Sunday, November 22, 2009

Do You Deliver?

Today was the Race to Deliver, a 4 miler in Central Park. I have been looking forward to this one, as a change of pace (literally) from marathon training. As I ramped up the milage for the NYC marathon, I cut back (cut out) speed work and short races almost entirely. Since the marathon, I've gotten in 2 speed sessions with the morning group, but today was the first short race.
On Thursday, I had an experience that had me worried that my speed may have slipped last few months. A new tradition has started in the morning group that each runner is expected to "run their age" on their birthday. That is, when I turn 49 in January, I will be sent out to run the six mile loop in 49 minutes. Other runners in the group often go along with the birthday boy/girl to keep them company. Well, 49 minutes I can do, but this week SJ was turning 39. That's a 6:30 pace. Ouch.
Using my usual questionable judgement, I volunteered to keep him company for the first mile or so. I kept up with him from 72nd street to 100th, but then, exhausted, I sent him on his way with my best wishes. I stopped to catch my breath and wait for the next runners to come, and before long AW and JN came along. I tried, but I was too wasted to keep up with them, so I stopped again and waited for the next folks. I finally fell into a group that I could keep up with, but it was hard. All ambition had been sucked out of me. In the end, I cut the loop short, using the excuse that I wanted to see SJ at the finish. He made it, of course, no problem.
I was wiped out for the rest of the day. Work was hard. Staying awake after dinner was hard. I gave up and turned in early. I was shocked that I couldn't recover more quickly from just a little over a mile of hard running. It did not bode well for this weekend's race.
I figured that the race would would be a good test of where my speed is now, so that I could set my goals going forward. As it turned out, the news was good. I ran a brisk, but not crazy first mile, and was very happy to see that it was under PR pace. As it turned out, it was my slowest mile. Here are the splits:

Mile 1: 6:33
Mile 2: 6:25
Mile 3: 6:32
Mile 4: 6:13

Official time: 25:45 (0:31 PR) 6:26/mile
130th overall, out of 4757 finishers, 9th place age group finish.

Better yet, because I wasn't committed to going for a PR, I wasn't pushing like a maniac. I enjoyed some fun banter with other runners and spectators, and generally had a great time. Here's to many more races like this one!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Shortcuts

Early in Sunday's Chilli Half Marathon, I noticed the pack of runners in front of us moving from the right to the left side of the street. I wondered aloud about it to my sister, who was running beside me. Another runner commented that we should follow -- "it must be the way to the shortcut!". He was, of course, joking. Why would anyone, especially anyone from the mid pack, cheat in a distance race? It would be ludicrous. We actually WANT to run the whole thing.

News broke today that middle-distance runner Rashid Ramzi has been stripped of his 1,500-meter Olympic gold medal for doping. It is sad, but not too surprising that this happens at the highest levels of many sports. But when I hear reports of cheating amongst recreational runners, I just don't get it.

And yet it happens. There has been talk of several questionable results in the NYC Marathon. Not elites doping, but average runners taking shortcuts. The NYRR put out timing mats every 5K, and starting from mile 15, every MILE. If don't hit 5 of them in a row, it's kind of obvious what happened. Why would you do it? Sure there's plenty of temptation to give up in a race that long, but let me be clear: I ever leave the course before the race is over it will be to take the shortest route HOME.

OK, here's a thought. Imagine you get injured at mile 16 of the NYC Marathon. Say you twist your ankle, or pull a hamstring. BUT... your bag is trapped behind the finish line. You really need it. It has your ID and hotel room key. How do you get it? The finish area is completely inaccessible. The only way in is on the course as a runner. So, you grab a cab to Columbus Circle, duck back on to the course and cross the finish line, not thinking to take your D-Tag off. Your time is recorded with a fabulous negative split, and you have become an inadvertent cheater. It could happen to anyone! Mystery solved....

Toward the end of the race, we saw the same "shortcut" runner, and he greeted us by calling out "we must have taken the same shortcut!" I just laughed, but I was thinking "that was one crappy shortcut..."

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Bean Town

I was at a family gathering in Cambridge Mass this weekend when I got an email from AH. I'm afraid I confused my family a good bit when I blurted out the subject of the email -- "Boston is closed". They must have thought it was a terrorist attack.
Fortunately they didn't berate me too much when I explained that I just meant that the Boston Marathon was no longer taking applications for 2010.
I put my application in right after the NYC Marathon, but I hadn't heard back, and it sounded like they might be full. They had said that they wouldn't confirm until my qualifying results were made official, so I knew it might be a while.
Well, NYC Marathon results went official today, and I got the email from Boston immediately. Nice.


114th Boston Marathon

Dear John Whitfield,

This is to notify you that your entry into the 114th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 19, 2010 has been accepted

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Chilli Half


I traveled to Boston this weekend to run the inaugural Chilli Half Marathon with my sister. We ran side by side for the whole thing and had a blast. We were met at the end by family, including our parents, and went out for brunch. Yum. Here we are outside the Cambridge brunch spot - me, my sister, and the head cheerleader.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Post Marathon Bits and Pieces

- Photo: DW and his cousin representing the Giants at the NYC Marathon start. They finished together, and DW got about a zillion photos along the way.

