only because I want to add strength and muscular stamina but not any bulk.

Also, while all the running data we have now is nice, I wouldn't get too caught up in most of it. You're just starting out and the data might mean more once you have a few races under your belt and you are really game planning about what you need to do to achieve some of your goals.

I'm a pretty serious runner, (sub 1:25 half marathon PRs) but my cadence and stride length isn't something that I actively monitor and try to adjust. I train to a pace and the data just kind of takes care of itself. I know that at race pace I'm going to hit a cadence of 170 and a stride of 1.5 meters which is good enough for me. You'll see people talking about 180 as a magic number, but you can find just as much evidence debunking a focus on cadence.

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Sorry, that wasn't a clear question.

I'm not so much worried about running faster as I am running 'stronger', if that makes sense. I don't want to get to the point I'm running 15 miles one day and realize I should have been doing certain strength training that would have helped increase my chances of being finishing strong and preventing injury. I'm not looking to add bulk, at all. If anything, I need to drop about 30lbs.

Take them or leave them, but I've found the following things to be true in almost a decade of running, plus strength training consistently for the last eight years or so.

• The body doesn't know if you are bulking, cutting, or supplementing running by what you lift - your caloric intake/burn tells it that.
  
• The idea of lifting adding bulk that gets in the way of running is mostly a myth. It's actually really hard to add that kind of bulk while running consistently.
  
• Compound lifts are always king.
  
• Running-specific strength work (i.e. single leg) in addition to compounds is beneficial.
  
• Things like clamshells, lateral leg raises, and similar banded work, plus core exercises like deadbugs and bird dogs, are good as prehab and activation work before each run.
  
• Low(er) reps and high(er) weight should be the goal - runners get enough endurance work while running.
  
• Increased stability and power generation through focused, powerful movement is the counterbalance to chronic running movements.
  
• The biggest risk in strength training is the CNS overload causing interference in running.
  
• Strength training should be periodized in line with periodized training. For example, heavy barbell deadlifts during base, hex bar and Romanian deadlifts during the early build, single leg deadlifts during the race phase.
  
• The exact programming (PPL, full body, etc) is less important than the disciplined consistency.
  

The content here - https://strengthrunning.com/ - plus his podcast has been quite helpful to me.