It's been a while since I last posted to this blog, almost two weeks. Partly that's attributable to visiting my parents, who live far enough out in the country that dial-up is the only available connection, meaning that I may as well be off the grid. Partly, it's due to my very busy work schedule since getting back to New York on New Year's Day. Routinely, I've been in the office until 11 over the past week. Routinely, I've been arriving before 8, as opposed to my normal 9:30. What little time I've had outside the office has been devoted to having a beer in front of the T.V. The worst part is that despite those hours my inbox is getting more full!
That brings us to the Houston Marathon, which I've decided to bag. I haven't run a quarter in the New Year (actually, a 45 minute walk with Erin last night was the most time I've spent outside at a stretch in the New Year). And although I could run the marathon with zero miles in the two weeks leading up to it, I'd also be abandoning the firm before a hard deadline. No dice. Got the lesson here: don't plan big events for the month of January.
Looking ahead, I don't believe I'm going to be able to devote the hours to train for an April marathon either (we have a trial in March!). That stretches my next BQ attempt to the fall. I think the plan is to take a couple weeks off and then, once the hours get down to a more reasonable 50-60, to start in at 30 miles or so and focus on shorter stuff. I'd still like to take a crack at my 5K time this spring.
In the end, I have to admit that I'm not too upset by this development. Although it is disappointing not being able to race, I'm not a professional runner and in my profession I've been getting a number of positive signs: positive comments from partners I don't directly work for, the size of my raise, the very fact that I keep being given loads of work, etc. It's hard to be upset about missing a hobby with lots of positive feedback in the job.
And, although it's been unsaid to this point, like my running this blog will also be quasi-dormant until work calms itself.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Best Laid Plans . . .
Monday, December 11, 2006
Sub-40!
So, the Flyers were shellacked by the Polskis yesterday at the Joe Kleinerman 10K. When I came across the line, I saw 6 PRC guys standing just inside the line excitedly comparing results. Looks like second place it is, which is a bummer since we led most of the season.
Personally though, this was a great race! It was a counter-clockwise loop of the park, which is the harder direction. I'd planned to try 6:20s, but to be prepared to drop to 6:40s through the Harlem Hills and the Cat Hill mile to try to get under my 40:03 (How crappy is 40:03!) PR, which was attained going clockwise. At the start, I saw Flyer presidential candidate CM, our Flyer who gives us updates on West Ham soccer each week, and a couple others. Everyone seemed into the race and focused and soon we were off.
With about 5000 runners, I expected the first mile to be slow, but since I was trailing Mr. West Ham, and he decided to run over the roots and ruts along the side of the road to get around the walkers and 10min/mile folks that'd lined up with the 5 minute people, I decided to go with. After about a quarter mile, it cleared out and I wished Mr. West Ham good luck and off I went. The next Flyer I saw was Coach J, who was in tights, a flyer singlet, and a bright, sunshine-yellow, long-sleeve top. I asked if the top was to make him visible for team support, but am not really sure on the answer. Just before the first mile, I caught Ed and I knew it was time to slow down. Ed always finishes in the 38s. So, I knew I was probably pretty close to my 6:20 target if I was running with him. My plan became keep contact with Ed as long as I could. The first mile, including the big downhill and the climb out of the North Hills, went down in 6:14.
I lost Ed near the end of the second mile. Just a boom of speed and gone. I wasn't prepared to make that type of surge because, while not in the red, I figured I was probably in the orange. Crud! So much for that plan formulated three minutes earlier. Fortunately (or unfortunately) a PRC guy passed me just before the half. He was clearly going a little faster than I was comfortable with, so he became the new pace target. Miles 2 and 3 (missed the Mile 2 split) went down in 12:39. (Oh! And there were definitely some red and white pom-poms spotted in this around Mile 2 as well! Thanks for the support Reservoir Dogs!). Anyway, through the half, I was right on target pace. And given that I'd allowed 20s for the hills, I was actually way ahead.
