Christmas Run

Today: 6 miles

Week: 21.5 miles

Workout: Fort Tryon and Inwood Hill Park run.

Burned a few calories and now, about to consume 5x as much as I just burned off.

Yesterday: 9 miles

Week: 15.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - 65th - E. Drive - 102nd - W. Drive - around top of park, down E. Drive - right on 72nd - lower loop - 1 mile of course in reverse. Then another lower loop.

Plantar fasciitis has been acting up again.

Strawberry Fields Loops

Monday: 6.5 miles

Week: 6.5 miles

Workout: Lower loop, then run from YMCA - Strawberry Fields - run hard for 25 minutes - return to YMCA.

Usually, my first loop is very slow. However, since I warmed up in advance of the workout, I was ready to go relatively quickly on the first loop. My splits were 2:35, 2:38, 2:38, 2:36, 2:37, 2:33, 2:35, 2:32, 2:29, 2:19. I ran with Lou for the entire workout.

This is one of my favorite workouts.

Urbanathlon

I'm supposed to be tapering for the marathon, but I couldn't resist doing the Urbanathlon this morning. It was about 9 miles of running, a bunch of obstacles, temperature in the 40s, and rain. Obstacles included 5 foot high hurdles, monkey bars, parallel bars, stairs at Arthur Ashe Stadium, using cargo nets to climb over a bus, and stairs at Citi Field.

Long Run

I ran 22 miles yesterday morning. The route began at Niketown, went to the FDR, ran around the bottom of Manhattan, up the west side to 125th Street, and back down to 59th. The workout was supposed to end there at about 19 miles, but I had my heart set on doing at least 20. So I went back up the west side for about a half mile, came back, and then ran back to Niketown via the bottom part of the lower loop in Central Park.

The wind on the Hudson was really strong on the way back to 59th. This was my only 20+ mile of the year. Usually, I do at least 3 if I'm training for the marathon. Maybe, I won't taper as much as I normally do since my marathon training schedule was shortened this year.

I was accepted into the "locally competitive start" this year. I've never applied for that before. I'm looking forward to the separate staging area, especially the bathrooms! Hopefully, the lines won't be as long. The bathroom lines in the regular staging areas are so long, I get in line BEFORE I need to use the bathroom because, by the time I get to the bathroom, I need it.

It's Been Awhile

5th Avenue Mile

Grete's Gallop Half Marathon

Well, it's been quite some time since my last post. Not much has actually happened since my last post. Where to begin? I'm registered for the NYC Marathon but wasn't too sure I'd be running because I've had a bad case of plantar fasciitis. And even though the cortisone shot I got at the end of August worked, I didn't think I had enough time to get back into marathon shape. However, in the middle of September, I went on an 18-mile run in Van Cortlandt Park. It was at a very slow pace, but it made me realize that I could probably finish the marathon, albeit at a slower pace.

On September 24th, I ran the 5th Avenue Mile in 5:12 without any speed work. That was encouraging. The day after that I ran 16 miles in Central Park @7:52/mile. Another boost to my confidence. Last weekend, I ran Grete's Gallop Half Marathon in 1:28:52, with these splits:

1. 6:58

2. 6:49

3. 6:44

4. 6:34

5. 6:56

6. 6:36

7. 6:40

8. 6:46

9. 6:45

10. 6:38

11. 6:46

12. 6:27

13. 6:31

I was planning to run 1:30, so I was very satisfied. The only problem was that I ran in racing flats and aggravated my plantar fasciitis. As a result, I took all of last week off.

Yesterday I ran 17 miles, running across the Queensboro Bridge 6 times! My foot was killing me after the run. I was all set to skip the marathon. But I woke up today and the pain had decreased substantially!

So, the bottom line is that I'm not in great shape, but as long as the pain in my foot is manageable, I plan on running the marathon. I'm just going to have to adjust my goals.

Today: 10 miles

Week: 23.5 miles

Workout: 5 miles @9:00 a.m. with Niketown. Across Queensboro Bridge once. 5 miles at 1:30 p.m. on my own in Central Park.

After the Niketown workout, I still felt good. So I did some miles on my own. I'm still holding out hope that I may be able to run the NYC Marathon. But with only 9 weeks left and my heel still a little sore, I'm prepared to skip the marathon.

