Register for NYC half marathon

If you are thinking about running a good half marathon next year, NYC half marathon in March is the race for you

They moved it from August (hot, humid) to March (verdant, pleasant)!

Run with no injuries

So there will be no more 70-mile weeks! And stretching before and after each run. And definitely one or two days off every week!

Boston marathon plans

Need to make a training plan for Boston 2010. Any suggestions?

Long miles

Last week, I ran more then 70 miles. I had never run this much in one week, and being in this mileage territory is exciting and scary.

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the medal

Here is the medal from NYC half.

Thanks for Mike for the photo.

NYC Half Marathon_details

I made a (Freudian) slip and posted my Half Marathon time as 1:23 whereas my real time was 1:25. That pretty much summarizes my race experience. I was hoping I would finish close to 1:23, which is the qualifying time for NYC marathon, but in my mind, I knew the hills of the Central Park and my fitness would not make a good combination to achieve this goal. I decided to go for it anyway.

Things were going well until mile 9 of the 13.1-mile race. I was on track with my race pace of about 6:20, and I even had a few seconds in the "bank" to allow for a few seconds pace near the end. On mile 9, the water station was too close to the mile marker, so I missed it and didnt' realize that my pace slowed down by 10 seconds. So I ran on the same slowed pace for the 10th mile. When I looked at the sum of two miles, I realized that I have lost 20 seconds. That meant all the seconds in the "bank" were spent and I now owed the clock about 10 seconds. This was not something that I was ready do deal with.

From that point on, I almost gave up on my race time. I realized that I am not going to be able to run a sub-1:23 half, so I decided to settle in an easy pace and don't kill myself. The result was a much slower last two miles of the race.

I guess given where I am with my training, the temperature and humidity, and the hills, I should be happy about the race. I am not unhappy, but I want to run another sub-1:23 this year.

We shall see.

NYC Half Marathon

Finish time: 1:23:53 (correction: 1:25:53)!

Overall place: 165

Details to follow.

Night before NYC Half Marathon

Day and week mileage:
Monday: 15 miles
Tuesday: 8.5 miles

Wednesday: 10 miles

Thursday: 6 miles

Friday: 3 miles

Week so far: 41.5

On Wednesday, I ran with the Y run club for 6 miles of conversational pace. Added to that was 2 miles of warm-up run from home to park, and 2 miles of ran with Mike after the run.

On thursday, I ran on East Side track for the first time doing 1K repeats. It is a very nice track to run on.

Friday was an easy day. I didn't want to run long or hard and wanted to taper for NYC half marathon.

Today I didn't run at all. Tried to stay hydrated and had a good pasta dinner. The temperature is going to be in the high-70s early morning, but the problem is the humidity. I am hoping to replicate my time from Shamrock Half Marathon. That would be a sub 1:23 (pace of 6:20), the qualifying time for New York Marathon. The difference between Shamrock course and NYC half is the big hills of Central Park, and the brutal weather.

Mike has told me there is a group of runners from Nike who are shooting for the same time. If I feel good in the morning, I am going to give 1:23 a decent shot and see what happens.

There is something especial about NYC Half Marathon for me. I have run in every year of this race since its inception in 2007. That year, I ran a 1:45, and next year in 2008 I ran a 1:40. That was the year that Denie out ran me in Times Square.

Let's hope for a good race for all of the Y RRC team.

Third Ave Bridge getting in Manhattan from the Bronx

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BxM run

Day and week mileage:
Monday: 15 miles
Tuesday: 8.5 miles
Week so far: 23.5

Today I ran my own version of BxM run from Pelham Parkway. Most of the run was along Westchester Road. I took the Third Ave Bridge to get into Manhattan (photo below, and above). The run took about 1:03 hour of run time, but I had to stop many times to get water or to find my bearings. It was very hot at 5 pm, and the sun was in my face. Running from work to home, though, is now a new route along with the usual Central Park.

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My version of BxM run

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BxM Run

Call me crazy, but I am going to run to work one of these days. Maybe tomorrow morning, if I can get up early enough to get ready and have enough margin to get lost in the Bronx. I need to put in my weekly long run every week.

The reason for this madness is I saw an article on an 18-mile run over many bridges in the Bronx and Manhattan. Seems you don't have to be crazy to attempt running between these two boroughs.

5-mile team championships

Today, I broke the 6-minute pace in the 5-mile race. Thank to Mike and Bruno for running ahead of me and keeping me motivated to not stop.

