Bringin' the Heat

Today's 4 miler was a club points race, which meant that the fast runners were out. It was also 82 degrees at 9AM when the race started, which suggested that we would all be slower than usual.
The NYRR announcers in the staging area and at the start must have said "today is not the day for a PR" 20 times. Bah Humbug. I had done 27x200 with the 6AM group on Tuesday, and I was feeling fast.
I went out at a pace that felt reasonably conservative, and was happy to hit mile 1 at 6:16 -- 9 seconds ahead of PR pace.
Mile 2: 6:18
Mile 3: 6:31
Mile 4: 6:18

I ended up with a 22 second PR.
Official results:

25:26 (6:21/mile) - 75.1% AG.

I was 13th place in my age group, which is the best I've done in a points race. I also scored for the Flyer in the open and masters classes.

I was really pumped to PR in this tough heat. I'm hoping that when the weather cools, there will be more speed to come. According to the Runworks calculator, my race was the equivalent of a 6:09 pace in ideal temps. That seems pretty generous, but I do think I can step it up when the temps cool.

In the mean time, I've taken action to cool things down by driving to Maine. I'll be training up here for the next three weeks. Hopefully, this crazy heat will have passed by the time I get back!

Denied!

Well, the mystery is solved - I placed 4th in my age group for last week's race. Due to a glitch in the results, it looked like I might have been 3rd, which would have been my first age group award, but alas, it was not to be. The NYRR fixed the error, and it didn't play in my favor.

To be honest, it wasn't really a fast enough run to justify an award anyway. The three guys ahead of me were pretty far ahead.

That said, I'm getting closer. In 2010, I've been in the top 10 of my age group in 4 NYRR races, including the 4th last week, and a 5th in a 4 miler in May. In January, my chances will get much better, since I move up an age group. That won't stop me from trying in the mean time though.

Thanks to the folks who offered congrats -- don't worry, I'll get there!

Dare to Dream?

On Thursday, I ran a cross-country 2x2 mile relay in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. For years, I've been wanting to run one of the summer 5Ks that the VCTC puts on there. It was my 6AM training partner JH that finally got me there. He wanted a partner for the relay, and we made a natural team.

After we signed up we looked at our bibs, and tried to decipher the "M91" that was written on them. Finally, we figured out that 91 was our combined ages. Yikes.

I went first, not really knowing what to expect. It was my first off road race. I was told that there was only one hill, and my leg was only 2 miles, so how hard could it be?

Well, the hill was a country hill, not a wave in the road like I'm familiar with. On the way up, my quads were burning but I passed three people -- one guy about my age, and the two lead women. On the way down, they all passed me back. It was so steep going down, that I thought I was going to go head over heels at any moment. At the end of my leg, I felt like I was finishing strong, and I really liked the "high five" that I gave JH to send him on his way -- it was much more satisfying than an awkward baton pass. That's the way they roll in the Bronx.

JH ran well, and finished with an impressive kick. It was great to see him come in.

Flyers SS and RG (above) took second in the over 100 combined age group. The winning team had a combined age of 32. I guess there was no post race beer for them...

Today was the Dash and Splash 10K, which I targeted as an early attempt at my 2010 goal -- weather permitting. Well, weather was definitely NOT permitting. After the race, my iPhone told me it was 80 degrees. At mile 4, it seemed like 90.

Still, I put out a "good effort" and finished with a 6:40/mile pace. Since the weather scared away a lot of the faster (sissy) runners, I placed higher than usual. When I checked the results, I was 4th in my age group, but FA emailed me saying that the awards page had me at 3rd. I checked again, and saw that indeed I was the 3rd runner listed, but for some reason the fastest guy was labeled as 2nd place, pushing the rest of us back one place. There was no 1st place runner listed.

So did I place 3rd, and win my first ever age group award? We'll have to wait and see. Stay tuned, to find out!