Wednesday: 6 miles

Week: 13.5 miles

Workout: One loop of Central Park.

I can't believe how sore my legs still are from Monday's workout.

1/2 Mile Repeats

Monday: 7.5 miles

Week: 7.5 miles

Workout: YMCA - 86th Street & E. Drive - 8 x half mile (86th - 96th) w/2:00 minute recovery.

I should have skipped this workout. I'm in no shape to be running repeats. 3:17, 3:13, 3:06, 3:07, 3:08, 3:13, 3:11, 3:14. My legs were cramping on the cool down back to the Y.

Fort Tryon Park

Yesterday: 3 miles

Week: 9 miles

Workout: "Easy" run through Fort Tryon Park.

Still sore from Wednesday's 5-mile run. The first 1/4 mile was uphill, and I was already breathing hard. I guess I should just be happy that my heel is still pain free. But everything else hurts.

Bridle Path

Today: 5 miles

Week: 6 miles

Workout: Bridle path.

First real run in over 5 weeks. Cortisone shot seems to be working. Although, there was a little pain after I finished the run. I probably ran a little under 8:00/mile, but I was breathing hard and my whole body felt so uncoordinated.

I ran a mile on the treadmill today!!! I felt very little pain in my foot. Don't know how long the cortisone shot will last, but I'm thankful that it works. On the downside, it took me 9:30 to run that mile, and I'm sore today.

NOT Running Sucks!

It has now been more than 5 weeks since I ran more than a block. After weeks of stretching exercises, the plantar fasciitis has not gone away. So when I went to the podiatrist today, I decided to get a cortisone shot. I hope the shot is effective. If not, I also plan on getting some physical therapy. As of now, it looks like I'll be skipping the NYC Marathon. Bummer.

Team Championships

West Side YMCA

WSY Women

WSY Men

MRI

On Monday I saw a podiatrist who said my foot problem might be a partial tear of my plantar fascia. Funny thing is, she said it is sometimes better if it tears completely. The reason why the pain is so bad is usually because a partial tear results in inflammation and irritation. She gave me a bunch of exercises to do, made a pad for me to wear in order to give me some arch support, told me not to run (no surprise there), and told me to get an MRI.

I've only had one MRI before, and I couldn't remember how long it took. I only remember that I felt claustrophobic because it was for my head, and there isn't a whole lot of room inside that machine. There was a mirror so that I could see the technician, standing safely outside of the room.

Yesterday morning I got the MRI for my foot. Luckily, all I had to was stick my foot in the machine. The podiatrist who sent me for the MRI wrote out some instructions for the MRI technician. The instructions said I was supposed to get a "contrast" MRI. I found out from the technician that "contrast" meant he was supposed to inject me with dye. Hmmm...I'm not afraid of pain, by an means. But I didn't like the sound of having anything artificial injected into my body. The technician couldn't understand why I needed the dye and decided to do the MRI without it.

The technician gave me some earplugs, put my foot in the machine, and gave me a little balloon-like thingy to squeeze if I needed anything. There was a digital clock that read "00:00" on the machine. After a couple of minutes, the machine began to make noise and the digital clock began to move. It set itself to 2:47, or something like that. So I thought, "Oh great! This is going to be quick." Funny how, under normal circumstances, 2:47 would be a very short time period. But of course, I was looking at the clock and it seemed to be taking FOREVER. I decided to either close my eyes or look away. So I averted my eyes for what seemed like 2 minutes. I thought surely the clock must have been under 1 minute. When I looked at the clock, it was at 2:05. DOH!

I decided to close my eyes until the machine stopped. When the machine finally made a noise that sounded like it was finished, I looked at the clock and sure enough, it was at 0.

Unfortunately, it reset itself to 4+ minutes. OK, I realized this was not going to be as quick as I thought it would be. To make a long story a LITTLE bit shorter, this little process of the machine counting down to 0 and then resetting itself lasted for a total of 30 minutes! At two different times, I actually fell asleep. I tried not to because I was worried about having a muscle spasm and having to go through the whole thing again. I was relieved when it was finally over. I hope the MRI shows something useful.

