Marion Jones Disgraced

"You wanted to believe her. She made you believe. She was good like that. Marion Jones, TIME cover girl, winner of five medals — three gold — at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and now an admitted steroid user, sat in a sweltering press tent at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials in Sacramento, and put on an Oscar-worthy show. " - TIME Magazine

The headlines started to surface and confirmed what many thought for years - The New York Times: "Olympic Champion Acknowledges Use of Steroids" and ESPN.com: "Jones used steroids for two years before 2000 Games." These past images of the one time darling of track & field are no longer.



Although I'm extremely disappointed, I'm not surprised that Marion Jones finally admitted to steroids use as far back as 1999 before her historic run at the Sydney Games (technically she is pleading guilty to lying to federal agents when asked about her drug use, but she sent out letters to friends and family apologizing for her steroid use and for disappointing everyone).

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/trackandfield/news/story?id=3049333
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/sports/othersports/05araton.html?ref=sports
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/sports/othersports/05balco.html?ref=sports

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21156308/

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1668849,00.html?imw=Y

I was a huge fan of hers for many years and I didn't want to believe that she was involved in steroids. She was a great role model and face of the sport. Her smile and happy go lucky attitude intoxicated everyone. However, when allegation after allegation was levied against her and every man in her life had been involved with and convicted of using steroids (CJ Hunter, Tim Montgomery, Victor Conte) it's hard to imagine that she wasn't involved in taking performance enhancing drugs as well. Every time she was asked in the past about steroids, she vehemently denied it and made fools of everyone around her. She even filed a libel suit against Victor Conte that was settled out of court. I guess you can't lie forever - it will catch up to you eventually (see Pete Rose). It is just sad that another great athlete has proven to be a fraud and has ruined it for many others. Unfortunately we live in a world now that when someone accomplishes a great feat or breaks a record, we can't fully embrace it. There is now always a small part of us asking ourselves "is this person clean?"

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.

Pain in the butt...well, it's starting to get better

About the time leading up to the Arches Run at the end of July, only a week before the Nike Half, I noticed that my glutes were really bothering me. They've never really been a problem before, but I definitely noticed discomfort in them for a couple of weeks before the Arches Run and it really did affect my running. They were very tight and almost impossible to stretch out. I guess you never realize the effect certain muscle groups have on your running until they start to hurt. I didn't know what to do to alleviate the discomfort. I stepped up my foam roller regimen and increased my "tennis ball against the wall exercises" (which are great ways, but very intense, to put pinpoint pressure on those hard to reach and stretch muscles) . Although I was doing these things every day, the discomfort didn't seem to dissipate.

So I decided, maybe I should go and get a sports massage. Maybe that will break up a bunch of the tight tissue and will allow me to start for a base in which my muscles were a lot looser and much easier to stretch. So I took my own advice and had a sports massage at Eastside Massage Therapy on 7/27/07. I made sure to tell the therapist that I didn't need any work done on my upper body, but to use most of of the hour to concentrate on my glutes, hips and legs. Although it was a bit taxing, the massage loosened up my muscles a great deal and allowed me to stretch a lot deeper than I was able to a couple weeks before.

After the massage, I make sure to stretch out my glutes both before and after running. I don't want them to revert to what they were a month or two ago. Even though my glutes were much looser, there was still discomfort when I ran. I realized that the feeling in my glutes was very much like the feeling I had in my legs a few years ago (a dull constan pain/discomfort - I felt the need to flex the muscles in order to make them feel better). My quads were diagnosed as being weak so I figured that there was a chance that my glutes were weak and that they needed some strengthening. While I do some light strength training on my quads and hamstrings every week, I never do anything strictly for my glutes and I guess this is someone's way of telling me to do some glute specific strength excercises. So I went online to find out a couple exercises to strengthen my problem area. I have now incorporated some simple exercises that I can do as part of my regular routine (I found the hip extensions and the bridge exercises pretty helpful). In addition, I found out that one good side effect of strengthening your glutes is that it also opens up your hip flexors considerably. Since I've been regularly doing exercises to strengthen my glutes, I've found that my hip flexors are tremendously looser and more flexible than I can ever remember (at least in the last 3 or 4 years) and I am able to lunge so that my knee almost touches the floor. Whether it the foam roller, tennis ball routine, the massage or the strenghthening exercises, things seem to be moving in a positive direction. Now I just have to keep them all up.

Below are some sites for exercise ideas...

http://exercise.about.com/od/butthipsthighs/tp/butt.htm
http://www.shapefit.com/butt-exercises-glute-kickbacks.html
http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/lower-back-injuries.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/stars/springtrack2000/training/10strengthtraining.html
http://www.coretherapy.com/health_news/articles_feature_exercise_the_bridge.html
http://www.trainwithmeonline.com/exercise_161_Single_Leg_Glute_Bridge_on_Bench.html
http://www.workoutz.com/exercise/supine_hip_raise_stability_ball
http://www.bodyresults.com/E2gluteusMedius.asp
http://bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?MainMuscle=Glutes

Dazed and Confused

After the tough race that I had at the Nike Half Marathon - I woke up with a pretty bad headache the next day. I thought it was just some after effects of the race so I thought nothing of it. However, the headache (kind of a "hangover" feel with pressure and slight dizziness) continued and it became hard to concentrate. My eyes also started feeling the pressure. In addition to my head bothering me, I found that I have been feeling pressure on top of and around my eyes. This was starting to make me a little nervous. What was causing this - was my vision getting slightly worse, too much time in the sun with no eye protection, eye strain, continued stress about what is causing this. Rest doesn't seem to help - sometimes it's worse when I wake up from a nap or rest. It seems to be bad in the morning when I wake and lasts throughout the day.

