A Marathoner

Observations: A week of highs and lows.  The highs – NYC Marathon Week … such excitement, energy and motivation.  The lows – rain, rain and more rain, which forced me on the asphalt for nearly every run.  Total mileage was in my 5-day target range, but the pace slowed to 9:14 vs. 8:46 last week.  I skipped intervals this week, which drops the average pace significantly, but at the expense of higher mileage.  In the end, tired but stronger legs.  Another solid week in the bank.

Blue Line at Mile 24

Simple.  Distinctive.  The blue line is the path to the promised land … the finish line of a marathon.  I had been waiting all week for the blue lines to appear for the final 2+ miles down the East Drive of Central Park leading to the finish on the West Drive.  Due to all of the rain this week, workers held off until either late last night or early this morning.  Since there was a slight rain overnight, it looks like the staff may need to reapply the lines along parts of the course.  No matter.  I snapped this pic at Mile 24 where I usually start my run on the Outer Loop.  I wanted a pic of the mile marker, but it was already twisted in the trees.

Despite the sub par weather … 63*, 94% humidity and an annoying wind that hit me in the face no matter which direction I was running …  runners were everywhere this morning.  As I was making my way down the East Drive (following the blue line), I saw an amazing array of runners … some singing, taking photos, complaining about the hills of Central Park … it was cool stuff.  Since today would be my last opportunity to run thru the finish line, I made a point of doing it multiple times.  My timing in the first instance was not optimal.  Runners participating in the 4 mile International Friendship Run had the same idea as me … their race ended at the Marathon finish line.  Therefore, I had to make my way thru about 2,000 runners who had no incentive to get out of my way … ugh.   After navigating a few tight corners and jostling a bit, I managed to regain my stride/pace once I cleared the runners.

The balance of the run was uneven.  I felt fatigued at miles 5-7 … heavy legs, no bounce, no burst, etc.  Harlem Hill likely had something to do with it as I hit it twice during that stretch (reversed my route).  Once the GU started taking effect, I felt better and my pace picked up.  Overall, the run was … uneven.  I never felt great … at times, good, but mainly fatigued.  After giving it some thought, I realized it was my 5^th day of running in a row with all but yesterday on asphalt.  I could have stopped short (Seinfeld reference!), but I was too close to a big monthly PR to let it go.  In the end, 13.2 miles at a 9:08 pace, but felt like 19:08 pace.  I’m looking forward to the next 2 rest days.  Goodbye October.

I woke up this morning fatigued and with stiff legs.  Knowing that Sunday is a forced rest day because of the race and Monday is a scheduled rest day, I had to muscle past the urge to be lazy.  That urge became overwhelming when I couldn’t find driver’s license, etc. before I left the apartment.  I thought I lost it.  Panic briefly washed over me.  The absolute last thing I need is to waste an entire day at the DMV and canceling credit cards.  After racing through the apartment, I double-checked near the washing machine and thank goodness my clip was hidden under my jeans.  Whew!

With disaster averted, I took my time walking to the park to get in the proper frame of mind.  As angry as I was, the last thing I needed was to fly out of the gate and bonk.  The energy in the park was unbelievable.  The international contingents were getting in light runs prior to getting down to business on Sunday.   NYRR estimates 50% of the 40,000 participants are from foreign countries, which makes the race a true melting pot.  Among local runners, there is a theory that if you are from NYC or nearby your chances of being accepted in the Marathon Lottery is considerably less than runners from out of state and international participants.  The NYC Marathon generates approximately $250 million for the city through hotels, restaurants and shopping.  Outside of my entrance fee, I generate $0.00 incrementally.  Therefore, the theory goes, if you are local you won’t get in via Lottery.  This occurrence is 50% of the reason why I am not running this year.  I found out that I wasn’t accepted in June.  Now, I could have ran the race by running for a charity, but I looked at where my training was back then (25 mpw) and knew I wasn’t ready.  A 4 or 5-hour marathon is something I am not doing.  Hence, the 365-day lead time I am giving myself for 2010.  I have guaranteed entry next year because I ran the 9 required NYRR races, but I still get the pleasure of paying another entrance fee.  Yeah, it’s a racket.   Wow.  That was a tangent …

Back to the run … happily, the trails were finally dry.  Yippie!  I found a rhythm within the first 800 meters … breathing was non-existent and everything felt smooth.  I wasn’t floating, but I wasn’t grinding either.  Outside of an emergency restroom break, no complaints at all.  Weather was perfect at 53* and sunny.  I was able to wear a short-sleeved tech shirt, shorts and lightweight gloves.  Overall pace was an easy 8:53 for 8 miles with the Last Mile Party (took that from See Run Jess) a solid 8:16 without pushing it.

