5

And the excitement builds …

Thursday:  I had been waiting for that “I’m ready” moment for the last few weeks.  I’ve had great workouts, but more of the check the box variety.  In the final tempo of this cycle (and last hard workout), I had my moment.  We ran a simple 5mi tempo at HMP finishing the final 2.5 along the actual marathon course.  Our coach prohibited warned us against sprinting or striding those last few miles in hopes of creating muscle memory for 11.7.2010.  At the time, I just wanted to execute the workout properly and fall near the HMP range (7:15-7:20) without doing anything stupid … yeah, I’m defensive.  So I started off … well behind Runner’s Kitchen, who I knew would be hammer this one.  Some of her speed must have rubbed off because with zero effort I was at 7:23 after the first mile.  Feeling good I fell into the downhill on Mile 2 (7:09) and at that point realized I had something going.  When I glanced down at the watch after Mile 3 (7:13), I decided that I needed to pull back, because I was getting loose and itching to hammer it.   I eased up during Miles 4 & 5 (7:17 each) and then could not resist opening up a tad for the final 200m as we passed the bleachers at the finish line 0:44 (5:38 pace).  When I stopped, I had a subtle fist pump going as I knew I was ready for NYC.  Overall 7:13 pace.

Friday: Scheduled rest day.

Saturday:  I took another reconnaissance mission at 7:45am and 45 degrees along the final 10 miles of the course.  While it was definitely productive and time well spent, I can’t take too much away from the experience.  Why?  I had fresh legs on Saturday, while on race day I will have 16 at race pace under the belt when I start the final 10.  Still, I did observe that miles 16-22 are relatively flat, including Willis Ave. and Madison Ave. bridges.  The world changes when you hit 110^th and 5^th Avenue.  The hill is not so much steep as it is relentless.  A solid 20 blocks of grinding up hill.  I did my best to imagine feeling like crap and grinding thru this stretch.  We’ll see how it works this Sunday.  Once you re-enter CP at 90^th, it is all too familiar and I, without, thinking quickened the pace from sheer excitement.  The workout ended up being a progression … 8 miles at easy pace with the final 2.5 at MP, again finishing at the NYC finish line.  10.5 miles.

Sunday: Uneventful 3 mile shakeout.

Before I forget, October results:

 

	October
Days Run	22
Total Miles	200.2
Mi/Day	9.1
Running Time	27:49:31
Avg. Pace	8:20

 

200 miles is not bad for 2 weeks of taper, plus a mini taper for the tune up race in the middle of the month.

Monday: Scheduled rest day.

Tuesday:  No CPTC track workout for me tonight.  The camaraderie is always great, but at this point, trudging down to the track to run a few easy miles in the dark seemed risky.  I’m still defensive.  Instead, I opted for a dawn cruise + 4 x 300 w/ 100m recovery.  As I was warming up (in 38 degree temps) on the Reservoir, I was very happy to run into Runner’s Kitchen who was doing the same thing.  We jogged for a loop and then I begged off to get to the intervals.  Our coach told us these were to just get the heart rate elevated and generate some pop in the legs.  Results – :62, :66, :63, :63.  I felt relaxed and in control.  It was the last chance to get some turnover before Sunday.  I finished up with another spin on the Reservoir and ran into an elite decked out in hot Nike gear.  I did not recognize him … not one of the profiled elites, but clearly someone near the top of the heap on Sunday.  5 miles.

And now, the countdown really begins.  5.

Tuning It Up

After Friday’s tempo, Saturday had to be well executed as it served as the bridge to the next big effort, Sunday’s long run.  I could not ask for better weather … in fact I could have used lightweight gloves!  If memory serves the temperature was a crispy 59* with a slight breeze when I clicked the watch.  Before I left the apartment, I searched for the beanie … not cool enough for that yet, but it’s getting there.

To sufficiently shakeout the hard effort, I went a bit longer than usual for a recovery run (7.2 miles) primarily on the dirt.  With 4-5 weeks left of hard training before the taper, it’s time to increase mileage and intensity.  With that brief introduction, on to the main event:

I planned to run the NYRR Marathon Tune-Up: 18 miles (3 loops) around Central Park … even registered and even bibbed up for the “race”.  I’d overhead a few teammates discussing it, but was uncertain how to approach it (e.g., pace).  When in doubt, go to the coach.  He frowned when I mentioned the Tune-Up and said, “Why would you do that?”  Hmmm.  Okay, I paid the money, so what do I do?  I asked myself this same question as I clicked the watch at the start.  Actually, I was on the bridle path when the “race” started.  I was easily the last person to cross the starting line (20 min late) as the crew was breaking down the corrals.  At this point, Coach’s voice came over me and said, “soft service” as in “if possible, always run on soft surface, especially when going long.”  Therefore, I called an audible and compromised.  How?

I did the vast majority of the work on the bridle path north (BPN – 2.49mi loop) but also extended it to include Harlem Hills.  As I mentioned above, time to turn it up … bridle path slows you down by about 10-15 seconds per mile vs the roads and tossing in serious hill work “makes legs strong like bull”.  The combination is a perfect stimulus to this last cycle of marathon training.  Toss in the fact that our prescribed distance for the long run was 20-22 with the final 5 at MP and you have the potential for a baller workout.  The results:

I’ve heard (but never paid attention to) the argument that BPN slows you down.  I just ran it.  However, it’s true … with basically the same effort, I scooted along the 3.4mi loop (BPN+Hills) quicker than the 2.4 mile loop (BPN) ~10 seconds per mile quicker with the only difference being the 1 mile of roads on Harlem Hill.

