Manhattan Half Marathon - 1/27/08

This morning was the Manhattan Half Marathon in Central Park. Although the forecast called for 30 degrees at the start of the race, it wasn't really too cold and was relatively pleasant to run in. This is my first time running the Manhattan Half since 2003. It was usually run in the summertime when it almost always unbearably hot and then it was switched to the wintertime in early January which is usually too early for me to run a half. Also, the thought of doing a race consisting of two loops of the park is getting less appealing. This was my first half marathon since the Queens Half in September 2007.

However, I have been doing longer runs the past couple months and I felt I was ready to do a half marathon this early in the year. Usually I'm not ready to run one until at least early to late Spring, since I usually use the winter to rest up and not log in any longer runs. This year was different though. I wanted to see where I was at after two months of weekly longer runs and how my body would react to a half marathon. I was looking to have a solid race and run between 1:45 and 1:50. By all accounts, the race for me was a success. I ended up running an overall time of 1:46:04, at an 8:05 mile pace.

Luckily I was able to run with JM and we were able to pace each other throughout the race. It is always easier to run with someone else to carry the load with. I am starting to get better at pacing these longer races and it gives me a feeling of control over my speed. The goal for me now is to run as even a pace as possible with very few drastic changes in speed from mile to mile, giving me a sense of focus and calm throughout the race. This was definitely accomplished today. While our mile times went up and down a bit for the first few miles (navigating through the crowd in the first mile, over compensating for the second mile, and then Harlem Hill on the third mile) we were able to get in a rhythm by mile four and stick to it for nearly the entire race. The rolling hills in the park are never easy, especially the second time around when you are tiring out a bit. The toughest part was knowing that Cat Hill Part 2 was coming up. No matter how good I was feeling towards the end of the race, I knew I couldn't think about the finish until I got past the second Cat Hill. Once that was over, I got to mile 12 and then gave it all I had for the remaining 1.1 miles. Overall, I was able to get a "feel" for the pace once again and was able to tell instinctively if my pace was getting faster or slower. This is good practice for me moving forward. It is nice to see my pacing skills starting to get a little better.

There were a bunch of Flyers out today and it was great to see them on the course, as well as chatting with them afterwards. A sampling of those out today were: JM, BH (trakmaniak), AG (marathon 26), AK, HP, BC taking pictures on the course, ES, TB, and a bunch of others. The mile by mile breakdown was as follows:

Mile 1 - 8:22
Mile 2 - 8:08
Mile 3 - 7:52
Mile 4 - 7:56
Mile 5 - 8:06
Mile 6 - 8:19
Mile 7 - 7:59
Mile 8 - 8:28 (Harlem Hill second time around),
Mile 9 - 8:09
Mile 10 - 8:07
Mile 11 - 8:02
Mile 12 - 8:11
Mile 12-13.1 - 8:21 (7:35 mile pace for last 1.1 miles)

For the past week: Mon - off, Tues - spinning, Weds - off (I'm taking a jazz class for the next 7 weeks on Weds nights), Thurs - 4.5 miles in the gym, Fri - off, Sat - 5 miles in the gym, Sun - 13.1 miles

Looking forward to the Flyers awards dinner on Saturday night.

Week of 1/14/08

I had another good 10 mile run on Saturday using a similar route as last week (through Central Park to the West Side along 96th, then running down the west side bike trail to 41st street and then back the way I came). I feel as if I have become very comfortable with this distance and I'm able to get in a good rhythm while doing it. No drastic changes in speed, consistent pace, good breathing, and feeling good mentally. A goal of mine was to get to the point where I could "roll out of bed" and be able to run 10 miles relatively easily and I feel that I have gotten there (in large part to my commitment to do a long run each week). The 10 mile threshold was chosen for a couple of reasons: 1) allowing me to be in constant "half marathon shape" - once I was comfortable with that distance I felt as if I would be in a good position to train for/run a half marathon whenever I wanted especially earlier in the year which is much sooner than usual, and 2) by incorporating a weekly 9 or 10 mile run,, it allowed me to keep up at least a 20 mile per week schedule (while only running 3 days per week) which is what most marathon programs recommend as a base. Therefore, if I decide to do a marathon this year, and keep up this schedule throughout the off season, I could jump right into training without having to establish a base first.

