East Drive Run

Today: 4 miles

Week: 10.5 miles

Workout: Niketown - E. Drive - 97th St & back.

What a difference a day makes! Low humidity = more enjoyable run.

West Side Run

Monday: 6.5 miles

Week: 6.5 miles

Workout: Central Park & W. 63rd St. - north on West Drive - 102nd Transverse & East Drive - return

27 minutes out, and 23:40 return. Today was the last day of school. Now I have two months of relaxation, with a little bit of running thrown in.

Queensboro Bridge

Today: 7 miles

Week: 24 miles

Workout: Niketown - twice across Queensboro Bridge

Another warm day. I wish there was a water fountain at the crest of the bridge.

Thursday: 6.5 miles

Week: 17 miles

Workout: Niketown - lower loop - 9 loops of Strawberry Fields - return to 65th

Another hot & humid evening. My times on the first 8 loops were: 2:58, 2:54, 2:53, 2:53, 2:56, 2:55, 2:58, 2:58. Ran hard on the uphill, recover on the downhill, and pick up the pace a little on the straight going into the hill again.

Wednesday: 4.5 miles

Week: 10.5 miles

Workout: 4-mile loop of Central Park

It was supposed to be a tempo run, but I just didn't have any energy today.

Recovery Run

Today: 6 miles

Week: 6 miles

Workout: Full loop of Central Park, surging slightly on all the hills.

I didn't really feel sore from yesterday's Father's Day race, just really tired. I could do without this humidity. A lot of people came out for our run today. YMCA Mondays & Wednesdays @ 6:30 p.m.

Father's Day 5 Mile

Today: 6.5 miles

Week: 31.5 miles

Workout: 0.5 mile warm up, Father's Day 5 mile race in Central Park, 1 mile cool down.

Very uncomfortable conditions for running. I should have started the race a little slower. My splits were 6:03, 5:57, 6:24, 6:23, 6:23. Total: 31:10 (6:14/mile). 151st overall out of 3,000+ men. 12th out of 475 men in my age division.

Our West Side YMCA team was 12th overall. Our Masters team was 10th overall. Great job Lou, Bruno, Farbod, Denie, David K., DJ, Greg H., and Huw! Thanks for coming out Stacy.

Easy Run

Today: 3 miles

Week: 25 miles

Workout: Niketown - 85th & E. Drive - bridle path - W. 86th St. - return

The day off yesterday seems to have helped my legs. I'm not sure what to expect in tomorrow's 5-mile race, but I hope to run as close to 30 minutes as possible.

Corporate Challenge

Yesterday: 5.5 miles

Week: 22 miles

Workout: 1 mile warm-up, 3.5 mile Corporate Challenge race in Central Park, 1 mile cool down

It was my first time doing the Corporate Challenge. I didn't know that the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the teachers' union, had a team and was allowed to participate in the race. My legs were tired before the race, and I have a 5 mile race on Sunday. So my goal for this race was to run under 22:10 (6:20/mile) and still be fresh for this Sunday's race.

I was able to get near the front because of the new color coded start system. I went out at 5:57 for the first mile, felt good, and decided to push. My splits were 5:57, 5:51, 6:05, 2:58 (last 0.5 mile). Total: 20:51. (approximately 5:58/mile for the whole race)

Heckscher Ballfields

Today: 4.5 miles

Week: 16.5 miles

Workout: 12 loops of Heckscher Ballfields

I was supposed to run 2 loops hard and 1 loop recovery. And continue doing that for 30 minutes, but instead, I ran a slow steady pace for all 30 minutes.

Bridle Path

Yesterday: 7 miles

Week: 12 miles

Workout: Niketown - 85th @ E. Drive - enter bridle path and do 3 counter clockwise loops - back to Niketown

Perfect weather. Felt great on the run. Ran a nice even sub-8:00/mile pace.

