Ted Corbitt 15k Recap

This past Saturday with the Ted Corbitt 15k run in Central Park. The race was to honor former NYRR president Ted Corbitt. And 15k, for those who are metric-system challenged, is 9.3 miles.

A big reason I signed up for this distance race was because it was 2 weeks from the Vegas Half, meaning I was going to be well prepared for it.  I did find its challenges though, mainly how I was going to maintain in those 2 weeks. I really wanted to do another training run of 9 miles before this race, but I didnt like the timing of it. After the half, I took the next 4 days off to rest and recover. On that Friday, I did a 5 mile tempo run. Didnt want to do 9 miles that day, after having a 4 day lay off. The following monday, I did hills, totaling 5.5 miles. And Wed. was another 5 mile tempo. So going into the race, knowing how quickly I can lose my fitness, I was a little concerned that I'd have trouble covering the 15k distance.

Saturday morning arrives, I wake up before the sun even comes up, check the weather and its in the mid 30s. So I went with thermal long sleeve compression shirt, long sleeve tech-T, and a running vest on top. And it was the standard running tights with shorts over it on the bottom. Arrive at the park around 7:25am, giving me ample time to check my bag and empty my bladder.  Its 7:40 once I've done that, and head to the corrals, which was actually a bit of a walk from bag check and the port-o-potties. I get to my corral, and realize, I NEED TO PEE AGAIN......there wasn't enough time for me to go back to the port-o-potties and back to the start line, so I decided to forget it. Race starts....and all I can think about is that I need to empty my bladder. So here was the debate, since the course took me back right to where the port-o-potties are, do I take the hit on time and go? Or do I hold it for 9.3 miles? I went for the former, and lost a grand total of a minute!

Ok, now that I can concentrate on something other than my bladder, I'm on my way. It was a touch crowded in the beginning, but since my last race was Vegas, this couldnt even be considered crowded. Fall into a nice pace and all was well. Crowd started to thin about just enough after mile 2, and it looked like i was doing about a 10- 10:10 min mile (other than mile 1, which came out to 11:16 after potty break). With the sunny, cool, crisp morning on my side, I was doing well, took a Gu at around 4.8 miles and going strong and with little aches/pain as I approached mile 5. Pace was pretty consistent, even having to "conquer" Cat hill, twice! My splits seemed pretty consistent, with each passing mile. I see the mile 9 marker, and know we're in the final .3! I tried not to kick it too early, knowing how long that .2 is on a 10k. But I couldnt help myself, and kicked it in a little early. Fortunate for me, I was able to sustain it until the end, crossing the finish in 1:35:57 (for a 10:19 pace). I instantly thought back of losing that minute!! But whats done is done, and I was very happy with that time for this distance. Extrapolate that out to 13.1 miles, and I would have done VERY well....compared to my Vegas time, at least. One thing in my favor though, was course knowledge. There is just something about having a race in Central Park, and knowing every bend and every change in elevation, so you know just exactly when to give a little and when to pull back. All in all, a great way to end my 2011 races.

I'll be back in the next week or so to wrap up 2011 and preview what's in store for 2012!

Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon Recap!

It's amazing how time flies. Not only has Dec 4th come and gone, its almost been a week since the Half!

We arrived in Vegas Thursday night (12/1) and of course had to make my customary stop at In-n-Out (this counts as carb-loading, right?). Friday was Expo day, as we stood in a tremendous line (a theme of the weekend...) to get in. Though once they actually opened the expo, we moved fairly quickly inside. Picked up our bibs, t-shirts and swag bag, and it was time to open up our wallets! Haha....I went in knowing I wanted the buy "The Stick", a self massager tool, those that arent aware. I have been using a rolling pin this whole time. As useful as that was, it was limited. Also on my wish list was another pair of sunglasses and I did make that purchase as well. So now I'll have separate specs for running and biking. Yay!