After mile 14, I left the comforts of the BPN to rejoin the Tune-Up folks (~4,500) on the roads to bang out the final 5 miles at MP.  I let MP (7:30) come to me gradually.  It’s been awhile since I did any dedicated hill work, so I wanted to be careful about switching gears.  Once I got rolling, it felt pretty good.  I wore the Nike Zoom Elites (which are 4 oz heavier than what I’ll wear for NYCM).  I kept thinking back to the recent HMP workouts and how the body must be adapting to the training because, at least on this day, those 5 miles felt comfortable.  Now I just need to replicate it 5x+.  Before I get ahead of myself, I do have an actual tune-up race in two weeks, Grete’s Gallop HM, for which I will go all out.

Last thing, I bagged the idea of racing the 5^th Avenue Mile on Sunday, September 26^th.  Why?  (1) Race occurs on long run day, (2) I will not taper for it (3) Going 100% beats me up for the next week which interferes with training and anything less than 100% is a no no.  (4) 2010 is solely about the marathon, a 1-mile race brings too much risk and little reward.

For now, another 20+ mile effort in the bank (#3 and counting).

A Whole Lotta Miles

Team Championships Recap

If I have not made this abundantly clear to you (I certainly have to Alpha and Beast).  We race waaaaay too much. I will not let this happen to me next year.  Promise.  My last team-oriented race (will explain in a minute) was Saturday … NYRR Team Championships 5 miler.

For about 3 minutes it was a humbling experience, but then I let the ego go and went with it.  For most of the summer I have sat in the (big) 1^st corral for Central Park races.  Club Champs is a different ballgame.  The corrals are maybe 1/3 of the size of a typical NYRR race.  So when Beast said he expected to be in the 2^nd corral, I could hear the old ego “pop”.  Beast runs 5:30ish range for 5 miles.  Alpha sat firmly in the 1^st corral … dude runs like a 2-minute mile.  Sick.

Anyway, I picked up my bib and saw a color I have never seen before … baby blue with a 5xxx number.  I laughed and asked the volunteer how the breakdown worked.  She smiled as she just got ripped into by a less courteous runner (not from CPTC) for giving him a yellow bib.  My fastest pace over 3 miles is 6:47 (4-miler), which earned me a stellar 5^th corral.  It’s what I get for being slow.

My attitude toward the race was not terrific.  Aside from very much wanting the team to do well, I would have rather done my own thing.  But I am a team player, love CPTC and know how important it is to also have a full complement of Orange on the course.  Like the Run for Central Park 4-miler a couple of weeks ago, Club Champs would be a confidence rebuilder, tempo run for moi.   Why?  Going all out would be counter-productive to the long run 24 hours later.  So the mission was simple … go out relaxed, keep it there and if things really go well, push it.  Live to fight another day.

Results: 35:58 (7:11 pace).  Meh.  With only one other 5-miler under my belt (2009), yesterday was a massive PR by ~7 minutes.  I forgot to set the watch for mile splits (see how focused I was about this race), but when I glanced down periodically: mile 1 (7:02), mile 2 (7:02), mile 4 (7:13 – Cat Hill).  Our coach saw me just after Cat Hill and screamed “Get busy, El.  Get busy.  Pass some people.”  While I turned it up slightly (up on forefoot) I wasn’t feeling terrific during the last mile, but teammates who finished ahead gathered around and screamed at me.  I found a burst in the last 400m and passed a bunch of people.

It was a decent effort.  Honestly, it’s probably the best effort + result combo since April.  I was :08 per mile faster than the 4-miler 2 weeks ago.  Most importantly, I felt like I held enough in check for a decent long run on Sunday.  Next up on the race card:

• ING NYC Marathon Tune Up (18 miler) (prep for you know what)
• Fifth Avenue Mile (total ego trip and I am digging it)
• Grete Waitz (yes that one) HM Gallop  (prep for you know what – racing my guts out for this as it’s the measuring stick for November)
• NYCM

That’s it for the remainder of 2010.  Nothing else.  100% focused and selfish.

Total with warm up and cool down: 10 miles.  Below are a couple of pics, courtesy of Sue Pearsall, CPTC’s resident photog to the stars.

Sunday Long Run

In NYC, we are spoiled.  We have the benefit of running in Central Park at our leisure.  However, like anything, you can get bored of it if used too much.  Right now I am deathly sick of Central Park.  98.4% of my training and racing takes place in CP.  The thought of another long run either on the roads or the bridle would make me stab myself.  (Note: last Sunday’s 16 in CP was different in the sense that it was under quasi-race conditions).

Therefore, I was determined to switch it up.  I planned to hit the Westside Highway (WSH).  It has the following benefits: not CP, flat, along the Hudson River with a view of New Jersey (snicker ) and DIFFERENT.  For me at least, so much of training is between the ears and if you give the senses something different the physical becomes a speed bump and not Everest.  To get to WSH I needed to pass thru CP, so I did that for about 5-6 miles before I hit the running/bike path.  For the directionally-challenged (umm, me), WSH is about as rudimentary as you can get … go South until you run into the Statute of Liberty, then curve left around South Street Seaport and cruise up the East Side along FDR (the latter route is the way home from Tuesday track night).