Good luck to the Giants tonight!

For the week:
Monday - off
Tuesday - spinning
Wednesday - weights only
Thursday - 5 miles
Friday - off
Saturday - 9.8 miles for an overall time of 1:27:52 total (about an 8:58 pace) - felt good
Sunday - 5.3 miles in the gym - felt really good

Will Run For Food - Long Run Ending Week of 1/7/08

It's funny what motivates runners to get out the door. Today, mine was the thought of food at the end of the run (as well as a west side run). This was a good end to the running week. I was able to get in a great run that accomplished several things: a long run (10.8 miles), a destination run (Chelsea Market), a run outside of Central Park (part 5 mile loop and part West Side bike trail), and a calm and controlled run at a tempo pace (8:30 pace for 10.8 mile run - total time of 1:32:07).

I wanted to get in a long run this weekend and I was planning on how to accomplish that. There was the Fred Lebow Classic 5M on Saturday morning, but I didn't want to run on both Saturday and Sunday, which would give me only one day off for the week. Do I skip the race and just run on my own? Do I run the race and just tack on a couple miles before or after? Luckily some friends of mine were planning on meeting up at Chelsea Market later in the morning after their runs for breakfast and hanging out (thanks JM). Well, I thought, that is my reason and motivation to run downtown and try a different route. Food and friends are a wonderful motivator. So I decided to run the 5M this morning, which would allow me to run with alot of people and at a quicker pace than I would for part of a long run, and then run on my own to Chelsea Market. I used the USTAF website to map out an additional 5 miles or so. The race ended on 99th and East Drive and then I just continued to the transverse on 102nd, ran down the West Drive leaving the park on 96th street, running all the way to the West Side Bike trail, and then continuing downward until 14th street and 9th Ave (according to the website, this was about 5.8 miles).

I was able to run a controlled pace for the entire race and I felt great. It seemed to go very quickly and I was very satisfied with it knowing that I had another 5 miles to go. I ran the race in 41:13 for an 8:14 pace. Once the race ended, I was ready to continue on. I was excited to get over to the West Side. The bike trail is a route that I don't do that often, but I really like doing it. It has great views of the river and gives me a bunch of different things to look at that I don't get on my usual Central Park runs. Other than some expected leg tightness and soreness towards the end of the run, I felt good. No struggling and no looking at my watch - just enjoying the route and the views. This just shows me that getting out of the park helps a lot. Note to self: do this more often. Unofficially, the 5.8 mile portion of the run was at about 8:43 pace.

Keeping with the "out of park" theme, I'm starting to investigate out of town half marathons for the first half of 2008 to run.

For the week: Monday - 6 miles with downtown group, Tuesday - spinning, Wednesday - abs, Thursday - 6 miles, Friday - off, Saturday - 10.8 miles

Yoga for Runners

For all of us yoga beginners, below is a link from Runner's World.com with tips and terms about Yoga

http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/special/0,7889,s6-238-409-0-0,00.html

Study Suggests That Amputee Holds an Unfair Advantage

Article in today's New York Time regarding the South African track athlete trying to qualify for the Olympics despite his prothetics...the IAAF is trying to decide whether his prothetics give him an unfair advantage over able bodied athletes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/sports/othersports/10track.html?ref=sports

Part of the article is below:

Study Suggests That Amputee Holds an Unfair Advantage

By JOSHUA ROBINSON
Published: January 10, 2008
The Olympic aspirations of Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee sprinter from South Africa, may end soon. Track and field’s world governing body is expected to announce that he is ineligible to race against able-bodied athletes because his state-of-the-art prosthetics give him an unfair advantage.

Pistorius was born without the fibula in his lower legs and with other defects in his feet. He had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old but has gone on to set Paralympic world records in the 100, 200, and 400 meters. He has defeated some able-bodied runners in his pursuit of attaining an Olympic qualifying time, touching off international debate over what constitutes disabled and able-bodied and how limits should be placed on technology to balance fair play with the right to compete.