Yesterday I ran two blocks from the train station to my apartment because it was raining. That's the most running I've done in 10 days. I miss running. I have an appointment with the doctor to look over the x-rays of my foot. I hope he tells me something other than plantar fasciitis is wrong with my foot. Because, if this is plantar fasciitis, it has been bothering me forever and doesn't seem to be getting better.

CPC Run for Central Park

Bernie ready to give these guys a taste of some 800m speed.

I get a few compliments on the new uniform whenever I wear it.

Today: 4.5 miles

Week: 18 miles

Workout: 0.5 mile warm up, 4 mile race

24:14 (6:01, 5:56, 6:14, 6:03). This was not one of my better races. But, since I haven't really been training the past couple of weeks, I guess I should be happy with the result. After the race, I was hobbling because of the heel problem. I can't wait until I'm free from this pain.

The WSY men's team finished 13th overall, out of 40 teams. The WSY women were 18th out of 30 teams. Meggie PR'ed with some help from Courtney.

Is it my imagination, or does it seem like the competition at these points races is getting tougher?

Yesterday: 5 miles

Week: 13.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - E. Drive - 108th St - NTNY

Today: 5 miles

Week: 8.5 miles

Workout: 5 mile loop in Central Park

Got caught in a very isolated thunderstorm.

Yesterday: 3.5 miles

Week: 3.5 miles

Workout: Central Park - 2 lower loops

I must be getting used to this heat. It didn't feel too bad today.

West Side Highway

Today: 9.5 miles

Week: 17 miles

Workout: NTNY - West Side Highway - 125th & return

1h 22m (8:34/mile). Nice steady pace.

Thursday: 3.5 miles

Week: 7.5 miles

Workout: 15 minutes up E. Drive in Central Park and back

Tuesday: 4 miles

Week: 4 miles

Workout: NTNY - C. Park 65th St. - clockwise on lower loop - 72nd Transverse - E. Drive - 85th & return on the same route.

I took two days off because of plantar fasciitis in my right foot. The time off seemed to help a little. But after today's run, it was back to the PAIN.

Today: 12 miles

Week: 45 miles

Workout: 2 loops of Central Park

1h 35m (7:59/mile). Legs were still tired from yesterday's run. Time for another ice bath.

Today: 10 miles

Week: 33 miles

Workout: 186th St - 181st - West Side Hwy - 96th St & return

1h 14m (7:22/mile). Ran with Lou and got all the way down to 6:41/mile. But started feeling the pace at 8 miles and had to slow down.

Today: 4 miles

Week: 23 miles

Workout: NTNY - 72nd Transverse - W. Dr. - 63rd - 5x 400m on bridle path - back to NTNY

Tempo + Cat Hill repeats

Today: 9 miles

Week: 19 miles

Workout: 2.25 mile warm up, 4 mile loop @ tempo pace beginning at 72nd Transverse & E. Drive - 4x Cat Hill - cool down back to Y.

24:27 for the 4 miles. 6:05, 5:58, 6:16, 6:07. Tough workout.

Lower Loops

Today: 3.5 miles

Week: 10 miles

Workout: 2 lower loops of Central Park

8:17/mile.

West Side Run

Yesterday: 6.5 miles

Week: 6.5 miles

Workout: 63rd & West Drive in Central Park - north, around top of park to 102nd Transverse & E. Drive - return.

Today: 6 miles

Week: 42.5 miles

Workout: Fort Tryon & Inwood Park

Haven't run in these parks for awhile.

Today: 10 miles

Week: 36.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - 1st Ave - 34th - FDR - Manhattan Bridge & return

Approx. 7:45/mile for the first 5 miles. About 8:30-9:00/mile for the next 5 miles.

Today: 5.5 miles

Week: 26.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - 85th & E. Drive in Central Park - 6x 85th to 90th - recover back to 85th on the bridle path. 9:30 - 10:00/mile.

Cat Hill Repeats

Today: 8 miles

Week: 21 miles

Workout: Central Park's lower loop, then to Boat House. 2 sets of 5 Cat Hill repeats. 3:00 recovery between sets.