Not a lot of picture painting to do here.  The neighborhoods traversed (along the side) include Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown West, Chelsea, Battery Park/Lower Manhattan (old World Trade Center).  I used 2 GUs and 2 Gatorades.  Hydration was not really an issue as it was relatively cool … or at least not terribly humid.  With no shade on the river, I got baked by the sun though.  At the appropriate point (12 miles), I reversed course to head home.  One interesting anecdote, none of the fountains worked around Battery Park so I had to run into a grocery store for a Gatorade.  I sucked it down and looked up at a familiar building … old employer’s office (Merrill Lynch).  The last time I was in that building I was a good 40lbs heavier and could not run to the bathroom in under 10 minutes.  Funny how life changes.

My marathon guidance/plan called for a healthy dose of miles at marathon goal pace … 12 to be exact.  After the race yesterday, attempting 12 miles at 7:30 pace seemed excessive and silly.  Also, I think it’s too early in the plan to start hammering at any kind of race pace for too long.  As a compromise (cop-out?) I finished off the final 4 miles at slightly quicker than MGP (7:36, 7:19, 7:24, 7:22).   Total for the morning (drumroll ….) 18 miles @ 8:17 overall pace.  The bulk of the miles were 8:20s-30s.  I was very pleased with the effort considering yesterday, of which I feel better about after the fact since it did not interfere with the long run.  Although, I expect the legs to be angry on Monday and probably Tuesday too.  Still, for 18 miles I felt damn good.  On to the next one.

28 miles in 24 hours.  A whole lotta miles.

And Finally Marathon Training Really Begins …

Before we get to the point of this post … the obligatory catch up … I’m not a blogger, I’m a slacker.

Friday

I felt like garbage all day.  Many potential culprits … 4 weeks of what can be loosely described as “marathon training”, a change in the daily routine where I ran late Tuesday (team track), early Wednesday and early Thursday and general wear and tear from the heat.  I can’t really point to any of these issues as determinative, but certainly all contributed to general blahness.  The key issue was this – I had the CPTC-sponsored Founders 5k on Saturday and a long run on Sunday.  I’ve seen this movie before and did not like the ending … hard workout followed by another taxing workout.  Despite paying the loot and “committing” to race, I pulled out of the 5k.  I need to get serious about marathon training and these little races are interfering with my program (more on this point in a moment).  Since I was not racing on Saturday and I started to rally Friday afternoon, I decided that I should get some miles under my belt.  What better reason to head out than to test new kicks!

NB 1064

I’m coming full circle, baby.  Three years ago when I first started running I ran in New Balance (758, 1062, 828) and now they are back.  Why?  NB is a sponsor of CPTC and being a good little team member I figured give them another shot … that and my favorite Nike kicks (Lunar Racer 1 and Zoom Elite 4) are discontinued.  I never had any problems with NB.  They make solid daily trainers … not certain about racing flats, but no need to worry about that for the time being.  At any rate, I took the 1064s for a 6mi spin on the Bridle @ 8:16 pace.  Surprisingly, I felt good.  Not surprisingly, the shoes were as comfortable as I expected.  The 1064s are a lot of shoe (12+ oz), but incredibly responsive.  I’ll use them for recovery runs only.

Saturday

Rest day … 2^nd of the week.  Eeek.  The day was not a total loss … I volunteered for the aforementioned 5k.  I had a blast and while I missed watching my teammates race (I was on chip and water cup duty).  Check some of the results here … too many great performances to mention them all … @mpatent and Megan both PR’d (I believe) and Shelby broke 21.  Nice work everyone.  Patent still has no blog.  Punk.

Sunday

A bit of pressure was on me here.  I bagged a team race under the theory of resting to bang out a good longish run on Sunday.  Now, I was certainly not the only person on the team with this back-to-back hard workout dilemma.  Anyone running a fall marathon had this issue.  However, I have not had a satisfying long run since training started 3-4 weeks ago.  Toss in a summer of crap race results and my confidence is shaky.   To hopefully snap me out of this training funk, I signed up for the ING NYC Marathon Long Training Run sponsored by NYRR.  While it’s not on the marathon course, it arguably traverses a more challenging route … up to 20 miles on the hills of Central Park … 1^st loop of 6mi (including Harlem Hills) and loops 2-4 of 5mi loop (excluding Harlem Hills, but has enough hills to satisfy your palette).

My plan called for 15 miles at an easy / long slow distance pace.  Seeing how I have only hit one of the long run targets of even my revised (lower) plan, this would be no walk in the park (pun not intended).  Fortunately, NYRR treats the training run as a quasi-race … mile markers, fluid stations and most importantly, pacers.  Since I am targeting a 3:15ish marathon (7:27 pace), I slid into the 8:30 pace group … assume 60-90 second delta between training and marathon pace.

1^st Loop:  Bleh.  Maybe “bleh” is aggressive and non-descriptive.  I have not run on the roads at long slow distance (LSD) pace since September/October 2009.  Regardless of pace, I forgot that it takes me 3-4 miles to shake out all the garbage and get into a flow.  I hit every other water station until I got that slush belly which let me know I would not bonk due to dehydration … weather was in our favor … 71* and low humidity.  I GU’d at mile 5 and started getting into it.  At mile 6-7 we briefly paused (20 seconds) for folks to hit the port-a-potties, etc.  Pacers did a nice job (8:29).