First Week of 2008

Well, I seemed to have a positive start to the new year. Hopefully a sign of good things to come in 2008. I was able to celebrate the New Year with a bunch of great friends, go for a run on New Year's day, fit in an abs class, weather the cold at the Thursday group run (although if layered properly, the sub 20 degree temperatures weren't bad at all), squeeze in a spinning class during lunch, and gather up enough motivation to run 10 miles on my own. All of this exercise allowed me to watch the Giants win their first playoff game since 2000 on Sunday. The damage for the week:

Monday - off (New Year's Eve)
Tuesday - 6 miles with BH, JM, and MC
Wednesday - abs class but no weights
Thursday - 5.5 miles during the Group Run and my run home
Friday - spinning class
Saturday - 10 miles on my own running two lower 5 mile loops of the park (loop 1 - 42:45, 2 minute break, loop 2 - 42:47) - including the 2 minute break my pace was about 8:45, if the break is not included then my pacing for the two running loops was about 8:33
Sunday - off watching the Giants wild card game

Good start - let's keep it going

Running Travel

Below is a cool tool from Runners World.com (sponsored by JetBlue) that helps you plan travel and running routes to various destinations. It also includes a marathon calendar for 2008 that I printed out. Can you tell that I'm itching to travel to a cool race or two in 2008?

http://www.welcomerunners.com/

Goodbye to 2007 - Post Year Analysis and Thinking About 2008

Mon: off, Tues: 6 miles, Weds: abs/weights, Thurs: 6 miles, Fri: spinning, Sat: off, Sun: 9 miles

The week got off to a good start. I was able to take a day off on Monday and just take it easy. The weather was accommodating on Tuesday and I decided to go for a 6 mile run. Trakmaniak and I made up to run together for a 6 mile loop. It would be nice to chat it up with a friend while logging in some miles. While I was stretching, I see BH jogging up to me with fellow Flyer, and fellow speedster, NC. I was a little worried since both of them can pretty much kick my ass and I knew that I would have trouble keeping up with them for the whole run. To my surprise, I was able to push myself and stay with them for the entire 6 mile loop (granted they probably slowed down a bit from their usual pace) and log in an 8:06 pace, which is much faster than my usual loop pace of 8:45-9:00.

This run got me thinking. It showed me that I can usually "morph" into the runners that I am with. If I am with slower runners than myself, I run slower, but in a race or in the company of faster runners, I run the pace of the pack around me. If I am going to get better in the new year, I need to go out of my comfort zone a bit and run with people faster than me some of the time. The saying goes "if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." Also, "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If I'm always running at the same pace all the time with the same game plan, how do I expect to get faster? Maybe that means finally doing some speedwork or preparing myself to run harder on one or two of my weekly runs at a "race" pace rather than a "conversational" pace. Or finally starting to make a game plan that incorporates tempo runs or race pace runs that teaches my body work differently at various paces.

Another big thing I learned this year is that a debacle of a race or a tough running stretch can be helpful in the long run (no pun intended). Usually when our running is going well, we tend to overlook our weaknesses or things that we should be doing more often (better pacing, stretching, strength training, etc.) and forget to analyze what could be contributing to our good fortune. Sometimes we need a bad race to shake us up a bit and cause us to re-think our habits and what we could be doing to make ourselves better. In 2007, my awakening came in the weeks leading up to and including the Nike Half Marathon. Before the race, I was feeling sluggish, inflexible, uncomfortable and my running was suffering. During the NYC Half Marathon, my pacing was all over the place, I was feeling weaker due to not eating much beforehand, and I had to walk on and off for the last few miles. It was quite possibly the worst I have felt in a race over the past 7 years (or close to it - I was praying for it to be over). While I was not happy at all with my race or how I felt during it, it forced me to think to myself and say out loud "what went wrong here?" and "how do I change my habits so this doesn't happen again?". It forced me to add some strength training in some of my weaker areas (glutes and hips especially), have a more sensible and practical pre-race meal, consider what the best pacing methods for me are during a race, adding a weekly long run, etc. It was a wake-up call that I desperately needed and one that most runners need every once in a while so they don't get complacent.

