Last Run of 2009

Wed: 5 miles

Week: 18 miles

Workout: 5 miles loop in Central Park

8:00/mile pace. Not nearly as cold tonight as it was last night. Eight people showed up. Peking Duck in Chinatown after the run.

Tweaked my foot somehow! These injuries are really starting to annoy me!

18 + 20 = 0

Today: 6 miles

Week: 13 miles

Workout: Niketown - East Drive to Lasker Rink - back to Niketown

It was 18 degrees tonight, and there was a 20 mph wind. So it felt like 0 degrees. When my face starts to sting, I know it's pretty cold. My TEETH were cold!

One good thing about such cold weather is there aren't as many people walking. I didn't have to zig zag my way through crowds on my way to Niketown.

West Side Hwy

Today: 7 miles

Week: 7 miles

Workout: Warm up from Y to West Side Hwy. Run 18 minutes south @10K race pace. Turn around and come back.

We were supposed to run negative splits. I don't know about everyone else, but it didn't happen for me. I guess I went out harder than I usually do. I must have expended a lot on today's run. Two hours after the workout, I'm still feeling nauseous.

Wednesday: 4 miles

Week: 15 miles

Workout: YMCA -- 15 minutes uptown on West Drive and back

Only four people, including myself, showed up for tonight's workout. After the run, we did some running drills indoors. High knees, butt kickers, A-skips, etc.

The other day I forgot my Nike sensor for my Nikeplus band. I ran 5 miles, but did I REALLY run???

Mr. Jerk

Today: 5 miles

Week: 11 miles

Workout: Niketown -- 72nd St. Transverse -- West Drive -- 102nd St. Transverse turn around -- go around the lower loop to 65th St. -- Niketown

On West Drive, some guy was running the other way. I was running on the inner portion of the recreation lane, next to people and tried to move in to give the guy a little more room even though he had plenty of room on his right. He was running in the bike lane. He didn't move an inch and ran into my shoulder. Not only that, I found out after the run that he did the same thing to a female friend who was running behind me. What a JERK! What made it even worse was that he LEANED INTO her. There wasn't any runner on his right, no bikes, and no cars. All he had to do was move 4 inches to his right and he would still have been in the bike lane. So if you happen to have the same experience in Central Park, let me know. I would love to find the guy and ask him why he can't move when there is clearly enough space.

If you have any suggestions for how a runner should deal with this guy, let me know. Someone who is not paying careful attention is going to get seriously hurt by this guy because he won't move and will end up knocking someone down.

Also, what is the "correct" direction to run in Central Park? Mr. Jerk was running counter clockwise and probably feels that's the "correct" direction. That's probably why he refuses to move. But, of course, there are plenty of people who run clockwise, including some running groups that sometimes have as many as 30 to 40 runners running together. I'm curious to see how Mr. Jerk responds when a large running group approaches him from the opposite direction. Are there any signs in the park that indicate the direction runners should be running? Running magazines will often say runners should run against traffic because it's safer to be able to see oncoming cars. That would mean running clockwise in the park. I would love someone to clarify this for me. I've been running in Central Park for 16 years now, and no one has given me a satisfactory answer. For the record, I run in both directions depending on which way the runners I'm with want to run. But I try to make room for runners coming the other way.

So, to all you runners who use Central Park, watch out for Mr. Jerk.

Mile Repeats

Today: 6 miles

Week: 6 miles

Workout: YMCA -- 1 mile warmup -- 4 x 1 mile clockwise, around lower loop -- recover across the park

At first, I thought the mile was a little long since my first repeat was 6:00, and it felt faster than that. But now I think it was short after looking at the times for the next three miles, 5:39, 5:34, 5:32. I don't think I'm in shape to run those times yet. On the other hand, most of the mile seems to be downhill, so maybe it's possible. Let's just call it a good workout and leave it at that. EVERYONE (Bruno, Jeanne, Megan, Greg, Rob, Denie) did 4 repeats.

WSY Awards

Earlier this week my running club had a party to celebrate our second year in existence. And I received this AWESOME ribbon!

Bridle Path

Today: 10 miles

Week: 22 miles

Workout: Niketown -- 6th Ave & Central Park -- extended bridle path -- and 2 loops on the outside of the reservoir.