2^nd Loop:  Easy.  All systems were a go and it felt good.  Around mile 9-10 I must have taken an extra second or two to down all the 6 oz of water in the cup because I was slightly behind the pack.  Annoying.  I’ve been left for dead enough on Thursday nights to not particularly enjoy it, so I hustled up to get back in the mix.  The pace quickened slightly on this loop, but felt effortless (8:24).

3^rd Loop:  Easy.  For the most part this was a carbon copy of the 2^nd loop except I hung fine with the pack.  Only during mile 15 did I feel a little leg weariness (8:24).

In all 16 miles @ 8:25 pace.  Physically, I felt strong for running 2 hrs and 15 min.  Most importantly, I broke thru the funk.  I exceeded my target for the first time in training and actually feel good about my progress for the first time in a long time.  Really amazed how easy the pace felt (note: in January 2010 my pace for the Manhattan HM was 8:17).  I would have gone longer today except that we have Club Championships next Saturday … Coach prescribed 10-12 this weekend to leave gas in the tank for next weekend, but I’m not scoring for the team so my participation will be for camaraderie only.  I’ll wrap miles around that “race” and that will be my long run day.

I’ll definitely use today as a benchmark.  I feel really solid about my aerobic conditioning for this stage in training.  I need to increase strength as the legs felt taxed during mile 15.  With more miles under the belt, strength and muscle memory will improve and hopefully LSD pace gets reduced naturally to build even more confidence for 11.7.2010.  Other obstacles will arise, but I think I’m back in the game.  Mentally, I was doing the marathon hokey pokey – one foot in, then one foot out.  Now both feet are in.  A little light clicked on today and for the first time in awhile and I don’t think it was a train barreling down the tracks at me.

Oh, yeah while I am slacking on the blog, even though I took 2 days off this week, I still managed 43 miles.

Incremental Progress

I’m hoping that I did not leave whatever speed I’ve developed on the track at Icahn last Tuesday.  Since then I’ve tried to maintain patience and recover properly, but it has been a slow slog ever since.  I posted recently about respecting the recovery run and do believe in its importance in overall training.  Also, I know I tore up a ton of little muscles in my legs and even my shoulders (which were sore too).  Still, anxiousness is returning. Despite all the progress and evidence that I am getting quicker, usually about 5-6 days before a race I actively think about how on Earth will I be able to generate anything close to race pace.  Do you ever feel like that?

Since I bagged Thursday’s 5 mile tempo with the team, I decided to give it a go on Sunday morning.  I chose the route that will be the course for this Sunday’s 5-mile Father’s Day Race Against Prostate Cancer.  We ran that route extensively during the Winter and Spring months, but have since switched it up.  Therefore, I viewed Sunday as a good opportunity to survey a course I’ve run hundreds of times.  I didn’t think I would be able to generate HM pace (suggested for this tempo) because I’d done hill sprints the day before.  I was right.  I wasn’t even close to marathon pace and I didn’t push it.  Average pace 7:50.  I wasn’t upset. I used what the body gave.  Given my recent issues with finishing races strongly, I used it as an opportunity to build confidence to get after it for those last 2 miles.  I didn’t have splits within the 5, but assumed that the pace of the last 2 miles was quicker than the first 3 … I started slowly.  With warm up and cool down a total of nearly 9 miles.

Not sure if posted about this, but I recently picked up compression socks.  Zoot was recommended by a teammate, so I went with them.  Like anything it will take time before I can assess whether they are beneficial, but so far so good.

Courtesy: Running Warehouse

I will say that since I started sleeping in them, I’ve been sleeping more soundly or at least waking up more groggy {improved circulation?).  This morning was a case in point.  I was very close to pulling the plug on the morning run, but I was diligent and got my lazy self out of bed at 6am.  With a race on Sunday, I’m looking at Monday and Tuesday as mileage heavy days and slowly taper down from there.  Although I have the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge (3.5 miles) on Thursday.  I’m definitely not “racing” it with a big race 2 days later.  Maybe I’ll try marathon pace for that one.  Need to speak with my coach.  Anyway, rather than just amble around the Bridle Path like I usually do, I decided to set some goals while jogging to the park.  I wanted to run a specific route twice with the second time being quicker … not a progression … maybe you could call it intervals or pick-ups.  I set my sights on soft terrain around the outer reservoir and then heading south on a slight downhill – 2.69 miles at 8:36 pace.  Then I turned around and headed back up that same route (now uphill) and circle the outer reservoir again – 2.58 miles at 8:32 pace.  Not bad.  Incrementally quicker and since the 400m I have been slooooowwwwwllly dropping the pace again.  Tomorrow’s team track work is important because I need to regain some turnover to feel reasonably confident about Sunday.  I finished off this morning’s workout with a cool down around the inner reservoir for a total of 7.3 miles.

Respecting the Recovery Run

I freely admit that I have (up to this point) not fully respected the recovery run or, for that matter, recovery/step back weeks.  Not this time around.  I did good work.  A bit of catch up since it’s been a few days since my last post.

Wednesday – I would have hopped up early on Wednesday to get a quick recovery run in following the 400m race on Tuesday, but work duties put the kibosh on that plan.  Therefore, I pulled my sore, stiff legs from underneath my desk for a post-work run … in the drizzle.  I thought the run would be a total slog, but it actually felt awesome.  I hate weaving thru Midtown traffic, but once I hit the Bridle Path South, it was easy sailing.  The ground felt soft, but not saturated, as the rain was relatively light and intermittent.  I was alone for most of it.  No headphones.  No people.  It was terrific.  I didn’t look at my watch until the very end, but midway thru the run I was a bit worried I might be going too fast for a recovery run … kind of in that “zone” where lungs, legs and mind were in sync.  Still, the legs dictated the pace, which was right on target at 9:13 for 5.6 miles.