Tomorrow will end another personal record for monthly mileage.  I’m still three months away from my half marathon at the end of January so I need to figure out how to modify my training to get ready.  Suggestions are always welcome!

As promised, I rolled through the NYC Marathon Expo at the Javitts Center. My mission: not to spend a dime. I’m all for stimulating the economy (goodness knows I’ve done my fair share via Apple), but this time (1) I don’t need any gear (2) whatever gear I think I need, I can find it cheaper online and (3) my wife would shoot me. Obviously, #3 drove my behavior. Was I successful? Yes. GU was selling gels for $1 each vs. $1.25 at my local running shop. Since I use one every weekend now, buying 5 for $5 made economic sense. I can justify that with my wife.

Even though I was not running the race, I was still excited to peep the scene. I wandered around checking all of the exhibits. I made certain I complained to the New Balance folks about discontinuing and not adequately replacing the NB 826. Since I was being disciplined with spending, I went looking for free stuff. Plenty of junk … key chains, food samples, etc. I was not signing up for free running t-shirts … I have plenty of those. Unless you like multiple booths of running products and races, there was not a lot of visual stimulation.

I know The Kitchen of a Runner recently ran the Chicago Marathon, so maybe he can offer a different perspective of a pre-marathon expo. Suffice it to say, it was like a mall for running gear. Not a slam, but that’s what I found it to be. And I believe that is the point. I guess given that you can find 100% of the same gear on the Internet, I was fairly surprised that people were gobbling this stuff. However, knowing the suffering all of those runners will be doing on Sunday, maybe shopping therapy is a good thing. Also, if such spending generates revenues for NYC, I am a BIG fan!

Probably the coolest thing about the Expo was the excitement runners experienced as they picked up their bib and goody bag. I could feel it. I could also feel a twinge of jealousy. I wish I were in their shoes.

Finally!!  No rain.  Therefore, I was highly motivated to get in a solid run.   It’s been nearly a week since I was able to run on the trails, so I was hoping the puddles dried up overnight.  Nope.  So, I headed for the asphalt, again.  The energy in the park was much higher than it has been lately.  Runners from all over the world … I was more surprised when I heard English being spoken rather than French, Italian, Spanish, etc.  Cool stuff.

The run itself was fairly uneventful except for running by the NYC Marathon finish line early on.  Rather than stop for pics at this point and lose my rhythm, I decided to finish the Outer Loop and take a few on the second lap.  8.0 easy miles at 9:00 pace.  Given that there are only 2 days left in the running week (Central Park is on lock down on Sunday), it looks like I’ll need to bag on intervals.  Saturday is my LR and I learned my lesson in attempting speed work prior to an LR.  Therefore, I’ll probably target another easy run.

I’ll be back later after I head to the Marathon Expo.  Below are a couple of pics.

800 meters to go!

Final hill before the finish line!

The Finish!

40 Years of Finishes in Central Park!

Upon hitting this streets this morning I quickly realized my plans were going by the wayside or should I say Slip-n-Slide.  Relentless, hard rain completely drenched the Bridle Path, where I intended to warm up and then do some Yasso’s.   After about 800 meters of puddle hopscotch, I decided to bag the idea of my normal warm up and head to firmer land.  Even the asphalt was a mess.  Between ankle-deep puddles and leaves everywhere, I accepted that any kind of technical run was out of the question today.  Therefore, I was resigned to a fun run.

No GPS, no chrono, just running (although, I did know the distance of my route).  If yesterday was desolate, this morning was absolutely barren.  I counted 8 runners.  Nonetheless, the run gave me the opportunity to head down by Tavern on the Green to check out the progress of the NYC Marathon set up.  I wouldn’t say the workers were at a frantic pace, but who likes to construct anything in the rain?  As I saw the finish line I could not help but imagine passing thru in about 370 days.  I’ll be there Sunday to check it out, but as I was running by the bleachers I did get chills.  I’ve got a lot of work to do before the 2010 race!