One of the reasons this was bumming me out was how it is affecting my running. I've been feeling "off" since before the half and continuing to today - almost two weeks since the half. I find myself much less motivated to run these days and it is a little disappointing. I kind of expected this to happen the year after I run the marathon - a letdown was inevitable. The same thing happened in 2003 after I ran the 2002 NYC marathon. It confirms the fact that I probably can't do a marathon 2 years in a row. It takes me a while to get my head clear and to get mentally and physically prepared to run a marathon. I ran the Nike half this year but it just hasn't felt the same. I'm not doing as many races this year as last year. I know you can't stay motivated to run at a high level all the time but I just want to get my "spark" back a little bit. I know it takes time. Evenutually you click in a race and you start to feel back to normal and excited to run again. That can take weeks or months or a year. After my first marathon, it took a couple years to get fully back to enjoying running and racing again. I feel like I am just going through the motions this year. Other than the half a couple of weeks ago, I haven't run a race since June - the Father's Day 5 miler. I usually like to do some of the smaller races just to give me some confidence that my speed is still there and to keep my motivation up. Unfortunately, I just haven't felt the need to do as many of them this year. Maybe I need a little break from running - some time off to get me recharged. I'm excited for all of my friends that are training for marathons. It's tough not to be training along side them since I enjoy it but I am so glad that I decided not to do one this year. I'm not ready to go through the mental and physical rigors that training for a marathon entails. I will do another one some day, I'm just not sure when yet. I'd love to do an international marathon - a great way to see and explore a city that I haven't been to before. I will definitely be volunteering for the NYC marathon this year at the Flyer Power Gel Station. It is a great way to stay involved in the marathon and be a part of the excitement and electricity the day brings. I told myself that I will run the Queens Half although it is a little bit of a struggle getting myself to train for it. I wanted to try and erase the tough memory of the Nike half going into next year. Maybe I'll try to run with someone for the first half of the race so I don't go out too fast and burn myself out.

Later.

Nike Half Marathon - 8/5/07

This one was definitely a struggle for me - probably the worst I have felt in a race in a very long time. Although I am not training for a marathon this year, I was putting in the long runs and was hoping for a good race. Training was going well up until a couple of weeks ago when my glutes starting to bother me and I was just feeling "off" - not sure it was due to the weather or what but I was getting a little nervous going into the half. The race started right at 7:00 and we were off. I was feeling pretty good at the start of the race, but I realized only a few miles in that I was going way too fast. Pacing is something that I definitely need to work on. I've gone out too fast in the beginning and then struggled during three of my last four long races - the Runner's World Half in April 2006, the NYC Marathon in Nov 2006 and the Nike Half this weekend. I can usually tell after a few miles if I am going to have a good race or not and I knew early that it was probably not going to end well for me. I was trying to slow down in the Park but unfortunately I kept up my quick pace. I was hoping that I would settle down after I left the Park and went onto 7th Ave but it was at the point that I was starting to struggle a bit. By the 7th or 8th mile I was hitting every fluid station which is not a good sign. As we made the left turn on the West Side Trail, I just kept on telling myself to hang on for the rest of the race . For the first time, I found myself walking on a few occasions as the fluid stops came up and for 20 or 30 seconds afterward. Somehow I told myself that I had to finish - this is where your mental strength starts to get tested. It's incredible what you can convince your body to do even when it is feeling strained. I was glad that I was able to realize early on that it was going to be a hard day and was able to convince myself to scale back and try again another day. The finish line was a glorious sight. My race was finally over. Considering how I felt during the race, I was quite happy with my time of 1:52:03. My fast first half gave a me a good cushion for my struggles in the second half. It was great to see all of the Flyer volunteers handing out the medals at the finish line. Once I got my goody bag, water and Gatorade I was able to relax and swap stories with JW, AH, JM and NMc. Hats off to the all of the Flyers who had a great race. I'm going to take it easy for a few days and let my body rest up and hopefully the memory of the second half of this race will start to fade away.

New York Flyers Black - Need for Speed Relay

After talking with many runners over the past couple of years, everyone has said how much fun they had participating in a relay event - Hood to Coast, Reach the Beach, etc. Therefore, once I saw on the Flyer Forum that there were spots available on the Need for Speed Relay this year, I jumped at the chance to join. The experience did not disappoint. There was comraderie among all three Flyer teams and all of us were cheerly loudly for all of our teamates no matter what team they were on. Our "Flyer Black" team was awesome and we all had a great time. Everyone on our team was pretty laid back but yet everyone gave it their all and ran a good race. We knew that we had a repectable team but we were all pleasantly suprised to see that we came in 12th place overall (out of over 130 teams) and 6th overall in the co-ed divison - wow! I ran leg 3 which was about 6.5 miles and run primarily on grass and trails. I was a little nervous at first but it was a welcome change from doing all of the paved road loops in Central Park year after year. There were a bunch of rolling hills and some dangerous downhills in which you had to watch your footing and make sure not to fall over. There was even a part of the leg called the "wall". I was trying to picture what it would be like but it was useless to worry about it. I realized it was coming up when I saw a few people in front of me walking up a very steep dirt incline. The "wall" earned its nickname - it was a dirt hill that went almost straight up. I found myself laboring a bit at certain points but knowing that I had a team depending on me motivated me to keep on moving forward. I guess the hardest part of the run was not knowing the course ahead of you and having no idea about how many miles you have left to go in the leg. It's hard to pace when you are bascially by yourself and you have to try and estimate how much further you have to go and what pace you can susatain. Overall, I had a great experience and I would definitely do it again next year. Go Flyer Black!!!