Fort Tryon Park

The Hill at the back of Fort Tryon Park

Today: 5.5 miles

Week: 36 miles

Workout: Through Inwood Hill Park and Fort Tryon Park

I made the mistake of running at noon. It was very humid. I felt as if I was hydrating just by breathing in the moisture that was in the air. But it couldn't possibly make up for all the water I was losing through sweating. I hope the Dunkin' Donuts cashier didn't notice all the sweat I dripped on her counter.

Strawberry Fields Hills

Today: 4.5 miles

Week: 30.5 miles

Workout: Warm up from Niketown - 65th St-72nd St. Transverse - West Drive. Run 1 loop around Strawberry Fields. Rest for 90 seconds. Run 2 loops around Strawberry Fields. Rest 2 minutes. Repeat. (6 loops total). Cool down back to 65th St.

I ran at my half marathon pace for all of the loops. It was a good workout, not too hard, but not easy either.

Getting Drenched in Central Park

Today: 8.5 miles

Week: 26 miles

Workout: 3.5 miles from the West Side YMCA, around the lower loop of Central Park, and cutting across to West Drive via the Great Lawn, then 5 miles with WSY up the west side, around the top of the reservoir, down the east side, then meandering all through the park's pedestrian paths, and finally ending up back at the YMCA.

I can't believe the thermometer only read 69 degrees for my 3.5 mile warm up! The humidity had to be about 99%. And then, in the 15 minutes after my 3.5 mile warm up and beginning my run with WSY, the humidity went to 100%. The rain began coming down in buckets. I was completely soaked walking from the front of the YMCA to the corner. We were supposed to do a tempo run around the reservoir but changed our plans because of the torrential downpour. I didn't mind the rain, but the lightning made me a little nervous.

The bridle path around the reservoir was surprisingly OK to run on. After getting to the east side, we spent most of the run on the walking paths in and around the Great Lawn, Belvedere Castle, Bethesda Fountain, etc.

Recovery Run

My latest guilty pleasure.

Today: 5.5 miles

Week: 17.5 miles

Workout: Niketown-65th Street-72nd St. Transverse-up West Drive-all the way around Harlem Hills-back to 65th St.

I forgot to start my watch at the beginning of the run, but I think it took about 45 minutes or so, about 8:00/mile. It was another humid evening. My legs haven't quite recovered from last night's mile repeats, but they weren't too bad either.

Mile Repeats

Today: 12 miles

Week: 12 miles

Workout: 3.5 mile warm up on my own in Central Park, 1 mile warm up with WSY Running Club counterclockwise from the Y to the middle of 72nd St Transverse, 3x1 mile repeats (2 clockwise, 1 counterclockwise), 3 minutes of jogging between the miles, 3.5 mile cool down.

The 1st and 3rd mile repeats going clockwise were slightly downhill, which makes the time on the 2nd mile surprising since we were going the opposite direction, slightly uphill. My times were 5:44, 5:25, and 5:34. Bruno, Farbod, Joe, and I were tightly bunched on the first two mile repeats. We got a little spread out on the last one. I was hurting on the last one. I thought that I was going to be around 5:50, so I was pleasantly surprised when I looked at my watch. I could tell that everyone was working hard because there was very little talking going on.

I'm going to remember this workout when I start hurting in the Team Championship race in a couple of weeks. It will remind me to keep pushing through the pain, and good results will follow.

I did the cool down with Bruno and Farbod. I would not have gone by myself. I felt completely depleted of any kind of energy after the last mile repeat. Even now, as I sit here in front of my computer, I feel a little dizzy and nauseous. I wish I had a camera. Everybody looked like they had just run a muddy cross country race. The ground was wet, and there were a couple of muddy sections we had to run through.

14 WEEKS UNTIL THE NYC MARATHON

Today: 11 miles

Week: 57 miles

Workout: One 6-mile loop of Central Park, then one 5-mile loop.

