Men's Health Urbanathlon - 9/29/07

In my new quest to try and run some fun races outside of Central Park, I participated in the Men's Health Urbanathlon on 9/29/07 with BH and potential new Flyer AC. Initially, I was not planning on participating in the event, but BH's interest in participating convinced me to give it a try. I work at the same company as Men's Health (Rodale publishing) so I've been seeing my fellow colleagues preparing for the event for several months now and it looked like a lot fun. So I figured why not. Below is the course description:
http://menshealthurbanathlon.com/downloads/MH_Urb_MapsNY_07.pdf

You can either run the event solo or as part of a three person team (male, female, or co-ed). BH and I had a lot of trouble finding a third member for our team, but we finally found someone off of the Men's Health website on the Tuesday before the event. She was a great teammate and had a bundle of energy and enthusiasm. She was willing and excited to run even with a pretty badly injured knee - hats off to her. The event itself is approximately 9 miles of running distance with each leg consisting of two "urban" obstacles. They ranged from hurdling stone barricades, hoisting yourself over 5 foot tall planks, crawling through stone columns, running up 7 World Trade, balancing over steel beams, sliding over taxis, and getting yourself over an 8 foot wall by any means necessary. Needless to say, it wasn't like any race any of us have ever done before.

I ran the second leg which started at Pier 84 on 44th street and 12th avenue. Not knowing how long it was going to take to get there, I left my apartment at 6AM and was able to get there at approximately 6:45. So I had a lot of time to spare to stretch a little, survey the course, and talk to some fellow racers. The race started at around 7AM so all of us were waiting in anticipation for the first runners to come by. The transition area was just like any of the other relays - everyone wore a chip on their ankle and then you had to transfer it from one member to another. The first runners came at about 7:15 so I started to get myself ready. The transition area was a little crowded so I made sure to keep my eye out for AC. At around 7:25 I see someone with the number 2058 coming towards me and I realize - oh my god, that's my number. I waved her down and we had a successful transition. Then I was off cruising down the west side bike trail.

I was feeling good (since this was only my first leg) and I was passing a lot of people along the way. I felt a little bad since most of the people I was passing were those who were running the entire race by themselves. There was no way of knowing who was solo and who was part of a team. I was feeling great with every person I passed, but it was probably somewhat deflating for those solo runners. After approximately 2 miles, I arrived at my obstacle station. The first obstacle was the "maze" which consisted of steel beams that you had to balance and navigate across. There was a huge bottleneck at this area. People were coming into the station 10 and 20 at a time and had to wait a few minutes to even start the obstacle. Once I successfully navigated the maze, I got to the "marine hurdles" - five 5' tall wooden planks in a row that I had to climb and hurl myself over. I didn't realize how big a drop 5' feet is - my knees and ankles didn't appreciate having to do it 5 times in a row. Once that was finished, I continued on the west side trail toward the World Financial Center - approximately 1.9 miles more. Since this would be my remaining run for the day, I figured I would go all out for the rest of the way. The views were great since the sun was barely rising over the Hudson River. Before I knew it I was on the World Trade Center crossing bridge handing off the chip to BH right before he began his adventure up 52 flights stairs up and down 7 WTC. I hung around the transition area a little while to cheer on BH once he completed his stair climb and then I walked on over to the South Street Seaport where the "after" festival took place.

There were about 1000 total participants of which 783 went solo and there were 76 teams that competed. We ranked #17 overall among the 76 teams and #2 among the co-ed teams.

If I thought our day was done, just because the race was over, I was sorely mistaken (pun intended). There was a bunch of booths at the festival with the usual free stuff. Our team was enjoying the festivities and then noticed that Crunch Fitness was having some sort of promotion and you were able to win a free one year membership. Without knowing what was entailed, all three of us signed up (I already have a membership to NYSC, so why did I need this in the first place - this was our first mistake). As part of the activity, you had to sign a medical waiver so I guess that was a sign that this was going to be pretty rigorous. We would soon find out just how rigorous it was. We found out that you had to participate in a exercise circuit -the Crunch Fitness Challenge. From the looks of the first few contestants in front of us, it looked harder than the race we just did! We all thought of wimping out, but unfortunately all of us decided against it. The challenge consisted of the following one after the other: running 3/4 mile as fast as you can on a treadmill, do 300 steps on a stepper machine, 100 jumps with a jump rope, 30 squat thrusts, 30 squat jumps, 30 sit ups, 30 push-up, 30 tricep reps, 30 deltoid reps and then climb up a rock wall! I got tired just watching other people do it and I was imagining how sore my upper body was going to be the next day. I felt OK through the first few stations since they were all using my lower body. However, things took a turn for the worse after that. I was halfway through the thing and realized that my upper body strength was lacking just a bit (as in not much at all). I wanted to pass out and roll over halfway through my push ups, but I figured that I went this far and I should finish with a little dignity. Not sure how much dignity I had, but I was able to finish it in one piece.

It was a great day all around and a lot of fun. I'd recommend to everyone to give it a try next year.