Thursday – CPTC Tempo night.  Whatever soreness I was feeling Wednesday multiplied by Thursday.  My lower legs were fine, but my quads were killing me.  Clearly, I tore up a bunch of little muscles on Tuesday.  I pulled the plug on the 5-mile tempo at HM pace.  Only bad things would result from me trying that workout.  Instead, I ran 4 miles on my own prior to the team meeting up in CP and swung by to hear our coach speak with the team.  He gave shout outs for our efforts at Icahn on Tuesday including very nice words for yours truly.  [He’s already recruiting me for the track.] Then I ran more recovery miles with Coach and a few of the women who were running the Mini 10k on Saturday.  In all, 7 miles at 8:50.  Feeling better.

Saturday – After a scheduled rest day on Friday, I had hills on the mind this morning.  With a mid-distance run planned for tomorrow, I felt like today was the day for a few hill sprints, along with some more easy miles.  I wanted to time my run so that I could catch the ladies running the Mini 10k in CP.  Along with Paula Radcliff, Kara Goucher, 11 Olympians, world-class and local elites, a number of teammates would be running this morning starting a 9:00am.  So I pushed back my run until 8am and trudged over to Riverside Park to meet my buddy Hippo Hill (named after the Hippo statutes in a nearby playground).   Surprisingly, my legs felt fine for the 6 80m sprints (:20, :21, :20, :21, :20, :20), but I was really out of breath.  Not sure what that means.  I didn’t feel like was a killing myself to hit :20.  Still, overall a solid workout (5 miles @ 8:40 pace) and lots of cheering of my teammates who ran very well today:

Eat, Drink, Run

Runner’s Kitchen

Washington Ran Here (future teammate!)

Race Report: NYRR Tuesday Night at the Races

I’m not entirely sure what I was thinking when I committed to participate in Tuesday Night at the Races.  For those not in the NYC area, TNAR is a series of track events held at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island (in between Manhattan and Queens).  During indoor season the events are held at The Armory.  I had never been inside Icahn or any outdoor track facility and certainly never ran any race in one.  BTW – I copped a few picks from the Interwebs:

Not a bad venue, huh?  Aside from hosting clubs, high school and college meets, it’s also the scene of world-class events.  Until he was forced out with an injury, this upcoming Saturday was supposed to feature Usain Bolt vs. Tyson Gay (and others) in the adidas Grand Prix.  A slight slower field took to the track on Tuesday night including A Marathoner.   Our A track team was competing … I don’t run across these folks often so it was interesting to check them out … as well as an assortment of my road buddies.  We had the choice of running 1500, 400, 800 and 3000.  Here’s my racing strategy and thought process of choosing a race:

“Which race would I humiliate myself the least and/or incur the least amount of pain?”

1500 = Nope.  Need pacing strategy … struggling with that on the roads, so let’s not show the world my weakness on the track tonight.

800 = Nope.  The pain would be over quicker, but 2 laps sounds like a lot of work and risk.

3000 = Oh hellllllll no.  Just hell no.

400 = I kind of like them during team workouts.  Pain would be severe, but over quickly.

Like my positive attitude going in?  Well, it was only surpassed by how crappy my legs were feeling all day Tuesday.  Not sandbagging either.  To put it bluntly, my legs felt like ass … heavy, sore, tired and absolutely had no desire to go any faster than a recovery jog (9:15 pace, baby).  Seriously, my legs have only felt worse after a HM.  They needed a day off.

Now it would be understandable if I came to this realization earlier in the day at the office when I could have pulled the plug and maybe schlepped over to the team workout instead of facing inevitable horror and doom at Icahn.  Nope.  I committed to my coach and also the track coach too (who were both in attendance), as well as mentioned it to a bunch of teammates.  Gah! I was stuck.  So at the appointed hour I made the journey to Icahn.

Fast forward to me on the track awaiting the gun to go off … here is literally what’s going on in my head as I stand in lane 1:

“WTF are you doing? WTF are you doing?  WTF are you doing?  No, seriously WTF are you doing?  There are “real” track people out here.  Both CPTC coaches.  About 25 teammates.  Christ, what the hell did I do?  I was shooting guard in basketball.  WTF am I doing out here?  Okay, there are no blocks so what the hell do I do out here.  Stand up?  Crouch? Sit down.  Crap on myself.  Dude, I am totally exposed out here.  Wait, WTF was that?  Oh, crap.  WTF!  The gun went off.  Go, idiot, go!!!”

The next thing I know, my mind went blank for about 10 seconds and then this was the internal dialogue.

“Hammer. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer. Don’t fall. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer. Crap, here comes the first turn.  Please don’t fall. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer.  Oh God, this really hurts. Why does it hurt so much?  Hammer. Hammer. Hammer.  Make the pain stop. Hammer. Hammer. Hammer.  Don’t fall!!!”

Then it was over.  64 seconds.  My first 400m race.  My reaction?  I didn’t have one.  I had absolutely no point of reference so I couldn’t celebrate or beat myself up.  It was awkward in a way.  Then I thought about the fastest 400 I’d ever run at a team workout … 75 seconds as the 12^th of 12 intervals.  64 seconds was pretty good, I guess.