I ran the 6-mile loop in 45:15 (7:37/mile), and the 5-mile loop in 36:45 (7:21/mile). The total run was 1h 22m (7:27/mile). Before I began the run, I had every intention of running 16 miles. But once I came through the first 6 miles, I knew it wasn't likely to happen. It was too humid.

Bailing on the Long Run

Today: 9 miles

Week: 46 miles

Workout: 65th St & East Drive to Engineer's Gate, 2 loops of the extended bridle path, exit Engineer's Gate-south to 72nd St. Transverse, across to West Drive, around lower loop to 65th St.

I had planned on running my long run today. But I woke up and just didn't feel like I had a long run in me. So I tried to take it easy and save the long run for tomorrow. My run today lasted 1h 37m.

Before heading out on my run, I happened to be walking in Central Park, near the Central Park Zoo. It was about 7 a.m., and there was a bike race in progress. On the newly paved road, someone had written encouraging messages in yellow chalk. It must have had something to do with Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG cancer foundation. I thought some of the messages were interesting, so I took a few pictures.

First Run in the Nike Skylon

Today: 5 miles

Week: 37 miles

Workout: Bridle path @7:20/mile.

Wow! The Skylons are light! I still prefer the Nike Vomeros for most of my training runs, but I can see myself using the Skylons for short runs or races.

The first mile was probably closer to 8:00/mile, while the end of the run was probably close to 6:50/mile. The total time was 37:43, and it was probably a little more than 5 miles. I sure wish I could do more of my runs on trails or grass.

Recovery Day

Today: 7 miles

Week: 32 miles

Workout: YMCA to Niketown, Niketown to 65th St., 4-mile loop of Central Park counterclockwise, Niketown to YMCA.

I did the the runs from the YMCA to Niketown and back @ 8:00/mile and the 4-mile loop @ over 10:00/mile. It was drizzling during the entire run. My legs weren't as tired from yesterday's tempo run as I thought they would be, but I was still glad to not be running hard today.

Tempo Run

Today: 10 miles

Week: 25 miles

Workout: 4 miles from 63rd St on the west side of Central Park, around the lower loop to Engineer's Gate, across the bottom of the reservoir to West Drive and back to the YMCA, 1 mile warm up with WSY to 81st Street, 4-mile tempo run around the top of Central Park to 72nd Street Transverse and East Drive, 1 mile cool down around the lower loop.

I ran the first 4 miles at 7:30/mile. I did the 4-mile tempo in 26:42 (6:41/mile). But the first mile was probably close to 7:30-7:45, and the last 1.5 miles was probably close to 6:00/mile. I ran first mile of the tempo run with a group, the 2nd mile of the tempo run by myself, and the last two miles were done with Bruno, or chasing Bruno. I felt great on the tempo run despite the humidity and quick pace.

Scary Horse!

I see this horse whenever I exit through the back of my building. It creeps me out.

Today: 5 miles

Week: 15 miles

Workout: 1 mile from Y to Niketown, 4 miles @ 10:00/mile from Niketown to 102nd Street Transverse and back.

What an ugly day. My legs were tired out from the past three days of workouts. I think I will need another day to recover.

1000 Meter Repeats

15 Weeks until the NYC Marathon

Today: 10 miles

Week: 10 miles

Workout: 4 miles in Central Park @ 7:12/mile, 1 mile warm up to West Side Hwy bike path, 5x1000 meter repeats with 400 meter recovery jog. Three consecutive minutes of planks.

My times for the 1000 meter repeats were 3:20, 3:23, 2:49 (I think this one was a little short.), 2:38 (I stopped a block short.), and 3:10. We basically ran 13 blocks, 12 blocks, 12 blocks, 12 blocks, and 13 blocks and did 5-block recovery jogs.

I probably could have run a little harder, but I was saving something for the plank exercise that I knew would come after the repeats. HA! Just kidding.

Another 50-mile Week!

Today: 10 miles

Week: 51 miles

Workout: Two 5-mile loops in Central Park @7:30/mile.