After passing the finish line, I continued on through the southern portion of Central Park.  Again, I saw very few runners.  More police cars than runners … it was fairly dark and with so many high-profile folks in town, no one wants an embarrassing incident before the race.  The morning ended with 5.6 soaked, fun miles.  Hopefully, the marathoners on Sunday get better weather than we’ve had for the past two days.

I plan to head to the Marathon Expo on Thursday.  Will provide some pics and a report of what’s going down.

Despite this being ING NYC Marathon Week, rain put a brief damper on my mood as I headed out for hill repeats this morning.  One thing about rain, no matter what you wear if you are running long enough you will get soaked.  Since I was headed north, I would not see any of the bleachers and set up for Sunday’s race.  Bummer.   On the positive side, the hills are on asphalt so it is a tad less messy than running on muddy trails.  On the negative, I always do my warm up and closing lap on the trails.

I left my apartment and dodged cars, dogs, people, buses and trucks.  Good times.  My legs felt good and I hit a rhythm early on in the run.  After a quick warm up lap on a soggy Bridle Path, I slid towards Harlem Hill.  Other than a police squad car and golf cart, it was fairly desolate … maybe 10 runners total for my time in the North Wood.  I did 6 hill repeats at a modest pace.  Last week I went aggressive and only managed 4 repeats.  I wanted to see progress this week.  I felt great at the end and pushed on back to the Bridle Path to finish up.  While the rain was by no means hard, it was steady enough to completely drench the trail by the time I returned.  I felt like I was playing hopscotch over and around puddles and rocks for 1.5 miles.  I gave up on trying to keep the kicks reasonably dry after I slightly tweaked my ankle … nothing serious.  I don’t mind being soaked head to ankle, but that wet, squishy feeling in my shoe drives me nuts.  Luckily, that happened at the very end.

In the end, I called it a morning at 9:05 miles.  Between dodging cars and what not and hopping around puddles, I gave up on speed and focused on living another day.

Observations: I started to fall into a funk towards the end of the week with the triumphant return of a cold and a bit of burnout.  Based on last week, I needed a step back week with mileage (going from 6 days to 5 did the trick).  I am encouraged with the overall pace of 8:46.  After yesterday’s impromtu race with Middle-Aged Barbie, the spark was re-lit.  Also, since this is ING NYC Marathon Week, I am already fired up and I’m not even in this year’s race.  I will certainly be cheering on First Avenue as well as at the finish.  Next year there will be no cheering by me, only for me!  Giddyup.

ING New York City Marathon Week kicked off this morning with the Poland Springs Kickoff 5 miler in Central Park.  I briefly considered entering, but in the end I decided against it, however, as you will soon discover I did end up racing today.

Rescheduling the LR worked out well.  We had perfect weather 53* and sunny, with 10 mph winds.   As you can see, fall has definitely hit New York.

I could tell right away it was Marathon Week as there were a number of folks wearing running gear representing foreign countries.  Also, the NYRR and city workers were setting up bleachers.  It was incredibly crowded on the Outer Loop between the runners, bikers, tourists and a Walk-a-Thon all competing for space.

Physically, I felt as good as I could have hoped.  I still have this nagging cough but otherwise, no complaints.  I hit the road with the goal of just a solid LR.  I didn’t really have distance in mind, but for me an LR is at least 13.1 miles.  Why?  It’s at least ½ of a marathon.

The first loop was uneventful … just trying to shake the cobwebs out and get loose, while maintaining a nice reserve for the balance of the run.  The end of the second loop is where the run turned interesting.  I mentioned that I did not enter the Kickoff 5 miler, however, courtesy of someone who will now and henceforth be known as Middle-Aged Barbie, I ended up racing.