Then all my teammates started giving me love.  It was nice.  That’s what I love about CPTC is that despite the crazy talent and competition, the encouragement is what stands out more than anything.  My coach was stunned.  He said he had no idea I could put it down like that … he said “get some spikes and lose the watch, you have a future on the track.” [Unbeknownst to me, you should not wear a watch on the track or run in road racing flats – how the hell was I supposed to know?  I shot 20 foot jump shots while dopes ran around a track.]

Oh yeah, back to the pain.  Within 2 minutes of finishing it felt like someone poured concrete in my legs.  So this is what lactic acid feels like?  Yeah, this sucks. Aside from not wanting to fall on my face (one of the track folks actually did it), I wanted to get a few miles for the day.  Therefore, I ran along the outside of the track to shake it all out.  It took awhile, but I did it.  Total for the night 4.25 miles – my dignity in tact and a pretty fun time.

Race Report: BRAVO 5k

Unlike last week, I will not be ranting or whining about this race … got the hint that it was less than stellar, huh?  However, I’m not really emotional about it at all.  Really.  I got that out of my system in the race aftermath in an explicative-laced, email tirade to a teammate. MP thank you!

A quick aside to talk about the administration of the race:  I was particularly interested in how the race was managed since it’s my first non-NYRR race.  In the past, I’ve railed on NYRR for a number of issues, but by and large they do a great job, especially managing the insane volumes of participants with a principally volunteer-based staff.  BRAVO 5k an annual fundraiser by the BRAVO Volunteer Ambulance Company, located in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.  I’ve been a big city boy since my early 20’s (read: long time ago) and at times I do miss that local community feel.  Believe it or not, it was served up in doses by the good folks and racers at BRAVO.  If it were on it’s own, I believe Brooklyn falls in the top 10 among US cities in terms of population (too lazy to research it).  Nonetheless, this morning’s race could have been hosted in Battle Creek, MI or Ames, IA.  Everyone was friendly, helpful and just flat-out glad to be out there … not that this isn’t the case with NYRR, but when you have <200 racers and a handful of volunteers, the vibe is just different.  No podiums, or elite/VIP tents either.  Just good folks, doing a good thing, trying to raise money and keep people healthy in the process.  Hell, I even found a port-a-potty cleaner than most restaurant restrooms.  I am a fan of BRAVO!

Ok.  I’m not really going to comment on my pre-race routine, because I think it’s pretty solid at this point and certainly not the cause of the racing issue I had today.   I was dripping with sweat when we started … partially caused by the warm-up, but the humidity contributed as well.

I set the Virtual Partner to 6:30 pace and wanted to see if I could maintain it for 3.1 miles.  As Sarah mentioned, crowding was not the issue at a race like this … in fact, I probably could have used the extra bodies in front of me.  Why?  When I checked the Garmin at ~800m, I saw +0:20 … which means a 6:10 pace.  Done.  Dead.  Race was over at 800m.  I might have mumbled an explicative under my breath at this point.  I literally tried to put on the breaks to slow down, but still ended mile 1 at 6:15 or 6:20. (Someone called out 6:15, but Garmin had 6:20 … unfortunately, I think BRAVO’s split is more accurate which means I was moving even faster than 6:10 during the first 800m.  Crap.)

During mile 2, I went into triage / salvage mode.  I knew I was probably in trouble, but did everything except physically stop running to slow what was going to be a really painful 2.1 miles.  I had some measure of success in this regard because after the turnaround (it was an up and back course), I heard someone call out 13:15 for the 2^nd split which is respectable and less dangerous (6:37 for 2 miles).

Then … the wheels not only came off, but it was a 40-car pile up.  I noticed at the end of mile 2 my stride inexplicably started shortening … almost like running uphill … short and choppy.  This is a sure sign that the brain is signaling to the body and telling me something is wrong.  Then the legs felt like lead.  Then the lungs seemingly filled up with fluid and it was hard to breath.

Now folks.  I just raced 6.2 miles last Sunday on a crazy hilly course in CP without issue … slightly slow, but no signs of distress.  On Thursday, I ran a solid 5-mile tempo without major issues.  Today, I ran 2 miles and basically felt apart.  Why? Lactic build up.  Going out in such a reckless manner resulted in more lactic acid building up in my muscles than my system could normally process.  The effect was a slow, horrific death.  I knew this was a possibility after 800m and now I was faced with it.  What do I do? I still had 1.1 miles to go  Or was it 100.1 miles to go?

I stopped and walked for about 10 seconds in the feeble hope that my system would slow down and regulate such that I could finish the race.  So many fellow runners encouraged me to keep going … it was very considerate.  I figured, since I went out so hard, if I could just regather a bit, I might come close to my goal.  So I ramped up again and felt strong for … 20 steps and then it happened again.  Stop. Walk. Regather.  Run.  Stop. Walk. Regather.  Rinse. Repeat.  At this point, I knew what was happening, but powerless to stop it.

Somehow by the grace of God, I found the finish line.  22:16 / 7:10.  The number is truly unimportant.  I have been crushing soft PRs and lost sight of what really is critical … race execution.  Which brings me back to the foolish rant from last week about my performance in the Healthy Kidney 10k.  In hindsight, I ran a damn good race.  Not stellar, because I whiffed on goal time and PR, but racing even 5k splits in CP is something to feel good about at my level.  Also, the City Foundation 4-miler I ran last month was by far the best executed race of my life (and best pace too).  It all came together.  Toss out those two races and my execution has not been terrific.   “Too quick at the start” has become the theme of the Spring … Coogan’s 5k, Scotland 10k, BRAVO 5k.