A pretty uneventful next couple days, and Sunday is upon us. Being my first evening race, it was going to be a little tricky getting nutrition down, even though I do almost all of my runs in the evening. I didnt have my usually long-run lunch available to me! So buffet brunch at 10am and a snack around 3pm is how I approached it, with a 5:30pm start time, and it seemed to work fine, hunger-wise.

So we met up at 4pm to meet up and shuttle it down to the start line....

Pre-race smiles!

This is where the "fun" began. Due to the congestion getting to the start, as a result of road closures, the shuttles provided by our hotel, Wynn/Encore, were delayed coming to pick us up. In fact, we were waiting until 4:40ish until we even boarded a bus. Now on the shuttle and on our way, and we were not going anywhere quick. It was bumper to bumper traffic, and we must have been moving 1 foot per minute. We could have gone out and walked to the start quicker, but of course that would have added an additional 2.5 miles to our legs/feet. Then to do 13.1 on top of that? No thanks.

We arrive to the start area shortly before 6pm- the race started at 5:30! Lucky for me, my corral hadnt left yet. Of course a pre-race potty break was in order. We couldnt locate the port-o-johns, so we decided to use the ones in the Panda Express nearby. There were TOTALLY cool about it. Line wasn't very long either. So, finally, with bladder emptied, we were able to join the march to the start line, with more "fun" to be had...


After handing off the bag I was originally going to check-in to my wife, I finally crossed the start. This is where my fears were realized. Knowing this race was going to be 44,000 people strong, I feared it would be somewhat crowded. And by somewhat crowded, I mean like JP Morgan Corporate Challenge crowded. And guess what? IT WAS. For about 12 out of the 13.1 miles!! The lack of crowd control and signage was a huge problem for this race. Crowds everywhere- before, during, and after the race. I'll just leave it at that and continue the actual recap of the run....

So I spend much of the first mile dodging walkers and slower runners, but my legs feel good. Having not run in 3 plus days, and doing a bit of walking the previous 2 days, did a decent job priming my legs for the run. I finished the first mile in 10:20, which was actually right where I wanted to be. Second mile did not prove to be the same, as I came in in 10:50. It just seemed to get more crowded from there, and the next few miles were 11+ minute miles.  It actually fluctuated, as the Strip would go from 3 lanes, to 5 lanes, back down to 3 in certain areas. We break off the Strip a little after the 4 mile marker, and head toward downtown. Though at the time it didnt seem TOO bad, looking back, it was a VERY sketchy part of town. I downed my first pack of Gu at this point. Still feeling very good, legs strong, not breathing hard yet. As we make our way through downtown and Freemont Street, and approach the Strip again, is where I first start to struggle. Got to mile 9, near the Stratosphere, and I told myself to at least get to mile 10, then I'd pull back a little. The constant weaving and dodging was starting to catch up to me. Finally got to 10, and there was an aid station, so I slowed down to grab a cup of water. Downed what I could and resumed my pace. I got to about 11.5 miles, and was pretty much gassed. From there until about a half mile remaining, I went into somewhat of a run-walk. 1 minute on, 1 minute off.  Half mile to go, and I told myself I had to run to the end, except there was a problem- my quad (right above the right knee) started to REALLY tighten up on me, like, about to cramp tight. I tried to push through, but couldnt. Stopped real quick to stretch it out, and continued on. That final tenth of a mile was so nerve wracking because I feared my quad would just seize up. Lucky for me, it didnt, and I crossed the finish with a time of 2:33:47. Nearly 14 minutes later than my goal of 2:20! I was pretty disappointed with the time, but I also know there was not much I could do about it, given the crowds. Regardless, I had my second Half Marathon under my belt, and another medal to add to my collection:

And it glows in the dark!

So what's next from here? I have the Rock 'n' Roll USA Half Marathon in DC in my sights. Its on March 17th, so I'll have another 3 months exactly to fine tune my fitness. Until next time!

Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Course

Here's the course for Sunday! Not sure why it came out to 13.2, chalk it up to round off error i guess.