Set 1: 1:25, 1:24, 1:24, 1:24, 1:18

Set 2: 1:21, 1:22, 1:24, 1:21, 1:19

Got caught in the thunderstorm. Kind of nice until my shoes became heavy.

Today: 13 miles

Week: 13 miles

Workout: 2 loops of Central Park, plus an extra mile.

First loop in 42 minutes. Second loop in 48 minutes.

Portugal Day 5 Mile

Today: 6 miles

Week: 40 miles

Workout: 5 mile race (5 mile loop of Central Park, clockwise), 1 mile cool down.

30:11 (6:03/mile). My first mile was a little slow, about 6:10. The second mile was around 5:57. I don't remember what the other splits were. It was a decent race.

West Side Y came in 14th place out of 45 teams. The masters team was 13th out of 44 teams.

Today: 3 miles

Week: 34 miles

Workout: NTNY - West Side Hwy - NTNY

Nice, slow run just to stretch out the muscles. Preparing for tomorrow's race.

Today: 9 miles

Week: 31 miles

Workout: 2 mile warm up, NTNY - 2x Queensboro Bridge - NTNY

Tempo

Wednesday: 8 miles

Week: 22 miles

Workout: 2 mile warm up around lower loop of Central Park, Y - West Side Hwy - 15 minutes south and return at tempo pace - cool down back to Y.

6:33, 6:24, 6:19, 6:25

Today: 3 miles

Week: 14 miles

Workout: NTNY - 72nd St. Transverse - W. Drive - 79th St & return

Damn plantar fasciitis!!!

Mile Repeats

Today: 11 miles

Week: 11 miles

Workout: 3+ mile warm up, 4x Mile w/6:00+ recovery on the lower loop of C. Park, 1.5 mile cool down.

5:43, 5:36, 5:29, 5:29. I think these were the fastest mile repeats I've ever done. Granted, they were slightly downhill. but the third and fourth miles should have been faster. I had to slow down on the third one to get around a truck, and I almost came to a stop to get around the same truck on my last mile.

Today: 5 miles

Week: 33.5 miles

Workout: C. Park's 5-mile loop

7:50/mile.

Bridle Path

Today: 9 miles

Week: 28.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - C. Park @63rd - 2x extended bridle path.

Today: 3.5 miles

Week: 19.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - 65th - NTNY (cancelled workout because of lightning). 2 lower loops @7:35/mile.

Just as I was about to reach 65th inside the park, it started pouring, and there was thunder and lightning. So we had to tell runners to go back to the store. After working however, I ran two lower loops with Taegin. So at least I did something.

Yesterday: 7 miles

Week: 16 miles

Workout: NTNY - E. Drive - 85th - 3x bridle path around reservoir.

Half Mile Repeats

Today: 9 miles

Week: 9 miles

Workout: Lower loop warm up. Y - 86th & E. Drive - half mile from 86th to 96th w/2:00 rest. Then 96th - 86th. 8 repeats.

2:55, 2:53, 2:50, 2:50, 2:50, 2:50, 2:46, 3:00. I think I would have gone under 2:45 on that last one if I didn't have to come to a complete stop because I felt I was going to throw up.

Queensboro Bridge

Today: 10 miles

Week: 42.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - 3x Queensboro Bridge - NTNY

Surprisingly nice today.

Thursday: 5.5 miles

Week: 32.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - E. Dr. - 72nd St. Transverse - 63rd entrance to Bridle path - 30 minutes of running loop from 63rd to Tavern on the Green and back. Cool down back to NTNY.

Ran 9:00/mile on the bridle path.

National Running Day

Today: 6 miles

Week: 27 miles

Workout: The West Side YMCA Road Runners Club celebrated National Running Day by holding a Shot Block Relay.

Three teams of four people per team ran a relay around Heckscher Ballfields in Central Park. Before running a loop, runners had to consume some Shot Bloks. Each person ran a total of two loops. I didn't actually participate in the race. I ran 6 miles afterwards.

Yesterday: 3 miles

Week: 21 miles

Workout: NTNY - lower loop - 72nd St. Transverse - 75th St & return

Bridle Path

Today: 5 miles

Week: 18 miles

Workout: Y - bridle path

Memorial Day Marathon

Got a lot of stares on the train ride home.