After the half, I tried to keep contact with PRC guy, but he was clearly drifting farther ahead. Only two more strategy points were left. The first was Cat Hill and the second the flat stretch just before the Engineer's Gate (right after mile 5) which leads to a down hill to the finish. I was suspecting a big PR, so for the first target, I decided I'd drop the effort on the short downhill leading to Cat Hill to recover. This downhill isn't really long enough to gain a lot of time, but I was hopping the recovery would make the climb up Cat Hill, where a lot of time is usually lost, go by a little quicker. I don't really know if it worked, but the Mile 4 and 5 splits were 6:18 and 6:14. Unfortunately, while I gained on PRC guy on the Cat Hill climb, I quickly lost my gains once we hit the top.
Just before Mile 5, I saw Outgoing Flyer Prez taking photos. Since I didn't have on my singlet (it was cold man!) instead of a photo I only got a confused look when I yelled to ask why I wasn't getting a frickin' photo. Then I was through to the flat near the reservoir and it was time to kick! I'd decided back at the half that the strategy would be to run the last full mile as though it were the end of the race, and then after the Mile 6 marker, hang on as best I could for that extra quarter. I knew if I caught PRC guy, I probably wouldn't be able to outkick him with this strategy, but I also knew with any other plan I wouldn't have a chance to catch him. So this was the plan.
About 1/2 mile to the end, I caught . . . Ed. The guy I'd planned to pace from near the beginning. Since I was already running at a near sprint, I flew past. I hit the 6 Mile point, but really have no idea on the time. I was running all out before this point and was breathing like an asthmatic during a smog alert. I was just trying to keep my arms moving and thought if I checked the time I'd fall over. As I rounded the turn into the final quarter, I tried to pick it up, but had been running too hard for too long to generate any more speed. But with a lunge and grunt, I got across the line just as the clock turned to 39:00 even, for a net time of 38:46. My final 1.21 miles went past in 7:21, for a 6:05 average pace. (I never caught PRC guy. He finished 9s ahead.)
Summary: 1-6:14, 2&3-12:39, 4-6:18, 5-6:13, end-7:21.
Afterwards, I met up with the Flyer guys and we confirmed that the Polskis had gotten us. Turns out, I was the second Flyer, which means nothing more than that several folks weren't racing. Also spotted Flygirl, who I guess had a tough reentry to racing. I caught Ed afterwards at the NYRRC's hot chocolate and bagel setup. He said that he was confused when I passed him because he knew I lived in Brooklyn. He'd just been passed by the PRC guy I was trying to catch and then thought (for some reason) I was with the Brooklyn Running Club, another competitor of the Flyers. We had a good laugh.
A couple new goals from this race. First, a little math says that my 5K splits were 19:23 (if they were even). That means that at least one half of this race was also a 5K pr! I really need to find a 5K, which are apparently an anomaly for NYC racing. When I started running again 3 years ago, I wanted to reattain my high school 5K p.r. (18:35) and I suspect I'm getting close to that target. Second, 38:46 is aged-graded at a percentage of 69.2%. It's my understanding that 70% gets priority starts in NYRRC races. That's the next 10K goal, which I'm sure I'll get to focus on at some point. And last, a certain magical calculator converts yesterday's time to a 3:01 marathon. So, the goal here, is to ignore that 6:57 pace projection and run Houston at 7:10s. I've already tried running 6:50s in a marathon, with "fantastic" results. I can try for sub-3 after getting the BQ.
Week in Review
| Monday | 5.65 miles | 45:00 | 7:56/mile |
| Tuesday | Rest | -- | -- |
| Wednesday | 13.1 miles | 1:44:21 | 7:58/mile |
| Thursday | 10.33 miles | 81:58 | 7:56/mile |
| Friday | 5.0 miles | 37:58 | 7:36/mile |
| Saturday | Rest | -- | -- |
| Sunday | 6.21 miles | 38:46 | 6:15/mile |
| Total | 40.3 Miles | -- | -- |
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Decisions
And thus ends my blogger-slackerdom. It was well needed because, although I could have written about movies I've seen, books that I've read or the opera I went to see over the last ten days, invariably I would have ended up writing about, thinking about, obessessing over, even, running. And to think through my next steps I needed a clear head that the nose to the trees perspective of blogging would not allow.