Less Than a Month Until Vegas

Here we are, a little over 3 week's away from the big dance! I can actually confidently say the training is going pretty swimmingly, as evidenced by my 12 mile run last night. That's right TWELVE!! My body is still feeling it. That was my 6th run so far above 7 miles. Hoping to have 2 more before we get to Vegas. One thing that I realized though, is that I'm once again neglecting the cross training. Its been run, run, run, for the past 2 months. And its really too late to do anything about it at this point, but I did want to start doing Ab Ripper X every other day from now until the race. Definitely feel the lack of strength in my core as I get into the late miles of a long run. Hope that will make even a small difference.

Last week (after Urbanathlon) was 1 hill day, 2 EZ days and a long run. I did the shorter version of hill, for 9 repeats, which felt really good. I always seem to push hard on that last repeat, which causes me to get slightly woozy! But in all, a good training day and I'm glad that I am keeping up with the hill training. 2 EZ days of 3.5 and 2.5 miles. The 2.5 mile day was on a Sunday morning, and I must say, was probably one of the hardest runs of my life. Probably a combination of the fact that I dont usually run mornings, I didnt eat anything, and was still recovering from my 11 mile run Friday night. Ah, 11 miles. 11.2 to be exact. Was going to do the 6 mile loop then 5 mile loop in CP, but was detoured due to the NYC Marathon Festivities. So had to reverse course at 72nd and re-do the 6 mile loop from there. Harlem hills twice (once in each direction) was killer. Average pace ended up around 10:45, which I think I'm satisfied with. But that is still more than a 2:20 half marathon, and I was REALLY hoping to come in under that.

This week, so far, has only been 1 hill day and the long run. I did the extended hill again, this time for 6 repeats, then ran up to 90th and back down, totaling about 6 miles. This was a tougher run, probably a product of being the 4th run in 5 days. And the day before that was volleyball and one more before that was my previous hill day. So it was 6 days of work in a 7 day span. Then, last night was the almighty 12 (well, 12.16) mile run. Again, I think I was still slightly fatigued from all the activity from the past week, but all in all, it was a decent run. Averaged a 10:50 pace, so not too far off the 11 mile pace. It felt really good through 7 miles. Starting the 8th mile, I started to feel it on the uphills. I took a Gu at 4.75, and again at mile 9. I didnt feel its impact as greatly this run, I think because I was so fatigued. Perhaps I should have carried a THIRD packet with me. The bottom of my right foot started to really bother from all the pounding. My ankles and knees actually held up pretty well. Then in the final mile, I started to feel quite a stinger in my left hip. Luckily it wasnt a steady pain, but was pretty sharp. It came and went like an ocean wave, kinda strange, but thankful. So I'm going to take the next 2 days off to FULLY recover, and do either an EZ or tempo run on Saturday (crosses fingers). I need about another 6 miles to cover my weekly mileage.

So, I think I've reached my peak mileage for long runs. So next week I think I'll do either 10 or 11, then 8 or 9 the following week (thanksgiving), before I taper off. Much more pleased with my training this year, so far. I'm hoping it will translate into a good, no, GREAT finish this year!

Urbanathlon Recap

Well it seems I'm a little past due on my Urbanathlon update...but of course it had to be the coldest, wettest and windiest days so far this fall, and not to mention the same day that somewhat of a "blizzard" went through the Northeast in October! The morning started around 6:30am, woke up and went through my usual pre-race routine. I knew it was going to be a cold one, but was just not sure HOW cold, but I went with long sleeve cold gear, a long sleeve T, leggings and shorts over them, running gloves (with lifting gloves underneath, for some of the obstacles), and a skull cap. I wore a hoodie to stay warm pre-race and eventually decided to check it at baggage. So with the 30 or so minutes between when I checked my bags and when the race started, I stood there freezing my butt off!! I dont think I've ever been that cold. And anyone that knows me is that I dont get cold very easily.