Today: 13 miles

Week: 13 miles

Workout: 2 loops of 6.55 mile course in Van Cortlandt Park

I had only planned on doing one loop, but I figured I might as well get in a long run. I finished around 1:38 (about 7:30-ish/mile). It was nice being on trails for a change. Love the mud! I was worried about missing a turn. But I managed to get through the whole run and only made one wrong turn.

I can't believe some people actually ran a marathon in this weather.

Run for Japan #3

Today: 8 miles

Week: 41.5 miles

Workout: 1 mile warm up from Y - lower loop - 72nd & 5th Ave - 1 loop of Central Park with Run for Japan group - cool down back to Y.

Humid. 1h 9m (8:43/mile)

West Side Highway

Today: 10 miles

Week: 33.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - West Side Highway - 125th Street & return

Warm! 1:21 (8:07/mile).

Today: 6.5 miles

Week: 23.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - 85th; 8x 400m (from 85th to 90th); recover back to 85th

1:37, 1:43, 1:40, 1:38, 1:45, 1:42, 1:40, 1:38. I was supposed to be running these in 7:00 to 7:30/mile, but instead, most of these were done quicker than 7:00/mile.

4x4

Yesterday: 7 miles

Week: 17 miles

Workout: 4-mile loop of Central Park at tempo pace, 4x Cat Hill repeats from the Boat House.

6:34, 6:11, 6:20, 6:03. 25:08 total.

Today: 6 miles

Week: 10 miles

Workout: NTNY - 72nd Transverse - W. Drive - over Harlem Hill and return to NTNY

Too warm!

Nike Free Run

Today: 4 miles

Week: 4 miles

Workout: Nike Sportswear on Mercer St. - across Manhattan Bridge - return

Cupcakes and Gatorade after the run!

Brooklyn Half Marathon

Today: 13 miles

Week: 39.5 miles

Workout: 2 loops of Prospect Park - Coney Island via Ocean Pkwy

I woke up at 4:00 a.m., and left my apartment by 4:30 a.m. I was planning on catching the 1 train and switching to the 2 in order to get to Prospect Park. But when I got to the station, I saw a notice that said there were no trains stopping at the station. *!%#!!! I ran to the A train station and caught that instead. I think I arrived at the Grand Army Plaza station around 6:05, along with about 1,000 other runners. I just followed everyone else.

I knew it was a long walk to the baggage facilities, and they were supposed to close at 6:20. Plus, I knew I was going to have to make a bathroom stop, so I was worried about making it to my corral on time. Those were supposed to close at 6:40. By the time I got to the baggage area, it was 6:35. I was standing on line for the bathrooms by 6:40. I think I got out at 7:00, the start of the race. I ran to the corrals. I got to the 6000s corral and realized all the corrals were already closed and the race probably already started.

So I ran back to the last corral, the 8000s, and started the race from there. I don't think that's ever happened to me before. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was probably slowed down a little, but by the time I got to the first mile, I could run my own pace. The hills in Prospect Park were tougher than I remember. And Ocean Parkway is as boring as ever. This is not my favorite half marathon.

1 hour 27 minutes 53 seconds (6:42/mile)

Splits

1 -- 7:10

2 -- 6:47

3 -- 6:38

4 -- 6:31

5 -- 6:37

6 -- 6:48

7 -- 6:34

8 -- 6:37

9 -- 6:33

10 - 6:37

11 - 6:34

12 - 6:37

13 - 6:38

Thursday: 7.5 miles

Week: 26.5 miles

Workout: 2 mile warm up, NTNY - 3x lower loop C. Park @10:00/mile

Wednesday: 6 miles

Week: 19 miles

Workout: 1 counter clockwise loop of C. Park

Taking it easy before the Brooklyn Half.

Tuesday: 5.5 miles

Week: 13 miles

Workout: NTNY - E. Drive & 85th - cross over to W. Drive - top of park and back down E. Drive to 65th.

Harlem Hill Repeats

Yesterday: 7.5 miles

Week: 7.5 miles

Workout: Y - West Drive - 8 x back side of Harlem Hill - Y

75, 75, 76, 75, 73, 73, 73, 68.

