A Run-Filled Weekend

Fifth Avenue Mile

Professional Women in the

Fifth Avenue Mile

Professional Men in the

Fifth Avenue Mile

Denie, Carol, Julien, and Me after

the 18-Mile Tune Up

It was a great weekend for running.  The Fifth Avenue Mile was on Saturday.  My goal heading into the race was 5:10, but I wasn't going to be surprised if it didn't happen since I haven't really done any short distance workouts this year.  I had a very poor position in the start corral.  So, when the gun went off, I immediately sprinted through some small openings to get by a few dozen people.  Then I settled into what I thought was a reasonable pace for me.  Sure enough, half way through the race, I already wanted to quit because I felt my legs just wouldn't turn over fast enough.  But then I decided I was going to go for it and try to pick up the pace in the second half of the race.  I almost didn't reach the finish.  Twice, I felt like my legs were going to give out before I hit the finish line.  I also felt like my posture was poor.  It felt like I was leaning back and tightening up badly in the last 200 meters.  In fact, I remember thinking I was simply going to freeze up and have to walk the last 100 meters.  I stumbled across the finish line in 5:06.  Thrilled that I managed to go under my goal and with some hope that I might be able to go under 5:00 next year, with a little track work, of course. 

Today, I woke up at 4:00 a.m. to make sure I got to Central Park on time.  I was scheduled to meet some Run NYC runners for the 18-Mile Marathon Tune Up.  It was a perfect day.  Sunny and mild temps.  I ran with Kendall and Alfonso for the first two loops of the park at a nice 9:00+/mile pace.  Then I saw a Run NYC runner running by herself and decided to pace her for the last loop of the park. The NYC Marathon is 6 weeks away.  I feel a lot better about my training this year than last year.  But I still feel like I need a couple more long runs (20 milers) before I feel like I'll be ready.  

Reach the Beach Relay

202.89 miles later, we've reached the beach

Night running is the BEST!

Kevin on the final leg, #36.

Benny & Me waiting the arrival of Leg #30.  We didn't know it

at the moment, but we were at the wrong place.  DOH!!!

36 legs. 202.89 miles. 11 people.  25 hours 46 minutes 35 seconds. 47th place out of 425 teams.  Teammates: Benny, Bruno, Margot, Mark, Lou, Kendall, Huw, Kevin, Stacy, and Michelle.  

Those are the facts, but they don't come close to telling the whole story. To begin, we didn't have a full team of 12 runners, so three of us, Benny, Bruno, and I had to run 4 legs instead of 3.  My first leg was leg #2, and it was 8.96 miles and hilly.  I thought I began conservatively.  I let two guys run a bit ahead of me.  I passed both of them within the first two miles but then realized I was running too fast, especially given the heat (80 degrees) and I had not come to the hills yet.  I had to slow down drastically when I came to the hills.  One of the guys I had passed earlier went by me with a couple miles left in the leg.  I was very glad to finish this leg.  I ran a respectable 6:39/mile.

My second leg was Leg #13.  It was 3.91 miles and took place at night.  One interesting aspect of this leg was that I ran the same leg back in 2009.  However, they could not have been more different.  In 2009, I don't remember seeing any other runners, except maybe, right at the beginning.  This time, I saw plenty of people, and it seemed like it was better lit.  I ended up doing a 6:08/mile pace for this leg.  

My third leg was Leg #24.  It was 6.87 miles and was damp and a little hilly.  I passed a lot of people on this leg.  I was fortunate to catch up to and run with a guy who had passed me early in the leg.  We ran together for the second half of the leg.  It made for a fast leg.  I ran 6:31/mile for this leg and passed 26 runners.  

My last leg was leg #35, the second to the last leg of the entire race.  It was 3.41 miles long.  I ran at 6:06/mile.  It was mostly downhill and once again, I passed a large number of people.  As I approached the end of the leg, I noticed that the person who I was supposed to hand off to was not there yet.  I assumed it was traffic.  But, just as I entered the relay exchange area, I saw Kevin running towards me. Crisis averted.  

I wish I had more time to write about the race, but I have work to do.  Hopefully, I'll get to do this race again someday.  

Running Streak

My 48-day running streak ended on Thursday, September 6th.  524 miles.  I don't think I would recommend running streaks to anyone.  I found that my legs couldn't quite properly recover from hard workouts, even with easy runs.