Being in the last wave (signed up as a Clydesdale, "naayyyy!"-- is that the sound a horse makes??...anyway....), I didnt get started until around 8:20am. The rain had started to come down pretty steadily at this point, but surprisingly, my sneakers were in decent shape. And thankfully, I warmed up pretty quickly once we got going. So, after almost 2 miles of an easy jog, I reach the first obstacle: the police and traffic barricades. Go over the traffic barricade and under the police ones. This one was not very difficult, but did require me to get on my hands and knees to get under, so therefore, I got muddied up real quick. As we got to the second obstacle about a 1.5 miles later, I realized things werent going to be in the order that was detailed on the website.  So along we go, and despite the rain and cold, its going well, and I dont hit my first real challenge of an obstacle until I reached the Marine hurdles. I underestimated how high they were. For a 6' guy, they were about chin high!! Though a challenge, I found myself getting over them without much trouble. the only issue would be that i ripped one corner of my bib. oops. I saw a lot of the females have trouble here, and actually were being helped by other competitors. What a nice showing camaraderie! Next obstacle would be the monkey bars and parallel bars, the monkey bars which were one of two obstacles that worried me. Got over the parallel bars pretty easily, and off to the monkey bars. and to my surprise, I did them pretty cleanly! Having the lifting gloves helped a ton, as many were slipping off them due to the weather conditions.



From here, it was a long run before we reached the next obstacle, which was the Aurthur Ashe Stadium stair climb. But to my surprise, it was only a climb to the top deck, then back down. So after that would be the "real" stairclimb in CitiField. Entered the stadium and had to get up to Promonade level. Once there, it was up and down the stairs of the Promonade level through about 6 or 7 sections. Since I was in the back of the pack, a lot of people were walking it. At this point, I didnt mind too much. So after the last stair climb, it was back down the stadium, all the way down to the clubhouse, into the visitor dugout, and get this: ON TO THE FIELD ITSELF!! I was a little "star" struck! Of course we had to stay on the dirt, from foul territory on the 3B side, onto the warning track, and onto the 1st base side. Back into the stands, up another flight of stairs, and back out of the stadium through the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Only a little bit left to go.

So it was over a couple taxis, which was actually a lot of fun, under some jeeps (which should have been earlier- and really hurt my knees, since we were crawling on artificial turf which was laid out on the parking lot!), over a schoolbus on a cargo net, and finally, over an 8' wall and through the finish. I will sadly admit right now, at this point, I could not get over the wall. But from what I could tell, not many did or could. On my first attempt, I jump up, as able to get my elbows on top of the wall, tried to pull myself up, but slipped and dropped back down, nearly landing on one of the volunteers. On my second attempt, nearly the same, but as i hung there for a second, the volunteer pretty much took my legs and threw me over. Thank God for that! Otherwise I think I would still be there trying to get over.

All in all, it was a good, fun and challenging event, despite the weather. And I am totally in next year if it happens again. I will definitely strength train more for it so I can get over the wall on my own. And hopefully get some buddies on board so I wont have to do it alone again.

Quick Recap and Urbanathlon

Almost a month without an update? Rest assured the training has been going well! Since the last update, I've gone from about 13 total weekly miles to 20 last week. Long runs have accordingly gone from 8 to 10.4. The 9 miler was one of my best long runs, in terms of how I felt (still around an 11 min/mile!). But at the end, I almost felt like I could have kept on going, with minimal pain in my legs and feet. The 10 miler on the other hand, the pain set in around mile 6, and I had to fight through it till the end. Honestly my pace is not where I would like it to be, but I am glad that I was able to get to the 10 mile long runs with over a month left to go. So I will shift the focus a little to tempo runs and intervals to try to better the pace.

And just to throw out there, Urbanathlon is TOMORROW. Considering my lack of strength training in the past month, I am rather anxious about it. Actually, there are really only 2 obstacles that concern me: the monkey bars and the wall climb at the end. From what I can tell from the pictures, the wall looks to be about 8 feet. Although theres a rope to help you climb it (picture the old school batman tv show), I'm not sure I'm very good at that, or how I would release the rope and grab the wall. I think my best approach would be to leap, grab the top of the wall and pull myself over. Thats all fine and dandy, providing I have anything left in my legs to, LEAP.

