Today: 9.5 miles
Week: 24.5 miles
Workout: YMCA - NYRR - Niketown - 65th & E. Dr. - 1 upper loop - back to 65th

Windy! But at least it didn't rain.

Today: 5 miles
Week: 15 miles
Workout: 65th & E. Dr in Central Park, lower loop, and up West Drive - 102nd Transverse - E. Drive - 65th

Tempo

Yesterday: 10 miles
Week: 10 miles
Workout: 5 miles on bridle path with last 2 miles @ 6:40, slow recovery mile, 1 1/2 loops of reservoir @ 6:20/mi, slow recovery mile.

It started pouring at the end of my bridle path run. I didn't plan on running the reservoir at tempo pace but decided to run with Lou. I felt good, so I decided to take advantage of having someone else to run with. We ran through some puddles that were ankle deep.

5th Ave Mile

Today: 3.5 miles

Week: 43.5 miles

Workout: 1.5 mile warm up, 5th Ave Mile race, 1 mile cool down.

Couldn't have asked for a better performance, considering I ran 19+ miles yesterday. I think I went through 400m at 77 seconds and 800m at 2:36. Official result was 5:03. That means I did approximately 2:27 for the second half.

I feel like a sub-5:00 mile is possible if I could just find the time to train for it.

The professional men's and women's races were exciting.

This is what world class milers look like up close. Watch carefully, or you'll miss it!

Long Run

Today: 19.5 miles

Week: 40 miles

Workout: Niketown - 1st Ave - 34th St. - FDR pedestrian path - around lower Manhattan - West Side Hwy running path - 125th St - back to 59th St, walk back to store.

2h 52m. Nice run. A bit warm. 6 weeks until the NYC Marathon. Mile on Fifth Ave tomorrow.

Yesterday: 4 miles

Week: 20.5 miles

Workout: Niketown - Central Park, 65th St. & E. Drive - lower loop - 87th St. & W. Drive - return by the same route.

Mile Repeats

Wednesday: 6 miles

Week: 16.5 miles

Workout: 1 mile warm up, 4x1 Mile around lower loop, with about 3 minutes rest, 1 mile cool down

I didn't really run this workout the way I was supposed to. My legs were still tired from the long runs this past weekend. Plus, I've got a long run this Saturday and the Mile on Fifth Ave on Sunday.

Tuesday: 4 miles

Week: 10.5 miles

Workout: Central Park, 65th & E. Drive - lower loop - 72nd St Transverse - E. Drive - 85th St. and return.

Today: 6.5 miles

Week: 6.5 miles

Workout: West Side YMCA - up W. Drive - 102nd Transverse & E. Drive - turn around and retrace route.

Wow! My legs were sore! I hope they're OK before the weekend. I'd like to do well at the 5th Ave Mile on Sunday.

18-Mile Marathon Tune Up

200m from the finish

Nearing the end of the 2nd loop of Central Park

12 miles into the race.

Thanks for the pictures Stu!

Today: 19 miles

Week: 46.5 miles

Workout: 18-Mile Marathon Tune Up (3 loops of Central Park), 1 mile cool down

I tried to begin the race conservatively. My goal was to get through the first and second loops feeling comfortable. I guess I went through the first loop feeling OK. But on the second loop, I was already thinking about the last loop. By the time I started the last loop, I just wanted to finish the run. It's probably the reason I ran a bit faster. Seeing people I knew out on the course helped. Everyone seemed to run well. Jeanne, Megan, Alanna, and Greg A. all did well.

I love the drill sergeant guy who always seems to be walking in the opposite direction of the race and shouting encouragement. He gave me a shout out twice. He said, "Go West Side!" Also, thanks to all the RUN-NYC people who saw me and shouted encouragement. And Brian, who paced me for a few miles.

I finished in 127th place with a time of 2 hours 07 minutes 55 seconds. (7:07/mi)

Splits:

1. 7:37 (Harlem Hill)

2. 7:13

3. 6:59

4. 7:03

5. 7:09 (Cat Hill)

6. 7:01

7. 7:16 (Harlem Hill)

8. 7:10

9. 7:06

10. 7:12

11. 7:15 (Cat Hill)

12. 7:03

13. 7:07 (Harlem Hill)

14. 7:01

15. 6:54

16. 6:59 (I accidentally stopped my watch. DOH!)

17 (Cat Hill) & 18. (avg. 6:51 for 2 miles)

Extended Bridle Path

Today: 13 miles

Week: 27.5 miles

Workout: Central Park, 65th & E. Drive - up to Engineer's Gate - enter bridle path and do 4 loops of the extended bridle path, back to 65th.

Did the second loop @ 7:45/mile, the third loop @ 7:25/mile, and the last loop @ 10:00+/mile. Nice day for a long run. Hope to finish tomorrow's 18-mile Tune-Up without over extending myself. I would love to run it at 7:00/mile, but that might be overly optimistic. 7:30s is probably more realistic.

The toughest part is going to be waking up and making it to the starting line at 7:00 a.m.!

Recovery Run

Today: 3 miles

Week: 14.5 miles

Workout: Niketown - lower loop Central Park - 79th St. & back

Avoided the thunder and lightning. Central Park was empty tonight.