Both the men and women teams of WSY did great today. WSY is formidable!

Here are my splits:

5:43, 5:51, 6:05, 6:22 (damn you Cat Hill!), 5:54

total time: 29:55

Avg pace: 5:59

Funny how my pace varies so erratically! I have to learn to run more consistently.

Next week is NYC half marathon. Get ready to run fast.

Weekend runs

Last weekend, I ran the Long Training Run, 20 miles, at a pace of 7:30. It left me tired but confident that with good training I can run a good marathon in November.

Tomorrow is the team championships race. We are fielding two full teams (men and women) and hope to improve our standing. We have terrifying black and white race singlets.

Late night and early morning run

Wednesday: 4 miles, early morning, East river riverfront

Thursday: 6 miles, late night, easy run, central park loop

Total week so far: 31 miles
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Long or medium run?

Monday: 11 miles (2 miles to the Y, 1 mile warm-up, 4 miles speed workout, 4 miles easy run with Bruno and Mike)

Tuesday: 10 miles (two loops w no Harlem hill, pace 7 30)

I have to run higher miles every time I go to the park because I can't run everyday. This is the only way to reach 50-60 weekly mileage.
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Twin donut Plus

Express 4 train arrives

Twinm Donut Plus
World's best coffee
Often imitated, never duplicated

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A picture is worth 1000 words, or more.

I have been using pictures to fill my blog instead of writing regularly. It is impressive how consistently Mike has been blogging since he started his training blog. Is there any way I can learn to blog like him? No! But I can take photos and he probably can't! So I am going to rely on the photos to fill in the empty spaces.

The move to UES is done. I am getting back to my running routine. And the pull-up challenge is getting close. More on that later. Perry told me about the "kick" and how that may not be cheating, and how it can double your pull-up count. I am learning the "kick", believe it or not!!

Manhattan rainbow

Rainbow over Empire State building.

Random guy: "Crazy shot, Ha?! Right over the building!!"

Glasses and skyline

What to eat before a run?

Snack before run

Dripping cinnamon doughnut

Aggressive goose

Aggressively protective geese at Riverside Park South

The one in the foreground was ready to attack.

West Side Highway Out and Back run

This Monday we ran the West Side Highway run. We warm up by running from the Y to under the highway at 59th street and West Side Highway. We always pass the hospital where I work and usually run into a few friends or coworkers who are surprised to see me running with a big group. 

This time, we did a 30-minute out and 30-minute back run. The idea is to go easy on the out part, and then accelerate coming back. The total time ends up being less than an hour if you run a negative split. I was a little worried about this run since the first time I noted the hip problem was during a fast out-and-back run on this course about two months ago.

Things went OK. I ended up running with Bruno the whole time. We went faster than what I had in mind on the out part, going all the way to WTC site. That is about 4.4 miles in 30 minutes. That is about a 6:40 pace. Coming back took us 28:14 making it a good pace of 6:14. I had to try all sorts of different breathing methods to cope with this pace. There were many moments when I was ready to slow down and let Bruno go, but ended up staying with him. 

Mike was running ahead of us. He was going at a steady fast pace on the way back, and even though we pushed hard, we were not able to pass him on the way back. Later he said that he jumped a few red lights so we wouldn't get close to him. Mike, be careful! 

Today, I may not be able to go with the group, but I will run by myself a bit earlier. 

Mike on his new blog has listed his daily and weekly mileage. That is a great idea. Getting close to the marathon training season, I have to come up with a plan to keep track of my running. 

And thanks to all of you for your comments on the mini-10K video. 

The WSY RRC Women's Team runs in Central Park, Mini-10K race

Mike, the marathoner-blogger

Mike has started blogging. We were having brunch after NYRR Women's Mini-10K, and Denie and Mike were making fun of how infrequently I write here. Then Mike announced that he is serious about starting a blog on marathon training. And a day later, his blog debuted on blogspot. He has promised/threatened to share a lot of stories from our training runs. His blog can be found here:  michael-traininglog.blogspot.com

It turns out neither me nor him are the veteran bloggers in the running group. Erika has a blog that goes way back. 

Now the question is: who is going to blog more consistently?

DNF

I had my first DNF in thes year's Jersey Shore Marathon. Not a fun experience by any stretch of imagination but a good lesson in how NOT to run.

