Brooklyn Half Marathon

And the good races continue!  1:22:32 (6:18/mile).  The day began at 3:30 a.m.  By 4:30 a.m., I was on the train.  At 5:40 a.m., I was stepped off the train at the Brooklyn Museum.  I hung out with a few friends in the parking lot of the museum.  Then, I dropped off my bag at 6:15 and did a 1/2-mile warm up.    I was in my corral by 6:30.

Fellow West Side Y'ers Farbod and Lou joined me in the corral.  I felt uncomfortable for the first couple of miles.  I wasn't warmed up properly and despite the slow pace, I felt awkward and the pace felt difficult.  Both Lou and Farbod mentioned that they were not going to pass me, or at least for the first few miles.  It was nice running with people I knew.  

We entered the park in the middle of Mile 4.  By that time, I finally felt like I was warmed up.  The hills in the park weren't too bad, but I was still anxious to get out of the park.  When I got out of the park (after Mile 7) I felt like I was in a groove and ready to take on Ocean Parkway.  

By Mile 8, Lou had pulled away from me a bit.  When I hit Mile 9, I remember thinking I haven't gone on any 10 mile runs lately.  At Mile 10, I thought I was on 1:23 pace but I wasn't sure.  Once I hit Mile 11, I knew I could keep up the pace.  For the most part, I was slowly passing people for all of Ocean Parkway.  When I got onto the boardwalk and approached the finish, I thought I could see the clock showing 1:22 something.  I was excited about the prospect of breaking 1:23:08 (my fastest time for the half since I became a masters runner), so I started running pretty hard.  It wasn't until a couple seconds after I crossed the line and I stopped my watch that I realized I broke 1:23 by a large margin.  

My splits:

1. 6:41

2. 6:35

3. 6:21 (estimated)

4. 6:07 (estimated)

5. 6:25

6. 6:24

7. 6:10

8. 6:13

9. 6:09

10. 6:12

11. 6:16

12. 6:14

13. 6:07

13.1  0:38

My 5K splits:

5K  20:10

10K  19:45

15K  19:12

20K  19:20

Japan Day

I've been running some good races lately.  

Coogan's 5K in 18:22.  (5:56/mile)

NYC Half in 1:23:33.  (6:23/mile)

NY Colon Cancer Challenge 15K in 59:35.  (6:25/mile)

Scotland 10K in 38:15.  (6:11/mile)

Run as One 4 Mile in 23:44.  (5:56/mile)
Long Branch Half Marathon 1:24:17 (6:27/mile)

And now, I'm going to add today's Japan Day 4 mile in 24:05.  (6:02/mile)  It wasn't quite as good as the Run as One 4 Mile but good enough for me.  These were my splits: 6:09, 5:53, 6:08, 5:56

Scotland 10K

Time: 38:15

Pace/Mile: 6:11

Overall Place: 191st

Men: 180th

Age Place: 23rd

Splits: 6:14, 6:09, 6:05, 6:23, 6:02, 6:06.

Nice weather for a race. I'm not sure where that 6:23 mile came from. I felt pretty good throughout the race. I probably lost a few seconds in the first mile because I got stuck behind people.

So far this year, despite my plantar fasciitis issues, I'm doing about the same as I did last year. My Coogan's time was exactly the same as last year, 18:22. My Scotland 10K was a little faster last year, 37:57. I wish my foot pain would go away so that I could train properly.

The West Side YMCA men finished in 11th place out of 55 teams. The women finished 22nd out of 43 teams. The masters men finished 14th out of 49 teams.

Colon Cancer Challenge 15K

I spent all of last week recovering from the 20-mile training run last Sunday. So I went into today's race thinking I would simply use it as a training run.

Splits:

1. 6:33

2. 6:07

3. 6:58

4. 6:18

5. 6:24

6. 6:21

7. 6:14

8. 6:24

9. 6:21

Total: 59:35 (6:25/mile)

NYC Half Marathon

Even though the NYC Half was two weeks ago, it's still fresh in my mind. My plantar fasciitis is still affecting my training. So I wasn't expecting much from myself in the race. I thought I had an outside shot at 1:25. But it went much better than expected. These were my splits:

1. 6:35

2. 6:38

3. 6:22

4. 6:26

5. 6:28

6. 6:15

7. 6:18

8. 6:22

9. 6:22

10. 6:22

11. 6:19

12. 6:17

13. 6:11

Total: 1:23:33 (6:23/mile)

Splits for each 5K:

5K 20:17

10K 19:52

15K 19:43

20K 19:35

Lower Loop Time Trial

Monday: 8 miles

Week: 8 miles

Workout: 2.5 mile warm up, 2 lower loops, 2 mile cool down

My splits were 6:14, 6:07, 6:00 for the first 3 miles on the lower loops. Back, legs, and shoulders were all still sore from Saturday's dodgeball games. So I was happy with today's workout. I don't know if these shoes made me any faster, but it felt like they did.

Long Run

Sunday: 15 miles

Week: 43 miles

Workout: 186th Street - West Side Hwy bike path - 40th Street and back to 181st Street

My body was sore from playing dodgeball and lifting weights the day before.

Long Run

15 miles with Lou and Charlie. 1:52. Ran through Inwood Hill Park, Van Cortlandt Park, and Riverdale. There were a lot of hills! Lou's dog Charlie is amazing.

Easy Run Plus Some Hills

Today: 6 miles

Week: 6 miles

Workout: 5.5 mile warm up, 6 x Strawberry Fields Hill with slow jog down the hill as a recovery.

Oh My Achin' Back!

I don't know what I did to my back, but it's killing me! One minute I'm sitting down enjoying Christmas, and the next minute I can barely walk. I decided to go to the doctor on Thursday. It's only a block away from my apartment. On my way there, a woman who looked to be about 80 years old was walking faster than I was, and she had a cane! The doctor said she thought it was a muscle spasm and would probably go away in 3 days or so. It does feel better today but not good enough to try running yet.

But good enough to go to the Giants-Cowboys game tonight!!!

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.