Ok, I'll be back on Mon/Tue with a fuller recap of both Urbanathlon and training. Til then! Wish me luck!!

Training Recap Since 9/26

So I'll start this post with something I don't mention often, only because I'm not great at it: NUTRITION. The saddest part is I probably know all there is to know about how to eat and fuel properly, yet ignore it all (most of the time, at least). As more of an effort to save money, rather than being healthy, I had started to bring my lunch the past few weeks. Simple baked chicken breast, on whole wheat bread. Usually complimented with some raw veggies and fruit. This has been doing wonders on my training runs. I feel more energized and strong while running. And my legs and feet ache less (not actually sure if this is a product of the better eating). As stated earlier, its sad that this really comes as no surprise to me. I already knew if I fueled myself correctly, it'll be seen directly in my training. You really are what you eat.

So back on the training side of things, 2 runs only last week. 5.2 miles and a long run of 7.75, for a total of just about 13 miles for the week. The first was originally going to be just an EZ run of once or twice around the southern loop (1.7 miles). But, when I got out, it was actually a lot cooler than I had thought. And as I progressed in the run, I knew I could extend to do the 5 mile loop. So thats what I did. See, good eating takes you far. Though it was just under 70 degrees, but SUPER humid, the run still went surprisingly well. As did the 7.75 long run. Even having to contend with the crowds going to the Black Eyed Peas concert! Averaged a 10:43 pace through the run- which is about where I wanted to be on a long run. I did then entire park loop (6 miles) and then an extra southern loop, which is how I ended at 7.75 miles. Wanted to do 8, but to piece together 8 miles in Central Park gets a little complicated. I took a Gu gel around 4.75 miles into the run, and it proved wise. I was very surprised at how I felt toward the end of the run. Again, legs felt fatigued, yet strong, and conditioning was good. Lower temps and humidity I'm sure played a big role in that as well.

Monday (10/3) I actually went out in the rain and did some hills. I missed hills last week, so was partly why I decided to head out, even though it was raining. Did 6x the Cat Hill, and again, benefiting from the cooler temps- it went pretty well. Though I think I pushed it a LITTLE too hard on that last rep, because I felt like I was about to pass out.

So, this week's long run goal is 9 miles. Which I think I will do tomorrow. It'll be a 5 mile loop and a 4 mile loop in CP. If that gets done, I'll actually be one week ahead of my training plan. Lets hope I get it done!

Training Recap (Weeks of 9/12 and 9/19)

So here we are, half marathon training once again in full swing. It seems to be off to a rather slow start, but I think I'm doing okay. I just wish the weather would start getting cooler and LESS HUMID.  Been steadily building the weekly mileage and long runs, and have been on track there. Also being consistent in doing hills. Was up to 6x the Cat Hill, with no bonus up to 90th street. Last week I also included one short run (once around the small southern loop), but in the middle, I did the stairs near Bathesda Fountain. This of course is preparing for Urbanathlon, which I've registered for. My original plan was just to do 5 reps, but after the 5th one, it was still rather easy and I was nowhere near exhausted, so I did a few more for a total of 9. I'm not really sure why I ended at 9, but I did.

This past saturday (9/24) was the 5th Avenue Mile. A one mile sprint from 80th (the Met) to 60th (Grand Army Plaza) streets. My "swift" sprint took 7:32. That was actually better than I thought I'd do, especially considering the humidity. I was really shooting for around 8 minutes, since my best mile to date, ever, was 8:11. I must admit that I came out too hot out of the gate, and lost a bit of steam about half way through. But lucky for me, the last 800m was more downhill than anything, and was able to coast to the finish. They even called out my name as I approached the finish line!