So, what to do? There are lots of considerations. It's cold and dark when I'd be training. I'm enjoying running fast again. I twisted my knee funny at a water stop during the Flyers group run on Saturday and it's a little stiff. It'd be good to spend more time with my wife. I've learned we may be running a trial right after the first of the year, which could make for an incredible amount of work. These considerations clearly point in one direction, and so . . .
P.S. For those of you who know JBL in real life, be sure to ask him about his dissertation on collective action problems. It sounds really fascinating.
Today: Stuyvesant Cove O&B, 8.6 miles in 65:45 (7:39/mile).
- Last Week
- Total: 33.8 miles
- Long Run: 16.0 miles
- Speed: None
- Week of 11/6
- Total: 20.0 miles
- Long Run: 11.2 miles
- Speed: None
- Week of 10/30
- Total: 22.7 miles
- Long Run: 9.3 miles
- Speed: None
Saturday, November 11, 2006
That's Better
OK folks. I'm feeling better. This illness lasted a total of about three days, which confirms that I picked it up from Erin, who'd had a three-day mystery illness with many of the same symptoms about a week before. Of course, she didn't have the fever, but I assume that I'm just lucky, or maybe, as Thomas suggested, it was worse for me because of the marathon, or maybe, as NY Flygirl suggested, it's because of my workload (Tuesday, I was behind my desk until 11p, but doped up on Tylenol and Sudafed and with my overcoat pulled up to my chest. Quite comical, I assure you). Whatever. The fever broke on Wednesday evening and I can honestly say I've never been so happy to be uncomfortably sweating in my suit at the office. I know that's gross, but deal. I felt much better.
The bad nights of sleep carried over into Thursday's run, which I did in McCarren Park for the dirt surface. It went fine for a 'coming-of-a-cold' run. (Today's run was tough for a different reason, namely the 15mph headwind that I ran into for the length of Manhattan.)
Can I add, for the record, that I find this just awful.
Nealis guessed the two women took a shortcut that made the race about 20 miles, instead of the standard 26.2.If you're going to cheat at a marathon, don't cheat your way into the top 10. Or how bout this? Just don't cheat!
"We get so much data on the runners now that it's become very hard to cheat," Nealis said. "They either made a quick turn and cut off about 6.5 miles, or they got a little aggressive and jumped on Metro."
I've been having trouble figuring out what to do with myself. Even though I'm still running about 25 miles a week, that frees up hours of time. So far, I've spent most of that time watching t.v. and playing PlayStation. That may change soon as by the end of this week I'll have to commit -- either way -- with regard to Houston.
Thursday: McCarren Park for 4.0 miles in 29:15 (7:19/mile)
Saturday: Queensboro Loop for 11.2 miles in 1:27:44 (7:50/mile)
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Introspection
Today's weather is somewhat like my mood. It's dreary, rainy, cloudy and there was a patch of hail as I ran over the Williamsburg Bridge. On the other hand, days like this always give hope that a lot more hail and ice will fall and school will be canceled.
So, while I'm still bummed about last Sunday's results, I have zero doubt that I can run a 3:10 or even a sub-3 with more slightly more training and a lot better strategy. For the former goal, I've decided the MCM timing chip is staying on my shoes until I reach it. Hell, I may carry that chip in the Boston Marathon when I go, just an "I've overcome" sort of gesture. Some people have a chip on their shoulders, I have one on my shoes.
As for the marathon, I'm not really going to write about the interior of the race. I think the results largely speak for themselves. This data from the MCM site gives the tale of a guy slamming the wall, hard:
- Miles 1-10: 8.4 mph
- Miles 10-13.1: 8.1 mph (consciously slowing starting around mile 9 to try to avoid . . .)
- Miles 13.1-20: 6.8 mph ( . . . this . . .)
- Miles 20-26.2: 5.5 mph (. . . and this.)