Good luck to all my friends and fellow Flyers competing in the Chicago Marathon next week.

Queens Half Marathon - 9/23/07

Wow, what a difference a month and a half makes. I went from one of my worst races during the Nike Half (based on pace, feeling throughout and food preparation) to one of the smartest run races I have done in a very, very long time. I'm not sure if was the weather (sunny, cool, and low humidity), proper eating beforehand, a new and fun course or the strict adherence to my stated pace, but it all worked together for me today (time of 1:44:40; 7:59 pace per mile).

I tried to learn from all of my mistakes from the Nike Half and turn them into a more prepared race this time. Before the Nike Half, I really didn't eat much at all except for a PowerGel (since the bagel places weren't open that early in the morning) and I think that that really hurt me the most during the latter part of the race. Therefore, I made sure that I was well nourished this morning. I had a plain bagel with peanut butter at around 4:50AM (the bus was at 5:00AM at the NYRR to take us to the starting line) with a bottle of Gatorade and then saved the other bagel with PB for about an hour before the race started. I did my usual stretching beforehand and then it was off to the starting line.

As far as pacing goes, I have never been very good at it but I knew that if I was ever going to get better at races that I would have to learn to discipline myself and stick to a pace. Going into the race, I felt that an 8:10 or 8:15 pace would be good and realistic to stick to. However, I wouldn't know until I got a couple miles into the race. The starting line was a bit crowded so my first mile was at 8:39, but I wasn't too concerned since I knew the streets would open up in a little bit. As for the second mile, I forgot if there was a downward hill or I was just overcompensating, but my second mile was at 7:42. At that point, I knew I had to stabilize my pace if I was going to be strong for the latter part of the race. Although the first two mile times were a bit up and down, they averaged out to about an 8:10 which is right around where I was looking to hit. For the next 6 miles, to my very pleasant surprise, I was able to hit about an 8:02 mile pace almost exactly for the next 6 consecutive miles (8:03, 8:02, 8:03, 8:03, 8:08, and 7:56). I couldn't believe it. For the first time in a race, I was thinking with my watch, instead of my head or how I felt. I was feeling great throughout the race at that point. No matter how I was feeling or if I wanted to start to go faster, I made sure to stick to my plan no matter what. I was making myself hit as many 8:02 mile times in a row until about mile 11. At that point, I allowed myself to go all out if I felt I could do it. I ended up doing miles 9-12 at an 8:03 pace (with mile 12 being about a 7:44 or 7:45 pace). I let it all out for the last 1.1 miles and ending up running it a 7:22 pace. There definitely is something to finding a pace you are comfortable with and sticking to it no matter what. There is a reason why you came up with the pace in the first place. Don't try and change your plan on a whim during the race unless there is a very good reason for it. This was an extremely controlled race for me and I was glad to finally do it. My breathing really didn't get heavy at all throughout the race, and my muscles felt good afterwards. Although there were other factors that contributed favorably today, I felt that the controlled and even pacing was the biggest positive factor.

I found out from talking with others today at the race that they didn't like the course, but I really liked it. This was my first NYRR race outside of Manhattan so I was just glad to run on something that wasn't Central Park. I think it definitely does help when the views are different and you don't know exactly where you are going. It keeps your mind wandering a bit and makes it more of an adventure. It was run on the streets of Queens and there were a lot of turns on the streets which I think helped me mentally since I wasn't constantly looking at tons of people in front of me in a straight line for miles at a time. There were a bunch of rolling hills throughout the course. Since I wasn't familiar with them, I made sure to take them a little easier than I was going at the time since I didn't know how long they would last.

My pace for each third of the race (it's weird, my watch got all of the mile splits, but when I saved them the last few were erased. Luckily, I knew my time for the last 1.1 miles as well as the overall time so I was able to back into my time for the last third of the race):

Miles 1-4: total time 32:26 (8:06 pace)
Miles 5-8: total time 32:10 (8:02 pace)
Miles 9-12: total time 31:58 (7:59 pace)
Last 1.1 miles: total time 8:06 (7:22 pace)

First 8 miles: total time 1:04:36 (8:04.5 pace)
Last 5.1 miles: total time 40:04 (7:51 pace)

This was a breakthrough race for me. It taught me the power of pacing and what it can do for you. It prevents huge variations in your mile times that can wear you out physically and mentally. In addition, it allows you to focus on one mile at a time and prevents you from getting too far ahead of yourself (the LTR pacing groups taught me this and gave me some much needed practice). Hopefully this will teach me not to just "wing" a race, and to have some sort of tactic in mind (not every race, of course, just the longer ones). I don't know if the stars aligned today or what, but I was in a zone that I never felt before. I just felt like I could just keep running for miles and miles (kinda like Forrest Gump). Whenever I am having a rough running stretch, I hope I never forget that feeling and remind myself that it is possible. Overall, I was very happy with my time and the fact that I was finally able to run a controlled and disciplined race in which I felt very relaxed and comfortable throughout. I will definitely use this race as a model of things to do moving forward. It was a great mental lift for me and got me excited about what I am capable of doing in future long races.