So after that was over, since it was only a mile, I attempted to do a long run. Now about 10:45, temps starting to get into the mid to upper 70s, with humidity north of 75%, I knew it was going to be a struggle. My goal was around 5.5 miles (in addition to the 1 mile race earlier). Since the end of the race was close to where I normally enter the park, I started from the same spot. Was going to go clock-wise around the park, crossover at 104th and come down the east side, completing the loop and ending at 72nd on the West side.
Sadly, I only made it to about 4.4 miles, ending at 72nd on the East side, meaning I didnt even complete the loop. It was just TOO humid.

So, with about a month left until Urbanathlon, i should really start getting back into some resistance training again. Have definitely slacked off on that end. Looking for an 8 mile long run this week (as this weekend looks to be MUCH cooler and MUCH less humid!). We'll see how that goes. Until next time!

Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and Birthdays..Oh MY!

Another month since the last update? Glancing over at my blog reading list, I'm glad I'm not the only one slacking!  Nothing notable since the last update though.  Maintained my two to three shorter runs per week since, except for the week I was in Virginia Beach. Only one run (for 4 miles) that week on the Va Beach boardwalk. That was a nice run, and nice change of scenery. Temp wise it was "cool", but the sun was pretty brutal, as there is no shade on a boardwalk, of course.  Had a really good training week last week, as it was going to kick off my half-marathon training, but was quickly derailed this week, with the rain and birthday festivities. Totaled about 10 miles last week, including a 5 miler last friday (haven't done a 5 miler since before the Tri!). I also learned that day that 75 degrees is my performance threshold. Once it exceeds that, my conditioning dramatically decreases. On top of the 3 runs last week, I also biked 2 days, for 7 and 11 miles each. So it had seemed like I was off to a great start to my training, but not so much anymore. After this week, I'll have 12 weeks remaining. Better get crackin.

On an events note, will soon sign up for Urbanathlon. They've released the obstacles, and everything seems do-able. Will require work, but definitely doable. Also eying 2 NYRR races, the Poland Spring Marathon Kick Off (5M) on 10/30 and the Ted Corbitt Classic (15K) on 12/17, 2 weeks after the Half.

I'm also going to start my search for a road/racer bike, as my current city-bike will only take me so far- competitively speaking. Hoping to do 3 Tri's next year, 2 sprints and 1 olympic distance.

Coasting Right Along...

So its been pretty quiet, evidenced by the month between blog posts. What's been going on? I've been going out for a run about twice a week since the beginning of July, totaling no more than 7 miles per week. Just trying to maintain a bit, since the Tri, but now also trying to build the mileage back up. The weather has definitely been a force to contend with. Last week I did twice around the southern loop (3.44 miles), on Tues and Thurs. Hoping to get maybe a 5-miler in this week, as Thur and Fri are looking to be relatively cooler days. Again, I'm going to build up my mileage the right way this time to avoid any (further) injury. I must note that the plantar fasciitis has been better. Not sure if its just the decreased mileage or if its the Nike LunarEclipse, but hey, I'll take it.

I've also been doing a bit of biking. Trying to keep that up as to keep up on some cross training. Not sure how much I can do once it starts getting colder. But that does seem like light years away at this point. Perhaps I'll re-visit the pool....hmmmm.....Oh, and speaking of cross training, I've noticed I'm starting to get on the....how do you say "flabby" side. I mean, lets be real, I've always been flabby, but theres always more flabby and less flabby....haha. So I started some simple push ups and pull ups on days in between runs. Simply doing 3 sets of each, with minimal rest in between.

And on an events note, I'm 75% sure I'll do the Urbanathlon at this point. They've posted the course, though nothing exciting, I think it would just be a fun thing to do, and actually will work well to keep me accountable in the cross-training side of things. I know simply running will not suffice to complete it, as the obstacles will require much more than just running endurance.

So thats about it for now. About 3 weeks away before I start to get cracking on hard core half marathon training for Vegas. Should be loads of fun.