Here is the scene:  I am rolling along at mile 9 after just completing Harlem Hill and slowing up enough to catch my breath without breaking rhythm.  Then I notice Middle-Aged Barbie (Barbie) cruising by me.  Why Middle-Aged Barbie?  A forest of blond hair flying all over the place, face a bit too chiseled and wearing an outfit that IMHO took a little too much planning for a “runner”.  As I have said before, I have no issues when folks pass me up … it happens all the time … young, old, big, small, men, women pass me up.  It’s the nature of running.  However, as most runners know there is an etiquette when you pass someone … you run by them and (1) issue a kind word of encouragement, (2) keep to yourself and stay focused on what you are doing and/or (3) look back to make sure you are not in their immediate running lane as you cross in their path.  At first I thought Middle-Aged Barbie pulled a number 3, however, it was the look that she gave me that set me off … almost as to say, “Get out of my way clown, you are not in my league.”  Umm, I’m the wrong guy to pull that sort of move.  I was so shocked that I slowed up a bit to think whether I bumped into her at some point or otherwise did something wrong.  Nope.  Then I started thinking how much more I wanted to run.  At this point she was about 400-500 meters ahead of me … mile 10 for me.  I decided to drop the hammer.  I gave her an 8:00 mile (#11 for me) and blew by her. I saw out of the corner of my eye that she turned her head in disbelief.   For the next 800 meters I kept up the pace to see what she would do.  I could hear her footsteps behind me and gave the courtesy look back and could tell she was trying to catch up.  I let her (yes, at this point I am being a jerk) and smiled to myself as she passed me.  Since it was completely on now, I wanted to test the fitness of Middle-Aged Barbie.  I gave her a 7:27 mile (#12 for me) and blasted by her a final time.  If I really wanted to be a jerk I would have kept up this charade for another couple of miles, but I think I proved my point.  As if you couldn’t tell, ill-mannered people annoy me.

I ended the run shortly thereafter.  12.1 miles at 8:46 average pace, which is not a “full” LR, but considering how negative the splits were at the end, I’ll take it.  It must be my lucky day.  Where I stopped running, I walked into the meet up for the Walk-a-Thon. A very kind volunteer gave me a Gatorade!

Today’s celebrity sighting involves one of my favorite comedic actresses:  Jane Lynch, who currently stars in Glee on Fox, but is probably more well known for rolls in the classics Best in Show, The 40-Year Old Virgin and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.  Big fan!

[Update:  I shared the entire Middle-Age Barbie story with my wife.  Her take was different.  She thinks our fair runner had ulterior motives, i.e., a pick up.  Since I am a happily married guy and painfully oblivious to that sort of thing, I disagree.]

I may be suffering from training burnout.  For the past week, when I wake up there is a seed of doubt about whether I should run.  Once I shake off the cobwebs and get into the morning routine, that feeling goes away quickly.  It could be the fall blahs or as I am 90% certain, I picked up another cold from my kids.  Whatever it is, the combination led me to take yesterday off.  I planned an LR, but when I woke up, neither body nor mind were in sync.  Bad, bad feeling.

Today I woke up knowing that I had to get a run in before heading out for a Dad’s & Daughter’s Halloween Party with the girls.  The reason I planned an LR for Friday was the forecast called for rain on Saturday.  Given how I have been feeling, 15 miles in the rain was not optimal.  Therefore, to salvage a decent mileage week I switched my “recovery” run to this morning and pushed the LR until Sunday (no rain expected).  Confused?  Me too.

After putting on the gear, I checked the weather and saw it was wet, but no rain.  Therefore, I hustled out the door to get down to business.  61* w/ slight wind and based on how much was dripping, a lot of humidity.  The run itself felt sluggish … like the first day back after a rest day.  Breathing was uneven … at times I felt like I was gliding and then laboring.  I didn’t care about pace as I just wanted get the miles in to loosen up the muscles/joints for Sunday’s LR.

In the end, a couple of pleasant surprises: (1) no rain and the sun actually appeared midway through the run and (2) despite feeling subpar and not thinking about it, I maintained my goal pace for easy/recovery runs of sub 9:00 for 5.14 miles.  I’m not even going to second guess myself about failing to add 2-3 more miles because I wasn’t feeling great.  How could I tell it just wasn’t there physically?  I let plenty of folks who had no business doing so pass me up without a fight.  But then again, racing people is not supposed to happen on easy runs anyway.

Tomorrow I plan to throw an LR at this cold so we will see if that doesn’t beat it into submission, again.