I ran with Farbod. We did the first 5-mile loop in 38:28 (7:42/mile), and the second 5-mile loop in 36:29 (7:18/mile). The overall run was 1h 14m 57s. It was pretty warm but not nearly as humid as yesterday. I couldn't help wondering how in the world I will be able to hold a 7:00/mile pace for the marathon when a 10-mile run at 7:30/mile doesn't seem all that easy.

CPC Run for Central Park 4 Mile

Today: 4.5 miles

Week: 41 miles

Workout: 0.5 mile warm up, 4-mile race

I was a little late getting to the race. I had to run from the YMCA to the starting line and didn't get to warm up as much as I would have liked. Although, standing in the corral for 10 minutes was more than enough to warm me up. The humidity was ridiculous this morning. Because I got to the corral late, I got stuck in the middle of my corral. That led to a slower than expected first mile. My splits were 6:17, 5:48, 6:02, and 5:45. My goal was to run a 23:50. Even though I ran a 23:52, I was satisfied. If it wasn't for the slow first mile, I probably would have broken 23:50. I actually haven't run this fast in a 4-mile race since 2002!

The West Side Road Runners Club finished in 14th place out of 45 teams. We are steadily moving up in the ranks. Our masters team finished 13th out of 37 teams.

Fort Tryon Park

Today: 2 miles

Week: 36.5 miles

Workout: Around and through Fort Tryon Park.

I ran a 8:30/mile pace. I even walked up the very steep hill at the back of the park in anticipation of tomorrow's race. I didn't want to risk making these old muscles sore.

Finally, A Real Summer Day

Today: 5.5 miles

Week: 34.5 miles

Workout: 65th Street in Central Park-72nd St. Transverse-West Drive-clockwise around Central Park-back to 65th Street

We had three groups of runners today, a 3-mile group, a 4-mile group, and a 6-mile group. It finally felt like summer today. I ran at the back of the 6-mile group. I ran with a triathlete and a woman who is training for the NYC Marathon, her first one. We finished the run in 56 minutes. We stopped a couple of times for water, so we were probably doing a 9:00/mile pace.

Running Shoe Graveyard

I decided to check under my bed (a.k.a. the Running Shoe Graveyard) and get rid of some old running shoes. Here is the tally: 4 pairs of Nike Vomeros, 1 pair of Nike Zoom Elites, 4 pairs of Brooks, and 1 pair of Saucony.

I'm not even counting the 2 pairs of Vomeros that I'm going to keep even though I no longer run in them. They're still good for walking around.

Hey, Mike, what shoes do you currently use for running?

Well, I'm glad you asked. I currently run in Nike Vomero 4s (LOVE THEM!), Asics Gel Nimbus 9 (I don't really like them, too bulky feeling.), Nike Lunarlite (OK), Nike Zoom Victory (gift from a friend, used them at the Armory), Nike Air Zoom Katana (have only worn them once for intervals, very light), and Brooks T5 Racers (used them for the bulk of my races in the past year, LOVE THEM, but they will have to be retired).

I'm still looking for that perfect road racing shoe, good fit, enough cushion to protect my knees, but still light enough to feel like I have nothing on my feet. Any suggestions?

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Today: 15 miles

Week: 29 miles

Workout: One 6-mile loop of Central Park on my own. 1 mile warm up with WSY from YMCA around bottom of park to 72nd Transverse. 4-mile loop. Then, 4 miles on my own from 72nd Street Transverse to 102nd St. Transverse, to West Drive, to Y.

I did the 6-mile loop in 45 minutes (7:30/mile). I ran the 4-mile loop with Claudina in 37:09 (9:17/mile). I ran my last 4 miles in 27:55 (6:59/mile). I did my long run today since I will be running the Run for Central Park 4-mile race on Saturday.

Farbod won a free open bar for one hour. So a bunch of us went to out tonight after our workout. Unfortunately for me, I drank just enough beer to agree to participate in a facial hair contest next month. My only hope is to come up with a cool design for my facial hair because there is no way I'm going to win based on quantity. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

Crosswalk Intervals

Today: 5 miles

Week:14 miles

Workout: Begin in Central Park at 65th Street. Heading up East Drive. Jog to the first crosswalk, then run harder to the next crosswalk. Continue to alternate a recovery jog and running harder between crosswalks all the way around the 5-mile loop.