Thanks and happy running!

NYRR Long Training Run - 11 miles

With the Queens Half Marathon coming up next week, I wanted to get in one last long run before the race. The NYRR Long Training Run was on Saturday morning so I had the perfect opportunity to get in the miles. I ended up running 11 miles at the 9:30 pace and it was a good choice for me. While I wanted to get in the distance, I wanted to make sure that I wasn't too taxed before the race next week. After doing several LTRs in the past, I found that doing a 9:30 pace allows me to run at a conversational and very controlled pace. I'm not struggling with my breathing and body doesn't start to hurt until after around 16 miles - just soreness, not really pain. I've tried the 9:00 minute pace group in the past and it is a little too fast for me over the long haul. While I can keep it up for 6 or 11 miles, it gets to be more of a struggle after that.

Our group was able to consistently stay on pace mile after mile and we were able to go on "feel" after only a couple of miles. We even knew right away if we were going to fast or too slow even by only a few seconds. If I can only learn to do this in a race! Thanks again to AK - we've paced several LTRs together and we always have a great time and the minutes and miles seem to just fly by.

I've found that the LTR is one of the best ways to get in a long run if you are training for a race. You have tons of people to run and talk with, you are able to run at a consistent and controlled pace (which I have had lots of trouble with in the past), there's Gatorade, power gels, bagels and fruit waiting for you after each loop - what's not to like. It was great to see all of the Flyers out there. The LTR gave me a good mental boost going into next week and it was great to do 11 miles and feel very good mentally and physically afterwards.

In the technology department, I'm excited to finally join the DVR universe.

Finally Made It Downtown

I've been saying to myself for a very long time that I have to mix up my running routes and try to do some runs outside of Central Park where I do probably 95% of my runs. Today was the day. Due to the lure of homemade ice cream at the end of the run in Brooklyn, I finally made it to my first downtown Flyer run and I was glad that I made the trip (it's easier than I thought to get down there - the 4/5 to Union Square and then the L to 14th and 8th). There was a group of about 9 or 10 of us. We ended up running about 7 miles at a pretty relaxing pace. The route took us to the Westside Running/Bike path. The views on the water are pretty spectacular at night. We ran all the way down the west side, through Battery Park, past the Staten Island Ferry, up towards Fulton street, and then wiggling through a few streets to cross the Brooklyn Bridge - not the usual downtown run but fun nonetheless. As promised, we met JM in Brooklyn headed over to the ice cream shop and it did not disappoint. I ended up getting a cup of "muddy pig" which is chocolate ice cream with crushed M&Ms and chocolate chips - yum, yum.

It was nice to get out of Central Park for a change. I may have to incorporate the downtown run into my usual schedule - at least once a month.

The fog is lifting...

After about three weeks of slight dizziness/head pressure after the Nike Half on 8/5/07, I was starting to feel a lot better. I had my eyes checked at the end of August and everything was normal. I think that put my mind at ease and allowed me to get a little more motivated to go running. I felt more comfortable on my runs and did not feel deflated or unmotivated to go outside (starting the last week in August/first week in September). I saw that my times during my weekday runs were getting a little faster than usual and I was feeling stronger and using less effort. It was nice to see that hopefully I was emerging out of my month and a half long funk. Towards the end of August, I ran a couple 4 or 5 mile runs on my own at 8;15 to 8:30 pace and I ran the six mile group run with a couple of friends on 9/6/07 at 8:30 pace. I know that I won't be able to keep these paces up all of the time (I usually run about 9 minute miles during group runs), but at least know that I am still capable of doing them.

Also, other than the Nike Half, I haven't run a NYRR race since June. I usually use them to gauge how I'm doing and I think I missed running them for a few months. So, I signed up for the Fitness 4 mile race and ran it this morning. I ended up running a 7:21 pace for a total time of 29:25. I felt very good throughout the whole race and was relieved that I kept a rather consistent pace and did not feel strained at any one point. As mentioned in the past, I have trouble pacing myself in races so I wanted to make sure that I didn't wear myself out. I had mile times of 7:31, 7:16, 7:29, and 7:07. Although these are quick for me, they felt controlled and I kept on telling myself to stay calm. I felt better during these miles than I did when I was running 9:45 pace at the end of the Nike Half. Even though this was only a four miler, it was a good confidence booster for me knowing that I can come back and run a quick time even after having a lot of trouble for a month or two before.

I have been getting back on the spinning horse, going back to regular classes over the last 3 or 4 weeks. I don't think that it is a coincidence that my body and mind have been feeling better lately at the same time that I have been going back to spinning classes. Also, I now have a new "before race" breakfast that has been working - peanut butter on a bagel and Gatorade. After I didn't eat enough before the Nike Half, I swore I would make myself eat a good breakfast before a race. Finally, I am switching from Chocolate Power Gels to Vanilla Power Gels. The chocolate just seems to be getting too thick and its hard to get it down during a race. The vanilla is a much thinner consistency and a lot easier to suck down on a race.

Take care.