Coogan's Course

Morning: 6 miles

Week: 6 miles

Workout: 0.5 mile warm up to 174th & Ft. Washington Ave., run the Coogan's 5K course, plus another 2.5 miles.

I ran the Coogan's course with David. I hadn't run in the area for months and was reminded how hilly the Coogan's race will be, but I am looking forward to it.

The Best Part of my Run Today

I neglected to mention something about my run today. I knew David was going to be in the race. So I positioned myself around Mile 1 and waited. Sure enough, David came through looking relaxed. It was a 2-loop course, so I just waited there for everyone to come around again. But, while people were still going through their first loop ... I saw my WSY friends, Courtney and Meggie run by!!! I yelled, "Meggie" but neither one of them heard me. (They had caught me off guard, and I didn't yell until they were already passed me.)

On the second loop, I saw Courtney, and she saw me. Meggie wasn't with her. But when I saw Meggie approaching, I made sure she saw and heard me this time. And THAT was the best part of my day!

Tuesday Night Speed Series

Today: 3 miles

Week: 7 miles

Workout: 1500 meters & 800 meters race at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island.

I completely forgot to get my splits on my watch and won't even know my official times until they get posted on the NYRR website. But I think I recall my splits for the 1500 being something like this: 76, 2:38 (82), 3:56 (78), 4:54 (78). I was in Heat 3, the slowest heat. There were some really fast guys in the other heats. That 2nd lap was horrible. I was afraid of pushing the pace but probably should have. David and George ended up in my heat. It was nice seeing people I knew.

I think I went through the first lap in 4th place. On the second lap, I moved ahead of a couple people and tucked in behind George, who was leading the race. There was a pretty good breeze on the backstretch. I started feeling a little guilty for drafting off him, so I pulled ahead and found myself leading the race. I hadn't planned on that. On the last lap, I wasn't sure how good George's kick was, so I tried to pick up the pace. I obviously didn't pick up the pace, according to my splits. But it FELT like I did. I ended up winning the heat, which was a surprise. In the last 100m, I was just waiting for someone to go by me. (I used to go by the name of "No Kick Mike" in high school.)

My arms and back felt tight on the last lap. The next time I have a race, I need to make sure I do not do pull-ups with Farbod the day before.

I ran my 800 in around 2:24. It was the slow heat again. I think I did a 72 first lap and another 72 for the second lap. I felt like I finished strong, but once again, my arms were tight down the final 100m. I came in 4th place. The first 3 guys were so far ahead of me that I had no hope of catching them. I was satisfied with my times but hope to improve on them during the next indoor series of races in the winter.

Official times for the 1500 and 800 were: 4:52.6 and 2:23.6

Baseball Field Intervals

Today: 7 1/2 miles

Week: 17 miles

Workout: 3 mile warm up on my own, 2 loops of baseball fields with group, 3 sets x 2 loops of fields (4:27, 4:18, 4:13) , 1 loop recovery (3:00, 3:14), 2 loops cool down at end of workout.

I don't recall what my times were the last time I did this workout. I think I was consistently slowing down on the 2nd loop of each set. I kept passing through the first loop somewhere around 2:05-2:07. It was annoying to constantly run through the cigar smoke of some guy puffing away on one of the park benches. That had to slow me down a little. Other than that, I was surprised that I didn't have to dodge more people on the path. I love the slight downhill near the end of the loop.

There weren't too many people who showed up for the workout today. I wonder if people get intimidated by speed workouts. Maybe more people would show up if the workouts weren't sent out in an email, and then, when everyone showed up, Stacy or Bruno sprang the speed workout on everyone. HA! Stacy and Bruno, I was just kidding if you're reading this. I like knowing the workouts in advance.

After the workout, we went to the Boat Basin and celebrated David's birthday. It was definitely a nice place to hang out, but I could not figure out why it took so long for us to get our food. Also, why can't they serve fries with burgers??? Potato chips instead?! You can't be serious!

David took out his digital camera and placed it on the table. The table actually tilted to one side. I am not kidding! It was HUGE! I think David mentioned that it was one of the first digital cameras ever made, right David? Of course, I'm only kidding. I still have a 1MP Kodak digital camera that takes pictures that are so grainy, you can't identify the people in the picture.

Stacy related an interesting story about a member of the YMCA. I will have to keep an eye out for her and make sure I NEVER engage her in a conversation. Ask Stacy to do an impression of the woman speaking. Stacy, you need to break ALL contact with this woman. It's going to be a big waste of time! Although, it does make for some entertaining stories.

West Side Hwy

Today: 9 1/2 miles

Week: 9 1/2 miles

21 Weeks Until the NYC Marathon

OK. I'm a little shocked at the moment. Imagine my surprise when I saw that there were actually people who signed up to follow this blog! Suddenly, I feel a little pressure to make the blog mildly entertaining. Obviously, just blogging about my workouts is not going to be enough. I'm going to rely heavily on my fellow running club members for their witty conversations and suggestions for this blog.

Upon meeting everyone at the Y, one of the first things Stacy announced was that there would be a change in the Wednesday workout. We would not be doing mile repeats on Wednesday because of the Corporate Challenge. Yes!!! (I mean...DAMN! I was sooooo looking forward to that workout.)

Today's workout: run to the bike (oops, I mean running) path along the West Side Hwy, run 30 minutes downtown, turn around, and come back. It seemed simple enough before I started. I didn't want to run too hard because I intend to run the 1500 meter race at Randall's Island tomorrow. I figured I would settle into a comfortable pace. Bruno and Farbod were running a little too quick for me, so I ran solo. After turning around and heading back, I felt good and picked up the pace. Despite my best intentions, I ended up running a little too fast. Oh well. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Maybe it was the humidity or something else, but my legs felt drained after the run. Although, I don't think I felt as bad as Farbod who seemed to be limping a little and Denie who was complaining about his left buttocks. (Don't ask me about it. I only report what I hear.) Erika wasn't injured, but she shared her freakish shin muscle and her "tennis" muscle with us.

After everyone had finished with the run, Stacy decided that we would do some repeats around the baseball fields on Wednesday. Then, we will be going to the Boat Basin for a little relaxation AND to celebrate David's birthday!

In case you haven't seen Farbod's video of the Mini 10K on YouTube, what are you waiting for?! Check it out! I'm sure Farbod is a great doctor, but I think he has a future as a photographer or videographer.