Before the workout began, I received my official bright yellow shirt that says "Nike Running" on the front and "Pacer" on the back. Woo-hoo!

Speed Ladder

Today: 9 miles

Week: 9 miles

Workout: 4 miles on bridle path and reservoir, 1 mile YMCA to West Side Hwy bike path, intervals of 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400, and 200 meters with 2 blocks jog in between each. 1 mile cool down back to YMCA.

16 weeks until the NYC Marathon!

The 4 miles I did before the speed ladder made a huge difference. I was warmed up and ready to go on the first interval. Usually I'm trying to get warmed up on the first interval, and it's always my slowest. The distances of each interval were only approximations. We had to judge the distance using blocks, using the scale of 20 blocks = 1 mile. Before we head out on the run, we tried to go over how many blocks each interval would be. For example, our first interval was supposed to begin on 59th Street and end at 44th Street. Then, we were supposed to jog to 42nd Street. Some people wrote the streets on their arms.

I thought I had memorized where we were supposed to begin and end each interval. However, I missed the end of one of the intervals because I didn't see the street sign and ran one block too far. These were my times for each interval: 1200 (4:20), 1000 (3:22), 800 (3:06), 600 (1:42), 400 (1:19), 200 (0:46). The rest between each interval was about a minute. I think the 800 was the one where I ran a block too far. Anyway, it was a really good workout. I probably would not have run as fast as I did if I hadn't been chasing Bruno for most of the workout.

After everyone finished the intervals, we were all resting and Stacy described this new plank workout she has been using. I thought she was just sharing it. But we ended up DOING the workout on the grass! There's nothing like doing planks after a hard interval workout.

50-Mile Week

Today: 7.5 miles

Week: 50.5 miles

Workout: From 63rd Street on the west side, I ran counter clockwise around Central Park. When I got to 86th Street on the west side, I hopped onto the reservoir and did one loop. After the loop, I ran back to the YMCA. Six 80-meter strides at the end of the run.

I woke up at 7:00 a.m. this morning and was relieved that I decided not to do the NYRRC Long Training Run #1. I promptly went back to sleep and woke up at noon.

The total run today was 53:47. The 6-mile loop took me 43:05, and the loop of the reservoir took 10:42. The overall pace was about 7:00/mile. I was feeling really good and was probably doing sub-7:00/mile for the last 2 miles. It was another great day for a run.

LONG RUN

Today: 12 miles

Week: 43 miles

Workout: Niketown -- Central Park South -- 59th St -- West Side Hwy bike path -- up to just past Riverbank State Park -- back to Niketown.

There were only about 5 or 6 people doing the entire 12-mile run today. It was only my third "long" run of my marathon training. The first half of the run was very nice and relaxed. But as soon as we turned around, we were fighting a strong headwind. Why is it that you don't really feel the wind at your back, but as soon as you turn around, the wind feels so strong? It took 47:26 to get to the turnaround point and 44:31 to come back. So, despite the strong wind coming back, we did pick up the pace. The total run was 1h 31m 57s.

Coming back to Niketown, we went by some construction workers on Central Park South. A guy was using one of those saws that cuts through cement. As I took to the street, his saw threw off sparks, and one of the sparks went right into my ear! I could feel the heat inside my ear. So if any of you notice that I don't respond when you are talking to me, it's probably because the spark burned a hole into my eardrum. I'm not too concerned since my hearing was never that great to begin with. :-)

Freakish NY Summer Weather

Today: 2 miles

Week: 31 miles

Workout: West Side Y around the bottom of Central Park, to Engineer's Gate

OK. I don't want to jinx the great weather we are having here in New York, but this weather is absolutely AMAZING!!!

James Carville

Today: 5 miles

Week: 29 miles

Workout: 65th Street on the east side of Central Park to Engineer's Gate, enter bridle path, follow it around to the west side of the park, cross back to the east side at 86th Street, exit at Engineer's Gate and go back to 65th Street.

