A Marathoner

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.]

Earlier this month, it felt like we skipped fall altogether as temps dipped into the 30’s and 40’s.  This week we are getting a much-appreciated reprieve with temps in the 50s and low 60’s.

After two days of hill repeats and Yasso’s, I knew today had to be an easy day.  It definitely started on the slower end.  I started running from my apartment and had to dodge traffic on the way to the park.  (Yet another reason why I usually walk to the park.  Getting hit by a car or truck would likely slow down that morning’s run.)  My lungs and legs were not in sync.  It took the warm up mile to bring both in line … a constant battle of slowing the breathing and finding a rhythm … 10:01 pace.  Blah.  Things fell into place reasonably quickly and from then on it was a very good run.  Runners talk about being in the zone and I definitely was … I didn’t feel like I was running, more like gliding.  8 miles at average pace of 9:05 with negative splits in the mid 8’s for the last 3 miles.

I need to take the kids to a Dad’s and Daughter’s Halloween party on Saturday, which throws out the LR.  My plan is to switch the LR to Friday and relatively shorter runs to Saturday and Sunday.  The forecast is for clouds tomorrow, but rain on Saturday so this plan might work out for the best.

Last thing, today’s celebrity sighting while running:  Téa Leoni and David Duchovny.  I saw her on Tuesday, but it’s the first time I’ve seem him (or at least, it’s the first time I have paid enough attention to notice).

I can understand why many runners hate/avoid rest days.  After six straight days on the road/trails, Monday was my scheduled rest day.  As I mentioned to Marathon Maiden in the comments, while I felt strong running over the weekend, yesterday I was sluggish, stiff and sleepy.  Before I went to bed I was thinking about what was in store for my first run of the week (today).

I decided to stretch at home and run to the park (working on a new habit).  Within the first 3 miles I realized (a) I was going too fast, (b) I just did not have “it” this morning or (c) both (a) and (b).  It felt like my lungs wanted to leap out of my chest.  I could never catch my breath or get into any kind of rythmn.  At the end the first 4 miles on the Bridle Path I saw actress Téa Leoni … liked her in Bad Boys.  Oh yeah, yesterday my wife saw Nicolas Sarkozy and his entourage running in the park.  The President of France spends more time on the Reservoir Path than he does in his own country!

After concluding that (b) was the correct answer … just did not have “it”, a rational person would have called it a morning and headed home.  No way!  I switched gears for some hill repeats.  For some reason, I decided to hit them harder (w/ speed) than last week.  Maybe it was the frustration of grinding so early in the run, but I got annoyed and went after it.  4 hard, fast repeats.  How hard?  So hard that on the cool down I started to get rumbling, queasy feeling in my stomach.  For a second, I thought I might need to pull over, but I slowed down and it subsided.  9.16 miles.

Tiring, but a great workout.

Before diving into today’s daily run, I must get something off of my chest.  Please bear with me for a brief moment:

Dear August 2009:

Go away and never come back … especially do not make a surprise (and extended) visit at the end of September.  I don’t like the weather you bring and would appreciate if you would go away forever.  Don’t flip the script on me again!

Sincerely,

A Marathoner

69 degrees, 90% humidity, very little wind.  All runners know that when you start perspiring heavily in the midst of pre-run stretching, it may be a challenging weather day.  Ugh.

Like the weather, I flipped the script this morning and did a double 4-mile loop on the asphalt.  I have not run this route in months.  Since we are heading into the end of the September and I am sensing that very real runner’s wall, I need to change my routine.  Runners are notorious creatures of habit (e.g., I NEVER leave home without popping in chewing gum for the walk to the park, but then discard it before I actually start running; I almost always take the same route to the park).  Therefore, I left the comforts of the trails for the reality of the pavement.

My overall pace for the 8 miles was 9:32 … too aggressive given how I’m feeling and the conditions, but I’ll take it.  Splits were okay with a couple of exceptions, when the “wall” reared its head …(9:39, 9:09, 9:27, 9:30, 9:54, 9:30, 10:07 and 8:58).  I would be more annoyed, but for the nice last mile at 8:58 to finish off.

No celebrity or major political figure sightings this morning.  I did notice the area surrounding the Metropolitan Museum was barricaded like most of NYC immediately after 9/11, which means dignitaries are in town. My hunch is that my good buddy Nicolas Sarkozy and President Obama (speaking at UN this morning) might be making an appearance at the Met.

For the second time in 2 months I saw the President of France (his security team + cameraman) trudging up the South Gate steps to the Reservoir Path.  As I was stretching on the bridge, I looked to my right and there was my boy Nick … wearing the exact same running clothes as last time.  Come on Mr. President, of all people, you can afford it … get new gear!

On with the run … I ran a version of the Extended Bridle Path and for the first 4 miles posted splits of 9:43, 9:27, 9:21, 9:25.  Then … RunKeeper crapped out for the 3^rd time in my last 5 runs.  I didn’t know this until I hit the water fountain at mile 5.  (Obviously I need to find a stopgap measure until I resolve whether to invest in a Garmin … need to spend some time on the Apple App Store later.) I buried my annoyance for the time being and moved on.  A bit of fatigue and leg weariness hit me around mile 6 and I decided to call it a day at 7 miles.

Looking at my training log, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why the last 3-4 daily runs have been a bit of a grind.  After this morning, I am sitting at 129.2 miles in September with 5 running days left this month.  My previous PR is 116 in March.  It’s likely I will end September in the 160-170 range.  Simply put, more miles = more tired.  That’s cool.  I didn’t really get “serious” until this month so the past is not a great comparison.

All this means I have to do the one thing that I am not very good at … be patient.  Keep building the base, spice it up with some speed work and have some faith.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on the Reservoir

I’m glad I found a photo of this  … On July 18th, I was stretching before a daily run at the South Gate of Central Park when I turned around and saw a smallish, yet recognizable guy rumbling by with a group behind him.  I looked at a couple of fellow runners and asked, “Was that Nicolas Sarkozy?”  They all nodded.  I’m bummed because he and his security entourage moved passed me before I could pull out my iPhone.  I had to settle for the above photo from the NY Daily News.