- Rumors were flying that Boston was filling up, so I put my application in on Sunday night. I'm already signed up to run with friends in the National Marathon (D.C) on March 20th, which is 4 weeks before Boston... hmm.

- When I read RJR's comment on an earlier post that he had done a full 26.2 training run, I got the urge to do the same. Maybe I'll treat the National Marathon as a supported 26.2 training run, and shoot for a fast time in Boston. Somehow it seems wrong to show up at a marathon and not go all out...

- I'm running a 1/2 Marathon in Boston next weekend with my sister. I'm pretty much recovered from the marathon, so I should be OK, but my my race mojo has definitely not come back. Hopefully, little sister will go easy on me....

- Oh, and the NYC Marathon site has already put up the "countdown" clock for 2010. Time to start training!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

2009 NYC Marathon Race Report - the long version

Marathon day started and ended well. There were a few sketchy moments in between, but overall, it was a great day.
I met up with friends at 6AM for the trip to the start. Taking the ferry, as opposed to the bus as I have in the past, made this much later start possible. Combined with the extra hour from the time change, I was feeling well rested and ready to go.
The trip (subway, ferry, shuttle bus) went amazingly smoothly, but when the bus let us off outside of Fort Wadsworth, we found ourselves on foot, stuck in a huge, slow moving line. Still we got into the staging area at what seemed like an appropriate time, and we found a place to sit down and get organized.
Soon after, however, PL informed us that he had just heard over the PA that the corrals for the first wave were closed. We hadn't even checked our bags.
When I got to my corral, the entry was cordoned off, but a worker was checking bibs and letting folks duck under the cord to go in. Just as I stepped up she was saying that the she wasn't going to let anyone else in. I ducked under before she could finish her sentence. A lot of folks were behind me, and there was a lot of arguing, and folks were jumping the (8 foot) fence.
All was well, however, for those of us that were already in, so I just focused on relaxing and trying to put that moment of anxiety behind me.
Just then, DW tapped me on the shoulder, he and his cousin were right behind me in the corral. He was dressed as a cheerleader, and she as a football player. If you want to relax and get into the spirit of the event, these two are the folks you want to be with. By the time we were on the bridge and and ready to start, I was really enjoying the whole scene.
When the gun went off I stuck with my plan to run a slow first mile. It's the biggest hill in the course by far, but it's really hard to resist taking off. I was really happy when I saw that my 1 mile split was 8:25, and I told myself that there were plenty of miles in which to make up the time to get to my goal pace of 8:00.
And make up the time I did. In mile 2 (7:30). OK, that wasn't exactly the plan. But, I was on pace, and I had run the first mile slow. I decided to pat myself on the back and move on. I put on the brakes for the next miles, but try as I might, I still kept coming in at under 8:00. I was averaging around 7:55 though, so I decided to accept it. It gave me a little buffer for later.
I felt like I had the brakes on for the first 10 miles or so before the pace felt comfortable. I felt like I could run so much faster, but I knew how upset I would be if I went out fast and hit the wall again.
Near the 59th street bridge, I spotted DW2 (yes, this story has two DWs). We had run a 22 miler together in training, and it was great to see her looking really strong in her first marathon. Just after that, I saw AH on the bridge. It amazes me that in a race of 40,000, you can just bump into folks you know.
Coming off the 59th street bridge, I remember the other promise that I made to myself -- to take the steep downhill off the bridge at a slow pace and try not to abuse the quads. This is a famous place to take off, as the silence of the bridge gives way to the loudest crowds on the course.
Once again, however, my discipline was limited. As soon as I got off the hill and in front of the 1rst Avenue crowds, a began to speed up. Part of the reason for this burst of energy was the gradual realization that I wasn't going to hit the wall. Mile 18 was my fastest of the race at 7:25.
Passing the Gel station manned by Flyers, I got another boost. Big cheers from JN (Mr. Boot Camp), and RJ, in from Seattle to support the gang. I also saw JJ, who had to drop out due to a sprained ankle. Instead of staying home and sulking, he was out handing out gels.
As I navigated the rough roads and turns of the Bronx, I was starting to feel the miles in my legs, but psychologically, I was over the hump. I could tell that it was my day.
I had often wondered what the 5th avenue hill would feel like if I was really trying to keep pace, as opposed to just keep going, and I was happy to find that it was not much of a problem at all. With each passing mile, my confidence grew, and my sore muscles mattered less.
On Central Park South, I was running strong and scanning the crowd for my family. I never saw them, although they saw me, I found out later.
As I approached the finish line, I had no interest in kicking. I was safely under my goal time, and sprinting up the hill just seemed silly. I crossed the line in 3:28:51, a huge PR, and for my age group, a BQ.
Steps from the finish, DW2 found me (she had finished 20 or 30 yards ahead). It was great to share the celebration with her, as she was as happy (at least) as I was.
We walked out together, performing the two phase NYC Marathon ritual of first cursing the race organizers for making us walk so far, and then realizing that it was a really good idea as our legs began to recover.
When I got out of the park, my wife and son were waiting for me :-)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

NYC Marathon Race Report - the short story

I'm way too tired to recount the whole story, but here are the key details.

- Finishing time: 3:28:51
- 27 minute PR
- BQ!
- 4,860th place, out of an expected 40,000

More later. For now, I'll just say that I am very happy, and very tired.
Cheers!