Fantasy Run

I was looking forward to the Brooklyn Half Marathon today, but I was also worried.

Last year, I found the course to be very challenging. The first half is run in Prospect Park and is quite hilly. The second half, in contrast, is a flat, straight line down Ocean Parkway. It is this second half that intimidates me. With no turns, no elevation changes, and nothing to see on the side of the road, the only landmarks are the mile markers and the sound of feet hitting the street. With no hills, there is also no reason to change your stride. You just have to keep going and going and going.

Over the last few days I tried to think of a strategy, but came up with nada. Then, today, as I exited the park and passed the mile 7 marker, a plan suddenly came to me. With six miles to go, I decided to pretend that I was running a Central Park loop.

I imagined myself starting with the 6AM group at West 72nd, and running down the hill onto Park Drive. For the next mile and a half I was running the rolling hills on the West Side. Then came the steep incline up Harlem Hill. I shortened my stride (really!), and told myself that it was natural to feel tired at this point. After I topped "the hill", I opened my stride up for the downhill, and told myself to let the speed come.

Believe it or not, this really worked. The miles flew by. Before I knew it, I could see the boardwalk, and the race was nearly over. I had held pace, and I had more in the tank.

I crossed the finish line completely pumped up, in 1:30:50 (6:56/mile) -- a 2:38 PR, and meeting my 3rd 2010 goal -- to run a Half Marathon at a sub 7:00 pace.

Something in the air....

I went into this morning's Mother's Day 4 Mile race not sure exactly what to expect from myself. I was not targeting this race, but it seemed like a good chance for a post marathon speed check. Before I left home, I checked my current PR at this distance, and was surprised to find that it has come 3 weeks after the NYC Marathon. Hmm... so much for that excuse...

I felt very good off the start, but soon my lungs began to burn. I haven't had this feeling in a long time, and I couldn't figure out why it was happe

ning. The first mile marker came up at 6:29. Knowing full well that miles 1 and 3 are the slow ones in this course, I felt good about my start. Mile 2 was in 6:24, which put me right on PR pace. Mile 3 took 6:33 (no surprise). All I needed was a quick downhill last mile to get the job done.

At this point though, not only were my lungs burning, but I was starting have problems with phlegm build up. I to frequently clear my throat in order to avoid inhaling fluid (sorry if this is TMI). Still I was able to pull out a 6:15 for the last mile, PRing by a couple of seconds. I was feeling good about the results -- all I needed was some water to put out the fire. As I walked down the line of water cups, I was dismayed to find that each and every cup had a layer of schmutz floating on the surface. Eventually, I just grabbed one and poured some out, hoping for the best.

Afterwards, PL mentioned that he had the same issue with his lungs, and we, along with DG, tried to figure out what it was. It took a while, but eventually we realized that the pollen in the air was as thick as snow in a blizzard. The gusty wind was probably shaking loose every last bit of pollen in the park. The intense pollen also accounted for the schmutz layer on the water. At least it was organic schmutz...

Official results: 25:43 (6:25/mile)

114th of 4765 overall

5th place of 207 men ages 45-49

74.3 AG%