Bridle Path

Today: 5 miles

Week: 5 miles

Workout: YMCA - Bridle path

Going to try and just do easy runs all week in preparation for upcoming races.

West Side Hwy

Today: 6 miles

Week: 26 miles

Workout: Niketown - West Side Hwy - 28th St and return.

Easy run. A little humid, but not too bad. Busy week ahead. Corporate Challenge 3.5 mile on Thursday, and Father's Day 5 Mile on Sunday.

Today: 2 miles

Week: 20 miles

Workout: Niketown - East Drive - 85th St and back.

Knees are sore!

102nd St Repeats

Today: 7 miles

Week: 18 miles

Workout: Y - 102nd St. Transverse - 8 repeats along the transverse with 1:00 minute rest.

It was raining for the entire run. What's up with this 50 degree weather?! I forgot that the transverse is slightly uphill going from west to east. My times were 83, 80, 82, 78, 81, 78, 80, 77. The first repeat was going east. The second repeat was going west. Tough workout, especially after running the 3000 meter race last night.

Tuesday Night Speed Series

Tuesday: 4 miles

Week: 11 miles

Workout: 2 mile warm up, 3000 meter race at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island

The 3000 was the last race of the evening. There weren't too many people in the race, maybe 10 to 12. My goal was to run 86 second laps. My laps were 87, 87, 86, 86, (5:46 first mile), 86, 86, 84, 38 (last 200 meters). 10:40 total time. I was lapped by 2 guys during the race.

West Side Hwy

Monday: 7 miles

Week: 7 miles

Workout: Y - West Side Hwy - 20 minutes south, then return

Perfect weather. 50 push-ups and 50 crunches after the run.

Stadium Slugfest

This has nothing to do with running, but last night I attended the Cotto-Foreman fight at Yankee Stadium. Not only was it my first boxing match, it was the first boxing match held at Yankee Stadium since 1976.

I saw Spike Lee walk by while I was waiting outside the stadium. Manny Pacquiao was in attendance. Dale Davis, the former Indiana Pacers player, was seated a few rows behind me. A guy from the Sopranos also walked by me while I was getting some food.

Before the fight began, I was a little nervous because I was sitting next to some Foreman supporters who were holding up a HUGE Israeli flag. I was concerned that Cotto supporters in the upper deck might start throwing objects at them and accidentally hit me.

The crowd was pro-Cotto. Yuri Foreman showed a lot of heart. He continued to fight even though he injured his knee in the 7th round and was clearly in pain. He even continued to fight after his cornerman threw in the towel, and the referee ordered the fight to continue. Cotto finally ended it in the 9th with a shot to Foreman's body.

Bridle Path

Today: 4 miles

Week: 29 miles

Workout: Niketown - 85th & E. Dr. - one bridle path loop - 65th E. Dr.

A little too humid for me. Free Starbucks iced coffee at the end of the run was nice!

Half Mile Repeats

Today: 6 miles

Week: 25 miles

Workout: Niketown - 84th & E. Dr. Did 6 repeats from 84th to 94th St. Recover from 94th to 84th St.

On the way back to Niketown, someone pointed out Chuck Scarborough, the anchorman for Channel 4, walking up 5th Ave. My first newsperson sighting. Other than Mr. G, of course, who is ALWAYS in Central Park.

Today: 8 miles

Week: 19 miles

Workout: YMCA - north on West Drive - 102nd St & E. Drive - turn around and head back to the Y - then add on lower loop.

I think something is wrong with me. It takes me forever to recover from tough workouts. My legs were still very sore from Monday's workout.

I registered for the NYC Half Marathon, which will be on March 20, 2011. $89, plus a $5 processing fee?!!! Wow!

Today: 5 miles

Week: 11 miles

Workout: Niketown - E. 85th - Bridle Path - W. 86th - lower loop

Legs were still recuperating from yesterday's workout. If I feel like this after a hard workout, what will it feel like 10 years from now???