I had too little miles under my belt for the last 4 weeks before the race. The right hip pain that started on bother me on a West Side Run had become severe enough to prevent any run longer than 3 miles. I had done only one six-mile run and one four-mile run in the last two weeks before the race. Foolishly, I called this type of non-training a good taper and plunged into the race.

I ran too fast too early. Following a fast girl who ended up winning the women's marathon, I passed the half-marathon mark at 1:28. At that point, I was feeling OK with enough energy in me to be hopeful for a good finish.

Things started falling apart at mile 19 when I had to slow down. From there till mile 21 I had the most precipitous fade imaginable. I ended up facing legs that were not willing to move at all on mile 21. I had to stop running. Even walking became impossible. I had to get transport to the finish line!

Next race is Brooklyn Half Marathon on May 30th!

Boston 2010, New York 2009

After much thought during a few long runs, I have come up with a new plan! The Boston 2009 debacle will be buried, and a new plan will take its place. I will run with all other Y RRC members in Boston 2010. 

I will also have two shots this year at time-qualifying for New York. If I run a half-marathon in less than 1:23, I am in. In 10 days, I am running the Shamrock Virginial Beach half-marathon. The second chance is the Brooklyn half marathon (End of May). Bruno and I plan to run it together. 

Back to running! 

Extending the training

Quote of the day

"The good thing is that we are going to run as a team"

Myself, upon learning that Boston Marathon registration for 2009 closed in record time in January, just before me and Bruno had a chance to register

Major disaster? Or opportunity to train harder and longer? 

Your guess is as good as mine. 

Long rest

Quote of the day:
The time has come to set aside childish things.
President Obama, January 20 2009


I went to Washington last Sunday and stayed there till Wednesday. I was with a group of colleagues and participated in the inauguration ceremony of the new president, Barach Hussein Obama. This caused a long break in my running schedule. I only ran on Sunday. This was in Bethesda and my course took me to NIH campus, the National Library of Medicine (NLM), and the Navy Medical Center. I also ran on Old Georgetown Road.

After coming back, I was so tired that I didn't run on Wednesday. Then having to work night shifts compounded the exhaustion and I took another day off on Thursday. Today was the first day I got back to running again.

I went for one loop and did a tempo run with a pace of 6' 34" over one loop of Central Park. It is good to be back to running.

Week 15 recap, second week of training

Quote of the day: 

Most people run a race to see who is fastest.  I run a race to see who has the most guts.  

Steve Prefontaine, Date unknown.

Last week I ran 50 miles. The recommended range for week was 45-65 so I don't think I am under- or over-training at this point. My average pace was 7'34"/mile. 

This week we started with the hardest speed workout, the gruelling 4+4 workout. As in the past, Bruno and Mike pushed ahead and I had to struggle to keep up with them. This Monday was one of those few days that I didn't fall behind too much. 

Resolutions 2009

Quote of the day: 

"It is the effort that matters, not the distance"

Bruno Garcia, January 7, 2009

After we realized our 800m interval is about 1000m long on a speed ladder workout

Stacy started a 2009 New Year Resolutions thread on our group's Facebook page. So far, 7 people have posted their resolutions. The recurring theme, of course, is running faster, but what surprised me was the desire to drink more water and to go to bed early, themes that were repeated on many lists. 

And I guess we should all keep Mike's first resolution in mind:

- Make resolutions that are at least in the realm of possibility.

Beginning the second week

Monday was the first day of the second week of training. Since I didn't do any long run last week, I decided to go for a six-mile run before the group run. So I ended up running two loops. I tried to run the first one as a tempo run with a pace close to the marathon pace. The picture above is from the Nike+ Sportsband. The drop in the middle is probably from when I stopped and restarted at a slower pace. 

The group run was also a fast one. We ran as a group with Bruno, Mike, Denie, and Miles, and as before trying to keep up with fast runners helps me a lot. The average pace over the 12 miles is faster than 7 min/mile. 

First week of training

On Dec 31st, I went for a 4.5 mile run along the west-side highway in cold weather at around 7 PM. Then came the New Year's Eve parties, the trip to Buffalo, the sledding and snowboarding, and the only run I did was a 5.7 mile in Buffalo on icy roads. 

Today, our running group will go for the first run of 2009. Mike is back from California, and Denie promised he will be there! Rob has his first marathon this weekend (The Disney World Marathon). Good luck Rob!