Today: 10 miles

Week: 36.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - West Side Hwy - Laight St. - return to NTNY

7:22/mile

Thursday: 5.5 miles

Week: 26.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - 85th & E. Drive - 7x repeats from 85th to 90th - NTNY

Ran 10:00/mile from 85th to 90th, recovered on the bridle path back to 85th.

Mile Repeats

Today: 8.5 miles

Week: 21 miles

Workout: warm up 1+ lower loop Central Park, 4x1 mile on lower loop

5:51, 5:55, 5:59, 5:39. Tons of rest in between repeats.

Today: 5.5 miles

Week: 12.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - E.Drive in Central Park - 2 loops of bridle path around reservoir - NTNY

Yesterday: 7 miles

Week: 7 miles

Workout: Y - 3 loops of bridle path around the reservoir

Each loop was progressively faster 11:57, 11:12, 11:03. Average for all the loops was 6:55. Legs still felt tired from yesterday's long run.

Long Run

Today: 17.5 miles

Week: 44.5 miles

Workout: 3 loops of Central Park

2h 22m. 8:09/mile. Why aren't all the water fountains in Central Park turned on yet?!!! It's May!!! I had to stop after 16 miles and buy a Gatorade from one of those food carts.

Yesterday: 10 miles

Week: 27 miles

Workout: NTNY - 1st Ave. - 34th St. - E. River - Manhattan Bridge - return.

Yesterday: 3 miles

Week: 17 miles

Workout: NTNY - Strawberry Fields - 10 minutes of hill repeats at a slow pace.

Strawberry Fields Loops

Wednesday: 7 miles

Week: 14 miles

Workout: 2 mile warm up around lower loop, Y - Strawberry Fields - 8x loop with 1 minute rest in between,

Averaged 2:25 for each loop.

Tuesday: 3 miles

Week: 7 miles

Workout: NTNY - 72nd - W. Drive - 86th - return

West Side Hwy

Today: 4 miles

Week: 4 miles

Workout: YMCA - West Side Hwy - 15 minutes north and return to Y

NJ Half Marathon Relay

Today: 14.5 miles

Week: 17.5 miles

Workout: Ran the first leg (6.7 miles) of the half marathon relay, 3 mile cool down, then paced Meggie for the last 5 miles of her marathon

Splits for my relay leg: 6:16, 6:20, 6:21, 6:23, 6:36, 6:39. Still sick, so I was pleased with the result. Denie and I won the masters division and came in 3rd overall. But somehow, the NJ Marathon organizers screwed up and don't have our correct finishing time.

Yesterday: 3 miles

Week: 3 miles

Workout: NTNY - Engineer's Gate - Fifth Ave. - NTNY

Today: 7.5 miles

Week: 43 miles

Workout: One full loop of Central Park and one lower loop.

Full loop in 45 min (7:30/mi). Humidity was uncomfortable.

Queensboro Bridge

Today: 6 miles

Week: 35.5 miles

Workout: warm up from Y to NTNY, NTNY - Queesnboro Bridge - NTNY, cool down NTNY - Y

WET

Today: 6 miles

Week: 29.5 miles

Workout: Fort Tryon Park & Inwood Hill Park

Half Mile Repeats

Today: 6.5 miles

Week: 23.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - E. Drive - 4x 800 from 84th St. to 94th St., recover back to 84th - return to NTNY

Today: 7.5 miles

Week: 17 miles

Workout: WSY - lower loop - 79th St. - Great Lawn - W. Drive - WSY (took a 15 minute break) - up W. Drive - 102nd - E. Drive - return to Y

Lower Loops

Yesterday: 5.5 miles

Week: 9.5 miles

Workout: 3 lower loops of Central Park

Mon., April 18th: 4 miles

Week: 4 miles

Workout: Boston Marathon course from about Mile 21 to Mile 25+

I went to Fenway Park Sunday afternoon to see the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays. Fenway Park is beautiful. After the game, I went to Niketown and bought the new Nike+ SportWatch. Met some people for a pre-marathon dinner.

