Work to Do

Today was a planned MP run. Didn't quite work out.

The weather: warm, 50s. It's been a balmy November here in New York, with temperatures routinely in the 60s. Hopefully, this doesn't foreshadow a bad December.
The route: the Stuyvescent Cove O&B for 8.6 miles.
The plan: 3 mile warmup over the Billy-burg Bridge, 3 miles at MP (7:15), 2.6 miles home.

Here's what happened. After getting over the Bridge, I started the MP portion of the run, having noted the mile points in advance. Mile One: 7:00. Doh! That seemed a little tough, but not that tough. At this point I made a conscious effort to slow down, which led to Mile Two: 6:46. Well, that worked about as well as Ford's business model. How exactly "conscious effort to slow down" translates to a 15s faster mile I'm not sure, but I assure you Mile Two was easier than Mile One. Clearly I have pacing work to do. Mile Three: 7:20. Before anyone gets all gushy over how Mile Three was so close to my target pace, you should know that it was easily the most difficult part of the course, with its last third being uphill. Effort-wise, it was probably closer to a 7:00.

There you have it. Looking back at my MCM results, I have this addendum to my report. My first five miles were in 35:25 (chip) for a 7:05 pace. However, the first two miles involved some wicked hills and took 15:30. A little math reveals that the average pace over miles 3, 4 and 5 was a blistering 6:40mm! After mile 5, I managed to slow it down to about 7:05 per mile, but I can't imagine three miles at faster than 1/2 Mary P.R. pace (6:45mm) was helpful. Today's "MP" run revealed that this pacing issue isn't going to resolve itself, and I'm going to need to make it a focus for the 4 weeks remaining before Taper 2. Clearly the speed's there, the question is whether I can harness it smartly or will it throw me from the sky like Phaeton? We shall see.

In other news, I went to see the Scorsese film The Departed over the weekend. A fantastic, if extremely violent, movie. Apparently, Scorsese filmed the majority of the film in New York instead of Boston because of fears relating to Boston politics (given the film's subject matter) and New York's 15% tax credit. Which led to a very unheralded cameo by Park Luncheonette, a very cute diner where a couple key early scenes were set. PL is just off McCarren Park (seen in the background of the scenes in the restaurant) and also just down the street from my apartment (alas, not seen in the film). It sports a pretty tasty omelette and Greek yogurt. Although PL has a Bloody Mary, for a really great one after your long run (a tradition in my house), I recommend walking up the street to Matchless. However, you should eat first because Matchless doesn't have food. So, I guess the best plan would be to go to Park Luncheonette and then Matchless, having Bloody Marys at both!

Week (of 11/20) in Review

Monday	Rest	--	--
Tuesday	8.6 miles	1:05:35	7:39/mile
Wednesday	7.0 miles	51:41	7:23/mile MP
Thursday	5.0 miles	38:45	7:45/mile
Friday	Rest	--	--
Saturday	16.0 Miles	2:01:54	7:37/mile
Sunday	5.0 miles	38:22	7:40/mile
Total	41.6 Miles	--	--