While I won't be writing down specific time goals yet for next year, I do think that it is important to have a plan in mind to give you some focus and direction. Otherwise, it is easy to wander off course. I plan to add to this in the future, but here is a first try: 1) Keep up the long runs every week. They ease the pressure to run a certain number of days per week while keeping up my maintenance mileage. Also they keep me in constant shape to run a longer race or half marathons (if I want to run one). Finally, I am starting to enjoy them. 2) Run at least 2 half marathons outside of Central Park/Manhattan. They give me something to plan for and they also make for more interesting races. I don't know how many more long races I can take in Central Park anymore. Any fun ideas from anyone? 3) Make pacing a priority when training for longer races (10 miles or longer) and learn from someone who knows about how to pace properly and how to start to incorporate tempo and other paced runs into my regimen (talking to a Flyer coach or attending a speedwork class or contacting a Runner's World editor). 4) Run at least one relay race (they are fun). 5) Do at least one spinning or ab/weights class per week (adjust accordingly if training for a long race)

Finally, I looked at the end of the year plans for 2007 that I wrote in October to see how I was doing. I think I did pretty well for the most part. So far the only things that I didn't do from the list was try a speedwork class and check out a GPS watch.

Week of 12/17/07 - Out With the Old, In With the New (sneakers)

With the holidays still here and some traveling back and forth from home, I was afraid that I would have to skimp on the running this week. Luckily, we were able to get out of work early on Friday and I was able to squeeze in a 10 miler that day. The weekly long run has now become a comfortable part of my routine and I'm looking to keep it up for as long as I can. Because of it, I feel confident to run a half marathon earlier in the year than I usually would. The only thing I missed out on this week was my abs/weights day - oh well.

Monday - off
Tuesday - spinning at 41st and Third near work
Wednesday - 4 miles in the park (I had to get this done quick since I was meeting my brother and cousin for dinner)
Thursday - off
Friday - 10 miles on my own (6 mile loop and 4 mile loop) - Since I was going home for the holidays over the weekend, I was afraid if I didn't get in the long run today then it would be lost
Saturday - Off (at home in Rockland with my family eating)
Sunday - 5 miles on the treadmill - first day of my new sneakers (staying with the Silver/Blue New Balance 767) - they felt good and for the first time in a few runs my shins didn't hurt (not shin splits but more pressure on the muscles on the outside of my shins - especially the right one)

Pretty basic week.

Running and Eating - Week of 12/10/07

With the festive season upon us, I had several holiday parties and lunches this past week and therefore a big incentive to squeeze in workouts to counteract all of the eating. There was a couple of tree trimming parties which are always fun for me (since I don't have a tree of my own) and a fan favorite NYRR race to end the week (the Holiday 4 miler). Also we are in the midst of election season (Flyers, not presential) and I was able to hear all of the great candidates kick off their campaigning at our meet the candidates brunch. Here is the exercise for week:

Monday - off
Tuesday - Spinning
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - 6 miles with the "group run" (me and fellow blogger JL of Antisociology fame) in the cold and snow
Friday - Abs and weights
Saturday - 4 mile pre run and Holiday 4 miler for a total of 8 (long run for the week)
Sunday - 6 miles in the gym on the treadmill (ugh!!!) - running on the treadmill is usually a last resort for me. I hate it and try to avoid it at all costs.

In an effort to get in a longer run this week, I decided to run 4 miles before the Holiday 4 miler in addition to the race itself. It was a crisp, cold day on Saturday and a great day for running (with the appropriate layering). Fellow Flyer JT and I took it easy for the entire 8 miles and were able to have some fun. It was nice to take a race at an easy pace for a change. This was my last NYRR race of 2007, which makes 14 races for the year. It's time to soon reflect on the year and look forward to a great 2008.