- Thinking that I'd be able to buy a bagel in D.C. on Sunday morning. I don't know why I thought this. D.C. has no residents to buy bagels. I lived there. I "knew" that anyone that actually wanted breakfast would drive to Herndon and go to Waffle House. I couldn't even find coffee. And no matter what the weight-loss people say, the 300 calories in two Gus and a bottle of Powerade is NOT the same as the 300 calories in a bagel with peanut butter. Oddly enough, my last bomb race also involved not having my ideal breakfast . . . (Erin's decided that we're packing Frosted Mini Wheats for every race I go to from now on.)
- Metro: MCM ran shuttles from automobile parking. Although they "encouraged" everyone to ride Metro. If you did, and you had baggage, then you had about a 1.5 mile walk as a warmup.
- Clothing: I wore a singlet and gloves. This only became a problem after the wind started howling on Haines Point. It was frickin' cold. My race was already over then, but it would have been nice not to have frozen.
- Port-a-Potty: This was actually no knock on MCM. Bathrooms were plentiful and with short lines. My mistake was that while going number 2, the invocation started. That's right folks. I shat during the invocation. I think my results are largely attributable to this unfortunate timing because God hates me.
- Oh, Muse help me sing of the misleading elevation chart. For a reminder, the elevation chart shows a 100 ft climb over two miles at the beginning and then nothing through the end. The climb is more than 100ft and much shorter than 2 miles in length. It was more like two Harlem Hills in a row. Looking at the chart, I thought we were running some of the rolling hills along the parkway, which I've run before and were fine. I wasn't prepared for this behemoth. Nor was I prepared for the immediate and somewhat steep downhill that stretched for several miles immediately following the climb (which, incidentally, is why the elevation chart only showed a 100 ft climb). This totally trashed both my quads (which are just now recovering) and my pacing, which leads to . . .
- Pacing: I went through the first mile in 7:15. Was at 15:00 at mile 2 (partway up the hill) and then lost track through G'town. I learned from another runner in RockCreek Park that we'd been doing around 6:50. I was doing about 7:05s through RockCreek, which would have been OK if I'd not had the 6:50s through G'town. C'est la vie. With the wind, I probably wouldn't have BQ'd anyway, but with better pacing I probably could have finished around 3:15-3:20.
- Hydration: This was a problem that I corrected (finally). The MCM water stations came only every second mile, which would have been fine if the cups weren't half full. By the third station I was taking 2-3 cups of water and Powerade on the way through and combining them. I'm glad for this in race adjustment because others were, well . . .
- Goals: The initial goals were fine. Given the breakfast thing, that by Mile 10 I knew I'd screwed up the pacing and that the wind really started to pick up about mile 11 on the Mall, I'd have been well served to at that point dialed it back to shoot for 3:20 rather than continuing to push for 3:10. An adjustment then would probably have gotten me across the line in a P.R., at least. I didn't do it and was rewarded by being passed by Dean Karnazes, the schmuck.
More to come . . .
Tuesday: Pulaski O&B: 4.15 miles in 32:18 (7:47/mile)
Thursday: WB O&B:4.8 miles in 37:55 (7:54/mile) -- The city's moved the pedestrian walkway entrance from the north to the south side, so the route's a little shorter.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Say what?
This race was a total bomb . . . as in a 39 minute positive split bomb! This just ticks me off, because I'm in much better shape than a 3:43 marathon. On the one hand, it sucks. (I was actually joking with the eventual women's 40-45 winner before the race how awful a 3:30 would be! That's irony folks.) On the other hand, I missed all of my goals in such a spectacularly grotesque fashion that it doesn't sting as bad as, say, a 3:11 would have. I mean, I had basically 75 minutes during the race after it became impossible for me to reach 3:10 to resign myself to the result, while I was blasting (HA!) through 11:00+ minute miles. I'm MOST annoyed though, in being passed by one Dean Karnazes just before the final mile. One thing was clear, Sunday was not my day.