I wanted to see the elite men and women run. But with the fans from the Red Sox game and all the marathon spectators using the subway, it was a nightmare trying to get to the course. I had originally wanted to go to Mile 16, but I knew I wouldn't make it. I was already getting text alerts (while I was on the subway) that some of my friends were already passing the half marathon point. So I decided to get off early and run to Mile 22.

I made it just in time. I was able to run with four different people between Mile 21 and the finish. The crowds along the way were great. Hopefully, I'll be running the Boston Marathon next year.

Sat., April 16th: 10 miles

Week: 38 miles

Workout: NTNY - lower loop - 102nd St - 2 Upper loops - back to NTNY

Thur., April 14th: 4.5 miles

Week: 28 miles

Workout: NTNY - Strawberry Fields - 30 minutes of hill repeats

Wed., April 13th: 15.5 miles

Week: 23.5 miles

Workout: 5 mile loop with WSY - 6 mile loop on my own - 4 mile loop

1h 59m

Tuesday, April 12th: 3.5 miles

Week: 8 miles

Workout: NTNY - E. Dr. - 72nd - W. Dr. - 83rd - return

Yesterday: 4.5 miles

Week: 4.5 miles

Workout: Y - clockwise 4 mile loop of Central Park.

Scotland 10K

Today: 6.5 miles

Week: 37.5 miles

Workout: Scotland 10K. Start on 62nd & W. Drive - one clockwise loop of C. Park

Matched my masters PR of 37:57 (6:07/mile) from 2009. Splits: 6:19, 6:03, 5:53, 6:12, 6:00, 6:17, 1:13. I should have run just a little harder, or gotten a better starting position.

Bridle Path

Saturday: 5.5 miles

Week: 31 miles

Workout: NTNY - Bridle path

Beautiful day for a run!

Indian Run

Thursday: 6 miles

Week: 25.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - 4x Indian Run from 84th to 94th on E. Drive - recover from 94th to 84th.

Mile Repeats

Wednesday: 7 miles

Week: 19.5 miles

Workout: 6x Mile on lower loop in Central Park w/2:00 minute rest

7:05, 6:15, 5:52, 5:44, 7:33, 7:30. The first one was basically a warm up. Paced Meggie on the last two.

Lower Loops

Tuesday: 5 miles

Week: 12.5 miles

Workout: 3x lower loop

Tempo

Today: 7.5 miles

Week: 7.5 miles

Workout: Y - counter clockwise in C. Park for 10 minutes - tempo pace for the rest of the 6-mile loop

I estimate that I ran about 5 miles at 6:20/mile. Then I ran the lower loop for a cool down.

Today: 13.5 miles

Week: 40.5 miles

Workout: Y - West Side Hwy - Battery Park - E. River - 34th St. - !st Ave. - 57th St. - 7th Ave. - Y

1h 39 m. The run felt a lot harder than it should have. I feel like I ran 18.

Today: 6 miles

Week: 27 miles

Workout: NTNY - First Ave. - 34th St. - E. River - 15th St. - return to NTNY

Strawberry Fields Again

Yesterday: 3 miles

Week: 21 miles

Workout: NTNY - lower loop - 4x Strawberry Fields Hill - NTNY

Strawberry Fields

Yesterday: 4.5 miles

Week: 18 miles

Workout: YMCA 1 loop, rest, 2 loops, rest, 3 loops, rest, 2 loops, rest, 1 loop.

Rest 90 sec., 2 min., 2 min. 90 sec.

1 loop 2:39

2 loops 2:28, 2:29

3 loops 2:27, 2:33, 2:30

2 loops 2:21, 2:25

1 loop 2:15

Reservoir Run

Today: 5.5 miles

Week: 13.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - 2x reservoir

Tempo

Today: 8 miles

Week: 8 miles

Workout: Warm up from YMCA around lower loop to 72nd St. Transverse & E. Drive. From there run 1 loop of park at tempo pace. 1 mile cool down back to Y.

Damn train delays! 2 train was all screwed up today. I missed meeting up with WSY runners and had to do this workout on my own. Ran the 6-mile loop in 37:52 (about 6:19/mile). I was supposed to pick it up on the last 1.5 to 2 miles. I may have cracked 6:10 on my last mile.

