Staten Island Half & The Hiatus
Just a few brief words (and some pictures) about today's race, the
Staten Island Half Marathon.
Plan was to do this as a supported training run at Easy/LR interval pace (13:13). Finished in 2:39:40, with an average pace of 12:11. Even though I was too fast, it felt good. This is the kind of race day I wanted two weeks ago.
Pictures:
After the race, I got a selfie with Peter Ciaccia, the retiring NYRR President of Events, who is always at the finish line giving out high fives:
I also finished my guaranteed entry programs for both the 2019 NYC Marathon and 2019 NYC Half. I got to ring the 9+1 bell:
And ... pictures from the ferry ride home:
Now, as for this hiatus ...
In the last few weeks of Bronx 10 Mile training, as I was writing up my training week recaps (which I enjoyed/appreciated doing for that plan), I knew I wanted to take a step back for marathon training. Marathon training was going to be a big new thing for me, and I didn't think I was fully ready to share it with everyone.
Then there was the content of this journal over the last few months. As most of you know, I started a new job in February, and while I work with the greatest group of people ever (well, second greatest ... you guys are the greatest group of people ever), the work itself has not been what I was hoping it would be, and I kinda hate it. I've been complaining about it a lot on here. And honestly, I think that's part of the problem. I hate the project I'm working on. So I need to pass this project off to someone else and get put on a different project. But instead of trying to put my project in a state where it can be passed off and then figure out how to approach the higher-ups about getting myself on a new project, I come here and complain. I need to not do that. As long as I have a place where I can come and complain, I will do it. So I wanted to remove that and force myself to be more proactive about work (not that I've fully done that, but it's in progress. I WILL speak to one of my co-workers about it next time I see him).
I've also had some mild life stuff going on. Between a little bit of just general life sadness and the stress of looking for an apartment (hopefully that second stress is gone ... planning an October 31st move if all goes well), my mood has been all over the place and I've been struggling to not be negative. I know that the best way for me to deal with this is to create a "safe space" where I can be stressed and be as negative as I want and just get it off my chest, and I've been doing that here, which is kind of the opposite of what I wanted this journal to be. I wanted it to be a safe space where everyone feels welcome and can share whatever is important to them. It shouldn't be a place that stresses people out. So until I can find a different outlet for my stress and negativity and can come here and only share the things that make me feel good (and that I think will make others feel good), I'm not going to feel comfortable posting here.
My marathon plan was written in two phases. Phase one culminates in a 16 mile run on November 18th. Phase two ends with the marathon. I figured that after phase one I'd evaluate how I felt about training, the boards, and this journal. If I feel like I'm missing something by not being able to share my thoughts, training, and planning, then I'll be back (which may or may not include instagram ... so far I'm still going, but we'll see how long that lasts). But so far I'm okay ... I may end up coming back to the runDisney threads, but not to this journal. Or I may end up not coming back at all. I'm still lurking a bit (I was reading all the Chicago and other recent race recaps ... exciting stuff!), but cutting down on that over the next few weeks as I get busy getting ready for the move and whatnot.
I'll make a decision in mid-November.
Originally it was going to start after the Staten Island Half, because I wanted you guys to be able to follow along as I finished 9+1, but I was getting busier and busier and more and more stressed and I ended up being extra b*tchy to people (although I stand by my use of this thread as a place to express the thoughts that I think would be too hurtful if I expressed them elsewhere ... I just need to find a less negative way to express those thoughts) and I realized that I needed that step back earlier than I thought I did. But I still wanted to come back and post a little bit about the Staten Island Half ... so here we are.