Haven't decided what I'm doing next, whether it's another race in 6 weeks or so or phasing down until the spring. At the moment I'm leaning toward the former, mostly because of righteous (I think) fury. However, what happens at the office tomorrow and how well I recover over the next week will to a large extent be outcome determinative. In any event, this race has certainly been a learning experience, but all of these topics are really their own posts.
Stay tuned . . .
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Grab Bag
I just discovered the most fantastic web-comic, Questionable Content. It's about romance, Indy-rock and little quirky robots! Highly recommended. Also in the realm of comedy, yesterday the special edition of Bobcat Goldthwait's Windy City Heat, which may be one of the funniest flicks I've ever seen, was released. I caught this show a couple years ago on Comedy Central, at about 3 a.m., with some law school friends after we'd been bar-hopping through the Upper West Side "Frat-ties." If true, this movie shows one of the best practical jokes of all time. Treat yourself; I know I am. As far as stupid moves averted, a car dealership in Ohio has decided to pull its "Jihad" promotion, where on "Fatwa Fridays" sales reps would give play swords to kids . . . only in Ohio could someone think this was a good idea.
In running news, this article entitled "Running with Slowpokes: How sluggish newbies ruined the marathon" has caused quite a bit of consternation among blogers: here, here and here. While the consternation over elitism is admirable and I certainly have praised 5 hour marathoners, I think it misses the article's point:
Today, the great majority of marathon runners set out simply to finish. That sets the bar so low that everyone comes out a winner. Big-city marathons these days feel more like circuses than races, with runners of variable skill levels—some outfitted in wacky costumes—crawling toward the finish line. The marathon has transformed from an elite athletic contest to something closer to sky diving or visiting the Grand Canyon. When a newbie marathoner crosses the finish line, he's less likely to check his time than to shout, "Only 33 more things to do before I die!"With this assessment I agree wholeheartedly. It's a race. By adults. This isn't second-grade P.E. where we all get ribbons (Oh Wait! We do!) Everyone is not a winner, even if you finish. How do I determine if someone's a winner? This is personal, from my viewpoint it's whether the marathon effort you just made was your best effort. That's it. Did you do your best -- just like in the old saw: If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well. As a corrollary, if worth doing, it's worth preparing for. If you half-assed the training, you're not a winner. If you don't try to determine how successful you can be, not a winner. If you slam the wall, well . . . depends on whether you were trying to push the envelope or did zero pacing strategy. In the latter case, not a winner. If it's worth doing . . .
I ran a 3:22 in my first marathon. In the race, I did my best. My training was half-assed. I had more time than I do now, but trained half as much simply because of lack of motivation. Although I'm glad to have done the event, I find that time somewhat . . . embarrassing. I didn't do my best; I could have done better. It grates on my self-respect.
A couple of the Flyers and I had a conversation on the "just to finish" goal over the weekend. I maintained, and still do, that it's a stupid goal. If you have serious doubt about your ability to finish the marathon, you shouldn't be doing it. Run a Half. Run a 10K. Run whatever you can finish and can give your best effort in. The marathon's not for everyone. Moreover, I found that thinking "just to finish" was acceptable in my first marathon gave me a mental 'out' to shirk on training. That's an 'out' that I happily took when it was "too hot," or "too cold," or "too windy," or I was just "too tired." However, when the bar's set below mediocrity, what's the point in pushing yourself into discomfort? Anyone can finish, if they go slow enough. It doesn't take that much effort for the human body to cover 26.2 miles. That's a fact, Jack.
So, I wholeheartedly agree in this effort to strike at personal medicrity. Challenge yourself. That challenge is certainly personal and even if it's six hours or five or whatever, that you put forth your best effort is something to be proud of. An accomplishment that moves us beyond ourselves . . . victoria ad gloriam, gloria ad imortalitatem. The issue, I think, if for no other reason than self-respect should not be "did I finish," but "did I give it all I had?"
Tuesday: 8.15 miles in 61:04 (7:30 avg.) with 5X600@2:15, 2:14, 2:09, 2:09, 2:05
Wednesday: 11.25 miles in 1:28:30 (7:52)
Thursday: 6.1 miles in 46:56 (7:42)