I ran an even pace of about 8:00/mile until we got onto the bridle path. The Run NYC workout called for a tempo run on the bridle path. I picked it up for 3 to 4 minute stretches. However, I had to stop a lot in order to direct runners because I wasn't sure they knew their way around the bridle path. So I did quite a bit of standing around. Right before I got to Engineer's Gate, I saw James Carville in the park. I wish I had some of my West Side YMCA Running Club business cards. I would have recruited him for our club. HA!

Happy 40th Greg!

Today: 10.5 miles

Week: 24 miles

Workout: 4 miles on my own @ 7:30/mile, 1 mile warm up with the running club from Y to 72nd St Transverse on East Drive, 5 mile loop in 36:15 (7:15/mile), 0.5 mile cool down back to the Y.

Another beautiful day in Central Park. It was good to see Francois at the workout today. After everyone arrived at the end of our 5 mile loop, we watched over half a dozen fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars go by us up the East Drive. At first they came through 72nd Street Transverse and headed toward the west side of the park, but they must have made a wrong turn. They all turned around in the middle of the transverse, came back toward us, and went up the East Drive, stopping near the Boat House.

As one fire truck was making the left hand turn from the 72nd Transverse onto East Drive, we witnessed a typical New York moment. A guy with a pedicab wasn't pulled over to the side of road enough for the fire truck to make its left turn. The driver of the fire truck leaned out of his window and said, "Get the f**k out of the way!" Not only were there fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, and one of those emergency police trucks, there was also a police helicopter.

No one really knew what was going on. We had some guesses. One theory was that the police were just doing an emergency drill. Another person suggested that someone fell into the lake near the Boat House. Since Central Park was so crowded today, I thought, maybe there was a huge riot involving runners, cyclists, and roller bladers. Each group had finally had enough of the other groups getting in their way and resorted to violence.

After the workout, we went to Bar Coastal on the Upper East Side to celebrate Greg's 40th birthday. Look out running clubs! The WSY will be fielding a masters team in the Run for the Parks on July 18th!

5.5 Miles

Today: 5.5 miles

Week: 13.5 miles

Workout: 65th Street on east side of Central Park -- 72nd Street Transverse -- West Drive -- clockwise around the park and back to 65th Street.

Ran with Nike Run Club at a conversational pace. There were a lot of runners in the park today. I ran with a guy visiting from France and a German guy who is training for his first marathon. Alanna came to the workout. Yea! It's interesting how it seems like you know so many runners in the park once you start running with a couple of different running groups.

800 Meter Intervals

Today: 8 miles

Week: 8 miles

Workout: 4 miles from West Side Y, around lower loop of Central Park to Engineer's Gate, bottom of reservoir back to West Drive, to the Y. 1 mile with WSYRRC from Y, around lower loop to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 4 x 800m. 1 mile cool down

17 Weeks until the NYC Marathon

The 800s were on East Drive from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, running north to near the end of the northern part of the reservoir. The first "800" was actually too long. Mine was done in 3:20.

My next three 800s were done in 2:44, 2:48, and 2:45. My rest in between all of the intervals was 4:07, 2:48, and 3:37. (The rest was supposed to be 2:00) It was a tough workout. I felt good on my second one, but on the 3rd and 4th ones, I struggled. It was one of those workouts where I was expending so much energy that I was having a difficult time staying relaxed and maintaining my form. I was hoping that runners coming the other way would move out of my way because I didn't have the energy to move out of THEIR way. I felt that, at any moment, I was going to quit. But my legs and arms just kept pumping away and wouldn't let me stop.

After the last 800, I had to hold onto a fence to remain standing and catch my breath. I was bent at the waist, and when I raised myself upright, I felt all of Central Park swirl around me for a second. I felt wobbly and had trouble focusing on people's faces. The feeling lasted the rest of the night. Gotta love interval training!

