Countdown has begun: race day is less than a week away. Worobec has two short training runs before leaving for NYC!

By Ashley Worobec

October 28th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

This time next week I will have completed the New York City Marathon.

One more week to go!

This is exactly where I want to be a week before race day.

My taper is working, and today my watch showed me this fantastic “training status” screen that says “peaking.” This is EXACTLY what the taper is trying to do- the idea is that I worked hard through nearly 20 weeks of training, and now my body is in recovery mode where I can reap the benefits of that hard work.

It is often said that you cannot train too little during a taper, but you can definitely train too much. Over-training is a real concern at this point, as this is the time when runners start to feel antsy, and I’m definitely experiencing that.

My legs feel fresh and rested now and ready to run- and the taper starts to play mind games with you, as your mileage drops so significantly and so quickly, it’s almost as if you feel like you’ve forgotten how to run.

Ahhhh, the mental aspect of distance-running! I have two short runs this week (one 9k and one 8k) and then a quick little 3km on Saturday morning to shake out my legs, and then it’s raceday on Sunday!

My goals in New York are:
1. To enjoy the experience! I will be running with a dear friend of mine and we plan to soak it all in and enjoy the sights and sounds. This is a once-in-a-lifetime for me, and a goal I’ve been chasing for a few years.

2. A Boston qualification time would be nice; for my age group, that means I need to run a couple of minutes under 3 hours 40 minutes.

3. Ideally, I’d like to run under 3 hours, 30 minutes.

A goal of 3 hours – 30 minutes is well within reach. Is the Boston Marathon in the long range plan?

As you can see, this “race predictor” it shows that 3:30 should be well within my reach, but there are so many factors on race day that I can’t control; I’m trying not to get too wrapped up in a time goal. I’ve had many years of competitive running in the past, and my goals have changed now- these days it’s more about fun and fitness and friendships.

A white pumpkin?

We carved pumpkins this weekend and I used a NYC theme; I used a drill bit to shape the holes into the iconic “I love New York” sign. This year I’ll be abstaining from Halloween candy until after the race, as I want to give myself the best chance to perform on Sunday, and dozens of those tiny bite-sized chocolate bars will do me no good!