Bridle Path

Yesterday: 7.5 miles

Week: 11.5 miles

Workout: Niketown - up E. Dr. - enter bridle path @85th - 2 loops of bridle path - 1 loop of bridle path extension

Legs still tired from Sunday. Hip was hurting a lot when I got home today. Naturally, I've been telling everyone I think I will be running the marathon this year. I hope I didn't jinx myself.

How is it possible that I can be so tired when I've only been back at work for 4 days?!!!

Recovery Run

Today: 4 miles

Week: 4 miles

Workout: Y - West Side Hwy - 10 minutes north and return.

Long Run

Today: 21 miles

Week: 60.5 miles

Workout: West Side Y - West Side Hwy bike path - Inwood Hill Park - Y - lower loop Central Park - Great Lawn - West Drive - 72nd

I did most of the run with David K. and Farbod. Then I ran a little extra. I had only planned on doing 10 miles. I decided it was a good day to go long since I was running with others, and I won't have many opportunities to do 18 to 20 miles runs in the upcoming weeks. My total time was 2h 40m (7:37/mi). I probably should have stopped 1 or 2 miles short of the 21 miles. But now that I've got a 20+ mile under my belt, I feel better about my marathon training.

Fitness 4-Mile

Nike Katana (aka PR shoes)

Today: 4.5 miles

Week: 39.5 miles

Workout: 1/4-mile warm up, 4-mile race, 1/2-mile cool down

Great day for racing. I had my best race of the year. 23:50 (5:58/mile). It was my fastest time since I became a masters runner. My splits were 6:02, 5:53, 6:02, 5:53. I felt good throughout the race. I probably could have gone a little faster. The Men's Open B competition is getting tighter.

WSY did great. Women (Jeanne, Erika, Emma, Meggie, Karen, Margot, Stacy, and Camille) were 11th out of 32 teams. Camille placed 6th in her age division.

Men (Huw, David, David K., Denie, Farbod, Bruno, Lou, and Mike) were 13th out of 37 teams. Lou was 10th in his age division. We were 2 seconds away from 12th!

Masters Men (David K., Denie, and Mike) were 9th out of 36 teams. 9 seconds away from 8th place!

Breakfast at the Flame Restaurant after the race. Berry-stuffed french toast!!!

Fashion's NIght Out

Niketown t-shirt

Yesterday: 2 miles

Week: 35 miles

Workout: Niketown's "Bootcamp," Dynamic stretching, then run from 59th & 5th Ave. - 10 minutes up East Drive & back.

Recovery Day

Yesterday: 5 miles

Week: 33 miles

Workout: 4-mile loop in Central Park, plus an extra mile

4-mile loop @10:00+/mile.

Half Mile Repeats

Yesterday: 10 miles

Week: 28 miles

Workout: 2 mile warm up on my own, 1.5 mile warm up w/WSY, from YMCA to 84th St & E. Dr., 8 repeats from 84th to 94th. Jog recovery in between repeats.

The repeats were a little longer than a half mile. My times were in the 3:20s. I didn't want to overextend myself since I have a race on Saturday.

Bridle Path

Today: 6.5 miles

Week: 18 miles

Workout: Niketown - lower loop of Central Park - hop on Bridle Path@63rd St. - 2 loops of reservoir and back to stretching area.

After a nice summer vacation, I had to go back to work today. The alarm going off at 5:00 a.m. was a shock this morning.

Working a whole day on little sleep and then running is a LOT different than waking up around 11:00 a.m., watching TV for a couple of hours, and THEN running.

Labor Day Run

Today: 11.5 miles

Week: 11.5 miles

Workout: 6-mile loop of Central Park @7:30/mile, 5.5 miles w/WSY, warm up to reservoir, 1 loop of reservoir @ 8:00/mile, 2nd loop @6:30/mile, cool down back to Y.

I can feel autumn coming! Small turnout at the Y tonight. Dreading having to wake up early for work tomorrow. Oh well, it's been a nice summer vacation while it lasted.

Long Run

Today: 16.5 miles

Week: 47 miles

Workout: Niketown - 1st Ave. - 34th St. - along FDR Dr. to Staten Island Ferry - turn around and head back.

On the way back to Niketown, I ran a few extra miles on the Upper East Side. Most of the run was at 8:00/mile. The entire run took 2 hr 16 min. Sat in an ice bath afterwards. I need to get a 20-mile run in soon, but I'm not sure when I'll have the time to do it.

Hills

Today: 8 miles

Week: 30.5 miles

Workout: Niketown - Central Park's E. Drive to top of Harlem Hill - turn around and head back to 102nd Transverse - turn around and head back to the top of Harlem Hill and come back to 102nd again. Then run back to Niketown. Run the hills hard.

Love the hills! The heat? Not so much.

400s

Today: 6.5 miles

Week: 22.5 miles

Workout: 2.5 mile warm-up to Riverbank Track. 3x400 with 400m recovery. 2.5 mile cool down.

91 degrees. I should have run earlier in the day. 75 seconds, 75, 73. I wanted to do more, but decided not to push it.