I said immediately after the race that I am happy to get these craptastic performances out of my system now.  I guess that’s only helpful if I learn from a fundamental running error … being too amp’d up and going out too hard.  All of the CPTC speedwork is great, but ultimately it comes down to me to harness it properly on race day.  Lessons from today:

1. I am faster than I give myself credit for … 6:15 or 6:20 thru 1 mile and 6:37 thru 2 miles is not terrible.
2. That ability to start quick is a double-edged sword and must be ratcheted down considerably.  I’ll take “too slow” to start like last weekend vs. “too quick” like today.  Physically melting down is extremely unpleasant.  Next time, I’m going out at 6:45-6:50 and see what happens.
3. Crappy races are fine as long as there is some learning going on. I’m sure I’ll have more of them, but this execution must improve.

How to fix it?  Keep racing these shorter distances, which leave zero room for error.  Like all of you in your racing, I always want to do well, but I am keeping the big picture in mind.  If I just roll through the Spring and Summer with no issues, I might not know how to recognize/deal with them in November.  I’ve got a 5k in two weeks and a 3.5 miler immediately after that.  In the meantime, I will continue a more intense training schedule, but incorporate more targeted pacing in the middle of daily runs to get use to setting a pace and keeping it.  Today’s issue was not one of overtraining.  It was overreaching at the jump.  Lesson (hopefully, finally?) learned.

Race Report: Healthy Kidney 10k

It had to happen and today was the day. No PR and quasi disappointment. I’ve delayed writing this because I still don’t have a firm grip on how I feel about the race. Maybe writing about it will help. Lots of vacillating about it since hitting the finish line.

Pre-Game: Everything went well. Fuel, stretching and warm up. I felt relaxed as we waited in the corrals. Weather was pretty close to perfect … 62* with a coolish breeze and no humidity. As cops would say, “Nothing to see here.”

I wrote about the plan yesterday, but a quick recap. First 4 in 7:10-7:15 and hammer that final 2 at 6:40ish to be in the mix for sub-7:00.

Mile 1-3: I emphasized being relaxed and let folks pass me on the first 800m. I glanced at the Garmin and saw 7:04 and immediately tried to slow my role. I was not going to relive the horror of mile 4 from Scotland. At mile 1 mark, I heard my coach and saw the split out of the corner of my eye (7:04). I really felt good. Breathing was even. Nothing but positive thoughts fluttering around my head. Mile 2 consists of a steepish uphill and forgiving downhill (another 7:04). I wouldn’t let myself think ahead what could be, but suffice it to say that I was feeling strong. As folks were moving past me, I knew I would pick them off in the last 1-2 miles. We approached Harlem Hill and I remembered to shorten my stride and try to maintain a consistent effort, but not push it. During Scotland, I attacked it hard and paid for it later on. Today, I had better execution and knew it because I was breathing free and easy on the down hill. I saw the 5k split just past mile 3 (7:14) and mentally started bearing down for the battle of mile 4. 5k split: 22:31. Great execution, provided I do what I need to do on the back 5k.

Mile 4: This is a long gradual uphill with 100ft elevation. It may not seem like much, but after the up and downs of Harlem Hill, this portion of Central Park is to be respected. Post race I checked a few teammates stats and except for Runner’s Kitchen (who beasted this race with a 42:59), most everyone loses 10-20 seconds during mile 4. She negative split it!. Last time I saw it, it damn near killed me physically and psychologically. Today, I was much better prepared to tough it out mentally, but still blew up a bit. The thing is that I didn’t feel like I was blowing up at all. I actually thought I was maintaining a pretty even pace relative to the first half of the race. Nothing overtly negative happened … no feelings of panic or desire to stop, etc. Mile 4 = 7:35. Not great, but if I really hammer the final 2, I’m still in the mix.

Mile 5-6: Mile 5 is relatively flattish and then brings the decent down Cat Hill. This is where I wanted to be … in good mental and physical shape with a chance to hit it. In hindsight, I didn’t hit it hard enough (7:16). The only thing memorable about mile 5 is at the end of it I heard my coach scream at me “EL you have a chance to do something special.” It was a nice boost, but I wasn’t watching the clock so I just kept burrowing ahead. Mile 6 is where I started to smell the finish and pushed it harder, but I wasn’t dying so I should have known something was amiss. Then again, I wasn’t lollygagging either (7:05). What I was doing for the last 800 of Mile 6 was picking periodic goal posts to pass and congratulate myself. It was a good distraction from the pain that was developing … not specific pain, just racing pain.

Mile .27: I gave it all I had … of course this portion is all up hill and it sucked, but I let it all go (6:25).

5k split: 22:31. WTF?!?! Even splits? If I do bring anything to the table for my team, it’s a nice surge/kick when I want to use it. Apparently that kick took to a kick to the groin this morning. BIG TIME. Gah!

Final result: 45:02. As if it mattered, I missed a PR by 6 seconds. Big deal, I wanted to sniff 43:xx or at a freaking minimum maintain 44:xx. Gah!!!

For (lack of) kicks (pun intended), I compare Scotland and Healthy Kidney mile splits.