When we were done with the 800s, Denie, Greg, and I went with Farbod to do some pull-ups. I could only managed a set and barely managed to jog the mile back to the Y.

Stacy unveiled her marathon training program today. It's nice the way all the workouts are laid out for us, and how it figures out your pace for each workout.

9 Miles was Never Easier

Today: 9 miles

Week: 46 miles

Workout: Run from YMCA to West Side Hwy bike path, down to a little south of Canal Street and back to the Y.

Wow! It was a perfect day for a run. Sunny, not too hot, cool breeze, and not ONE rude comment from any cyclist on the bike path. It took me 35:42 to get to the turnaround point. I came back in 32:29. The overall run took me 1h 08m 11s. It was one of those runs where you just want to keep going. I had to force myself to turn around. I don't normally like out-and-back runs, but there's something to be said for avoiding the hills of Central Park.

Long Run

Today: 14 miles

Week: 37 miles

Workout: Run 1 mile from the Y to Niketown, run down the West Side Hwy bike path to Spring Street with the Nike Run Club, and run 3+ miles in Central Park on my own.

Once we got onto the bike path, we were probably doing 8:10/mile pace to the turnaround point. We picked up the pace on the way back and were doing about 7:50/mile.

After getting back to Niketown, I stretched out a little. I felt like I needed to a little more running, so I ran into Central Park. I went to Engineer's Gate, took the bridle path to West Drive, and went back to the Y.

Bruno's Beer Mile

On the roof of Bruno's apartment.

Bruno's Beer Mile (with a 70s theme) was a huge success. As someone who didn't participate, I can say that it was thoroughly entertaining. The people who dressed up in a 70s theme looked great. I thought I might regret not taking part, but after seeing how difficult it was for some people to finish, I am 100% sure I made the right decision.

A beer mile consists of running 4 laps on the track, but the runner (or should I say the drinker) must drink one can of beer before each lap. If I listened carefully, I could hear all that beer sloshing around in everyone's stomach. The winner finished in just over 7 minutes! Are you kidding me?! The people who finished in 10 or 20 minutes were just as impressive. If I had participated, I'm sure it would have taken me about an hour to finish. Everyone finished just in time. As we were cleaning up, two police officers on bicycles rode past us.

After the race, we walked over to Bruno's apartment and enjoyed the amazing view from the roof of his apartment. At some point, Farbod came up with the crazy idea to climb the water tower on the roof. When Farbod asked me if I wanted to go, a small voice in my head said, "Yeah, go ahead, it will be fun!" But a much louder voice in my head said, "WTF! Are you crazy?!" I took the advice of the louder voice. Bruno and Joe, on the other hand, took Farbod up on his offer, and the next thing I know, the three of them were scaling the ladder. I kept waiting for someone to end up IN the water tower. It looked rather old, and I wasn't sure it would hold three people. Fortunately, everyone made it up and back down without incident. When and where will the next beer mile take place? Who knows, but it will be tough to top this one.

The New Yankee Stadium

Today: 0 miles

Week: 23 miles

Workout: Watch the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 4-2.

Runnin' in the Rain

Today: 3.5 miles

Week: 23 miles

Workout: Niketown to Engineer's Gate and back.

I ran with the Nike Run Club group out of Niketown. It was my first day as a pacer. I met a lot of nice people. It seems like it's been raining for the past two months! It poured on us today! Global warming is in effect.

Easy Run

Today: 6 miles

Week: 19.5 miles

Workout: One loop of Central Park in 48:54 (8:09/mile).

The workout was supposed to be 2 miles easy, 2 miles at 10K race pace, and 2 miles easy. But I've run relatively tough workouts the last two days. I was in need of an easy day, so I ran the entire loop at a conversational pace.

Before the workout, Stacy and Bruno spoke more about their plans for fall marathon training. It's nice to be in a group where so many people are training for marathons. It makes it easy to organize runs on days other than Mondays and Wednesdays.

It seems like quite a few people who are not doing the New York City Marathon are planning on doing the Philadelphia Marathon. I'm excited about possibly going to Philly as a spectator.