60 Mile Week, and The Plan

This week, I ran my first 60 mile week. My longest run was only 13.5, but I ran 6 days, averaging 10 miles per run. Breaking 60 was not a goal, but ramping up the mileage with medium, rather than long runs was a goal. I just checked my log and I found that in the last year I've run 18 weeks with mileage over 50. I've even had a couple of 59 mile weeks, so this was not completely out of the blue.

By the way, I log my runs using the free online tool at RunningAhead.com. This tool makes it easy to look back and get info like this. I highly recommend it.

Time to set my next target races...

My remaining goals for 2010 are 5K and 10K times.

This weekend is the NYRR Dash & Splash, a 10K in the park, and the timing is right for an early try at the 10K goal, which is to break 40 minutes. It is a stretch, but given perfect weather, I think that I would have an outside chance. Unfortunately, perfect weather does not appear to be what is coming. Current predictions are for hot, hot, hot.

Just the same, I'd like to get closer to the mark, so that the next time a 10K comes around, it seems within striking distance.

For the 5K, I will make my first attempt at the 2010 goal at the Harlem 5K Run in August. I haven't run this one before, but I'm hoping for a flat course. I'll need one.

Happy Father's Day

The first race I signed up for this week was the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge. In December, the startup that I was working for was bought by BNYMellon, with fields a team of 250 runners for the event. Unfortunately, the "Challenge" in "Corporate Challenge" was very different than I expected. My race number, chip and t-shirt were sent via inter-office mail, and were hopelessly lost. I did what I could to find the package, but veteran employees tipped me off that my chances were not good. I could have showed up and run "for fun", but somehow I just wasn't inspired to run a timed race without being timed...

Instead, I turned by focus to today's Father's Day 5 miler in the park. I felt good for this one, but the weather was looking a little warm. My PR was from Jan 2009, which meant I should be able to beat it, but January was probably a bit cooler weather...

The start went smoothly -- for me, anyway. About 50 yards or so into the race I heard noise, and looked to my right in time to see a runner hit the ground hard. The noise that I had heard must have been contact between runners before the fall. Somehow it didn't turn into pile up, although I have no idea how. The guy was on his back, and perpendicular to traffic, which at that point was still very dense. I looked like it really hurt. I redirected my attention to my own position and hoped the runners around me did the same. It would have been easy for rubber necking to have caused another collision.

Continuing on, I saw Flyer JF not to far ahead, and I seemed to be keeping up, or even catching him. JF is very fast, and I normally don't see him until after the race. This meant one of 3 three things: 1] I had suddenly become super fast (dream on), 2] He was having a slow day (more likely) or 3] I was going out WAY too fast. (bingo!).

I hit the mile 1 marker at 6:17. Given that my PR pace was 6:37, this may have been juuuuuust a tad too quick. I tried to relax and settle in, resulting in splits of 6:24, 6:40 (uphill mile), and 6:30.

Right before the mile 4 marker, I came up on a runner who looked my age, or probably older. We greeted each other with the secret exchange of two older guys congratulating each other on being up there with the young folk. He pulled into a water stop, caught back up with me, and offered me one of the two cups he had snagged. This, at a point in the race when most folks were really starting to hurt. What a guy. After a bit, I moved ahead, but I had the feeling I had not seen the last of him. With about a quarter mile to go, the heat and aggressive running caught up with me, and I thought for a moment that my race might end prematurely. I held steady and got through that moment (whew). With about 100 yards to go, the guy who had offered me water went flying past. I thought about trying to catch him, but only briefly. After the finish I congratulated him on the awesome hot weather kick, and we talked for a while. He coaches High School track in CT, and I really enjoyed chatting with him. He made references to his retirement age, which made me realize that he was older than I had thought -- even more impressive. I just checked the results, and he is 9 years older than me, finished 4th in his age group (in a points race!), and had a 80% AG. That's who I want to be when I grow up.

I ended up with a 32:30 (6:30 pace), a PR for 5 miles. I was 15th of 380 men in my age group -- much better than usual for me in a points race. I'm very pleased with this result, especially given the heat, and I'm really looking forward to continuing my focus on these shorter distances.

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%