Mile	Scotland 10k (4.3.2010)	Healthy Kidney 10k (5.15.2010)
1	6:56	7:04
2	6:59	7:04
3	7:06	7:14
4	7:45	7:35
5	7:15	7:16
6	7:16	7:05
.27	6:28	6:25

Takeaways:

- I think I had too much reverence for the course. Subconsciously, I bailed out by not hitting it harder initially for fear of going through the pain of really blowing up like last time. I should have been more aggressive and lengthened the stride on downhills. Too conservative.

- I’ve let my mileage dip for the last 6 weeks in an effort to “rest” and emphasize quickness. My endurance suffered because of it. I’ve gotten faster over shorter distances, but have not put in the work required to bang longer runs at faster pace. The lack of long, hard progression runs just stopped. 40-50 mpw I’ll see you starting at 6:30 tomorrow morning. Infinitely more hill sprints. INFINITELY!!!!

- Also, I stop too much during training runs … water, restroom, whatever. That shit is over.

- BTW, for this morning’s race I never stopped for water and didn’t even bring a GU. I wasn’t thirsty either. I won’t allow myself to believe that the lack of 3 oz. of water that might actually hit my lips substantially contributed to the zero kick effort on the back 5k. Keeping an uninterrupted rhythm is very important to me right now. I won’t be sucking down water every 3 miles in November, so I need to get that crutch out of my head. In that respect, today was a bit of a psychological win.

- The only positive from today that I will allow myself to believe is that for a Central Park 10k, dead even 5k splits are better than a blow up.

In the final analysis, after writing this, the emotion that I’m left with is — pissed off.

Healthy Kidney 10k: Race Plan

Tomorrow is race day.  After all the training, fueling and mental prep, the excitement is building.  Big races are fun.  Well, all races are fun.  However, the big races seem to amplify all the good stuff.  As a club points race, it guarantees a big turnout (7,000-8,000).  As a key race for NYRR (after NYCM, NYC Half), it guarantees a number of elite runners participating as well.  Always fun to see them perform.  And that’s really the point.  It should be exciting and it should be fun.  While I certainly have goals for this race and other races, I’m not competing for cash or an Olympic trials birth.  It’s about fitness and fun.  I tend to require a reminder of these basic principles as I try to balance the competitive, obsessive side of my personality.  Work in progress.

I “carbed” up over the last couple days … meaning that I ate pasta fairly regularly, but still feeling pretty lean actually.  I’m working on creating good habits.  Since I don’t foresee running anything longer than a 5-miler for the next couple of months, the lead up to tomorrow’s race gives me the chance to “practice” fueling for longer races. No need for a 2+ week taper, but I tried to be smart about getting some turnover this week while also preserving the legs.  The last bit is to get my morning routine down.  With a 9am start, I’ll likely wake up at 6am to get the last of the fuel in as well as getting the irrigation system going.  For the 4-miler last month, I think I warmed up appropriately ~1.5 miles.  For the last 10k, I warmed up probably closer to 2.5 miles, which for someone at my level, is just too much.  Tomorrow, I plan to stretch early and often, walk to the reservoir for a 1+ mile spin, do a few moderate hill pick-ups and then walk to the start.  None of this should raise any eyebrows.  The next bit might.

I surveyed many of my teammates on in-race fuel for a 10k.  With one exception, none of them stop for water or use energy gels.  Most treat these races like tempo runs in which you wouldn’t do either of those things anyway.  This is a tough call and I won’t have a definitive answer until I’m in the middle of the race, but I plan to NOT stop and I’ll only bring a GU, but not plan on using it.  Why?  Scotland 10k is a tough comparison because it was my first 10k in over a year, but it’s all I’ve got.  Admittedly I went out too fast on 3 miles of uphill terrain (6:56, 6:59, 7:06).  It was also the first warm, humid day we had all year.  My experience during mile 4 was … unpleasant (7:45).  In that race, I GU’d and hit the water at the 3-mile mark.  My guess is that going out too fast initially and losing my breathing rhythm with the attempt at water (I spilled most of it anyway) contributed to the blow up during mile 4.  It’s possible, but uncertain, whether I even needed a GU for such a short distance race.  I ate properly so the glycogen levels were more than adequate.   During Scotland, I also hit the water station at the 5-mile mark too.  Not sure that helped at all and also thru off my rhythm.  In the final analysis, chances are that I hit lactate threshold at mile 3 during Scotland and then just fought like hell to keep it together for the rest of the race.

The difference between then and now?  My fitness is much better.  The recent 2 x 2 mile tempo is a case in point: 14:04, 13:11.  Quick w/ a negative split, albeit on very, very favorable terrain.  The lesson learned is that if I go out slow (tempo = 7:18 for the first mile) and keep lactate to a reasonable level, I can then hammer on the back-end (on that day 6:30s).  The terrain is much less favorable in the first half of tomorrow’s race, so slow is the way to go.  My PR is 44:57 (7:13 pace).  My target for tomorrow is 43:30 (6:59).  Plan: 7:15 for the first half, 6:45 for the back.  After the first 800m, I don’t plan on looking at the watch.  Running by feel seems to work best.

I always say this, but it’s true – I have absolutely no idea if these goals are doable.  You know I’m not fishing for any more encouragement than what you guys already provide, but it’s just the facts.  If I run smart, I have a shot.  If I don’t, I don’t.  Running is complicated in its simplicity.

I had lunch with a great runner and teammate today who, when asked about how he prepares for races, said, “I try not to think about it too.”  I’m working on it.