I had two pairs of gloves on, and my hands were still cold. I did put on some tights today. Not many people came out today. I ran with Meggie. Alanna also jumped in for the last few miles. We are supposedly getting 6 - 10 inches of snow today. As of the end of our run, however, it still hadn't begun snowing.

Brrr

Today: 6 miles

Week: 12 miles

Workout: Niketown -- 5 mile loop in Central Park

28 degrees and still wearing shorts! However, they WERE long shorts.

Another Out and Back

Today: 3 miles

Week: 6 miles

Workout: 63rd & West Drive in Central Park -- 96th Street and back

The coaches were absent today, so Erika and I took over coaching duties. There were only 7 of us today. I'm still wearing shorts but may have to start wearing tights soon.

Out and Back

Yesterday: 3 miles

Week: 3 miles

Workout: Niketown -- Engineer's Gate & back

It must have been around 50 degrees last night!

Sunny & Cold

Today: 8 miles

Week: 24.5 miles

Workout: Niketown -- 6th Ave. -- lower loop of C. Park -- Bridle path -- Harlem Hill -- Lasker Pool and back.

Went out at about 9:00/mile and came back in 10:00/mile. 1 h 16 m.

Interval

Today: 5 miles

Week: 16.5 miles

Workout: Niketown -- C. Park @65th St. & East Drive -- 72nd St. Transverse -- West Drive -- 86th St. -- across bottom of Reservoir -- 85th St. -- East Drive -- 92nd St. -- turn around and head back to Niketown.

A little cold tonight. Uh oh. My hip was a little more sore today. It's been about 4 months since it first began to bother me. Frustrating!!!

Fartlek Run

Today: 5 miles

Week: 11.5 miles

Workout: 10 minute warm up. Fartlek run around lower loop of Central Park. 3 minutes at 10K race pace. 3 minutes recovery. Repeat 5 times.

I wasn't planning on running fast, but I got caught up running with David and Jessica. They pulled me through the workout.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Today: 6.5 miles

Week: 6.5 miles

Workout: Niketown -- Central Park -- 65th St & East Drive -- over Harlem Hill to West Drive -- 72nd St. Transverse -- East Drive -- Niketown

Easy pace, a little slower than 8:00/mile.

Joe Kleinerman 10K

Today: 7.5 miles

Week: 30.5 miles

Workout: 10K race in Central Park, 0.5 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down.

The men's WSY team (David K., Francois, Farbod, Denie, Greg A., and me) was 17th out of 42 teams. The masters men's team (David K., Denie, and me) was 13th out of 39 teams. Claudina and Meggie also ran and did well. Great job everyone! It was the last club points race of the year.

My time was 40:56, which works out to 6:36/mile. It was a bit too cold for me, but I shouldn't really complain considering all the great weather we've had so far this fall.

My mile splits:

Mile 1 6:53

Mile 2 6:41

Mile 3 6:27

Mile 4 6:34

Mile 5 6:40

Mile 6 6:23

After the race, we picked up some breakfast, and head to Claudina's.

Easy Run

Today: 3.5 miles

Week: 23 miles

Workout: Central Park @ 5th Ave. & Central Park South -- Engineer's Gate and back.

I never warmed up today. I think my legs are still tight from Monday's workout. Is that possible?!!! I'm feeling a little sick. I'm going to drink some Theraflu, watch some college football, and go to sleep early.

I'm looking forward to the Kleinerman 10K tomorrow, although I don't expect to run a fast time. The West Side Y will have a men's team in the race.

Lower Loop

Today: 4 miles

Week: 19.5 miles

Workout: Niketown -- 65th -- 2 lower loops

I did one of the loops slightly faster, but overall, an easy run.

4x4

Today: 8.5 miles

Week: 15.5 miles

Workout: Warm up from West Side Y to 72nd St. Transverse & East Drive -- run the 4 mile loop -- run 4 Cat Hills.

I ran the 4-mile loop at conversational pace. I ran relatively fast on the Cat Hill repeats but was still sore from Monday's workout. I plan to run the Kleinerman 10K on Sunday, so I was trying to take it easy today.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Today: 7 miles

Week: 7 miles

Workout: Central Park clockwise from 63rd St on West Drive to 102nd Street Transverse & East Drive and back.

24:37 out, and 21:43 back. I was struggling on the way back.