Today: 9 miles

Week: 41 miles

Workout: Central Park 5 miles on bridle path, 4 mile loop

Ran in opposite direction of the 15K race so that I could look for people I knew.

Queensboro Bridge

Today: 10 miles

Week: 32 miles

Workout: NTNY - 2x Queensboro Bridge - York Ave - 63rd - E. River Dr. ped path - 74th St. - back to 63rd - north on York Ave. to 73rd - turn around and head back to 57th - NTNY

Nice day, although a little windy on the bridge.

Indian Run

Today: 6.5 miles

Week: 22 miles

Workout: NTNY - 84th & E. Drive - do Indian Run from 84th to 94th - run 94th to 84th as recovery. Do 4 repeats.

Heckscher Ballfields

Wednesday: 4.5 miles

Week: 15.5 miles

Workout: 2 loops of ballfield for warmup, 1 loop ballfield, 90s rest, 2 loops, 2min rest, 3 loops, 2min rest, 2 loops, 90s rest, 1 loop. Did loops at marathon pace.

Tuesday: 4.5 miles

Week: 11 miles

Workout: NTNY - lower loop - 72nd St Transverse - E. Drive - 102nd - return

West Side Run

Today: 6.5 miles

Week: 6.5 miles

Workout: Y - up West Drive - 102nd St. Transverse & E. Drive - return

Legs were sore. So I did today's run nice & easy.

NYC Half Marathon

Today: 13 miles

Week: 40.5 miles

Workout: 1+ loop of Central Park - 7th Ave - 42nd - West Side Hwy - Chambers Street

I made it to Central Park a little early. I decided to check in on the WSYRRC gang, who were setting up the Mile 5 fluid station. It was 6:00 a.m. and they had already been there for an hour! I walked over to the starting area on East Drive. The race wasn't until 7:30, but there were already thousands of people there at 6:30.

I checked my bag, made a bathroom stop, and went to the corrals to meet up with Taegin, who I would be pacing in the race. Standing around for 30 minutes trying to stay warm in 37 degree weather wasn't fun. But as soon as the race started, it was fine.

The first few miles in the park went by quickly. I was a little worried that we were running too fast. Taegin's goal was 1:30 (6:52/mile), and we were running 6:44s, and even did a few miles under 6:40s. But I decided not to worry about it since she seemed OK.

We passed by the Niketown cheer zone at the exit to the park, on 7th Avenue. Nice seeing people you know during a race. Going through Times Square, YMCA by the Village People was playing. Of course, I was wearing my YMCA singlet. That's the second time that's happened in this race.

Gotta love the slight downhill on 7th Avenue and on 42nd Street. I looked at my watch and it showed a 5:51 for Mile 9! No way! It must have been measured short because Mile 10 seemed long at 7:07. As we made a right turn on the West Side Highway, we ran right into a strong headwind. But it only lasted 2 blocks as we made a U-turn and headed south on the West Side Highway.

Taegin seemed to be getting a little tired but wasn't slowing down any. I was also beginning to get a little tired but knew we were way under her goal time and wanted to bring her in under 1:28. As we went through Mile 11 and 12, it was obvious that we were probably going under 1:27.

We crossed the finish. Taegin's official time 1:26:18!

Mile Splits

1 - 7:11

2 - 6:46

3 - 6:44

4 - 6:44

5 - 6:34

6 - 6:39

7 - 6:34

8 - 6:26

9 - 5:51

10 - 7:07

11 - 6:23

12 - 6:21

13.1 - 6:51

Total 1:26:16

Avg. 6:36/mile

5K Splits

5K - 21:24

10K - 20:42 (42:06 for the 1st 10K)

15K - 20:11

20K - 19:47 (39:58 for the 2nd 10K)

Yesterday, I went and picked up my bib for the NYC Half Marathon. The woman gave me my bib and put this wristband on me. She told me I needed to wear it in order to get into my corral on Sunday. Hold on! You mean I need to wear this for two days?!

Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night. I saw the wristband and for a split second, I couldn't figure out what it was. Was I in the hospital? Was I at a club the night before?

Strawberry Fields

Today: 4 miles

Week: 27.5 miles

Workout: NTNY - 20 minutes of Strawberry Fields - NTNY