December 2011
1 post
November 2011
1 post
October 2011
1 post
Point of No Return
Six short days before the NYC Marathon, the predominant feelings in my heart are excitement and dread. Barring some sort of freak late injury, I should manage the full 26.2 miles; I’m not as ready as I wanted to be, nor will my time be as quick as some of my shorter races suggest, but I committed to running and to finishing my first marathon.
Ready:
Trained consistently 5-6 days per week...
September 2011
4 posts
My hope is always about myself...
Thank you, New York Times, for publishing this wonderful editorial yesterday about Rafael Nadal! Click here for the transcript of the actual interview - which is worth reading for tennis fans and for anyone struggling with the challenge of improving at, or accomplishing, something.
The Spirit of the Game
Gracious losers, and winners, are, sadly, rare in professional sports. Rafael Nadal’s...
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9/11/01
On Friday, September 7, 2001, I flew from NY to Boston for business meetings and flew back the same day. What I remember about that trip was how unusually clear and blue the skies were. Approaching NYC, you could see the whole expanse of the LI shore, the city skyline including the WTC, and all the way up to CT. The weather on 9/11 was almost identical.
My 9/11 memories have a lot in common...
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“Let’s remember one of the cardinal rules of social media. Out of 100...”
– A VC: The Logged Out User (continued)
August 2011
6 posts
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“You can maintain your cardiovascular capacity by cross-training, but it is...”
– Benefits of Cross-Training May End Before the Finish Line - NYTimes.com - by Gina Kolata (Published 8/15/2011)
NYRR Club Team Championships Race Report
What a difference a week can make! After a sluggish peformance in the Rhode Island 10-miler last week, I ran my best 5-mile time (post-40) in the NYRR Club Team Championships in Central Park on August 6. The temperature for the 8am start was cooler than it had been at the beach - around 70 degrees versus 80+. However, it was similarly humid. At the club team championships, I was operating on...
Blessing of the Fleet Race Report
I have had my eye on the “Blessing of the Fleet” 10-mile race for about three years, ever since I took up running again and started visiting the South County seashore of Rhode Island. One of the great aspects of running is being able to train and run races in other locales and to participate in colorful local traditions (see link for a brief description of the Blessing of the Fleet)....
July 2011
3 posts
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June 2011
7 posts
Van Cortlandt Park Summer Cross Country
There is something special about running through trails in the woods,which connects a person with his inner spirit. As great as NYC is, and it is particularly wonderful for adult amateur road runners, those of us who live here don’t get many chances to make this particular spiritual connection.
That is the reason why the summer Cross Country 5ks sponsored by the Van Cortlandt Track Club are...
Opted not to run today...
Opted not to run today - instead went to CFSBK for two classes. The regular group WOD (workout of the day) and Active Recovery. The WOD emphasized gymnastics moves - my weakest area. One of my favorite things about CrossFit is the coaching and training in areas where I have little skill or experience. Gymnastics and free weights are activities I would have never imagined enjoying. The Active...
What is your "rest plan"?
After finishing two half-marathons within one week, following an extended period of regular CrossFit and endurance training, I took four days off. To be honest, it felt kind of strange. I was on a business trip and without the usual workouts, my evenings were completely empty. It’s not that I don’t take days off during the typical training weeks: usually I work out five days out of...
May 2011
11 posts
Brooklyn Half Race Report
Completed the second half of my spring Half Marathon “double” in Brooklyn last Saturday.
The time was not quite as good as my race in Binghamton 6 days earlier - 1:52:27 (8:25 pace) for 13.1 miles vs. 1:48:09. Overall, though, the result was just as satisfying:
allowing for the warmer temperature and higher humidity which tend to slow you down!
the current Brooklyn course is a...
The best thing I read today... →
Nothing to do with running or fitness here, but every once in a while it’s nice to share some life lessons: this is a link to a lecture to journalism students by the young journalist, statistician, and entrepreneur, Nate Silver. Most of the lessons here apply broadly across many fields.
Binghamton Race Report
Ran a half-marathon PR last Sunday in the Binghamton “Bridge Run” Half Marathon - 1:48:09. It’s actually my “middle-aged PR” (I ran much faster race as a 20 year-old) and only by a few seconds. Nevertheless, it is an accomplishment because it was the best race I have run since becoming a CrossFitter one year ago. My running training has consisted almost entirely of...
One year of CrossFit "Practice"
Last Wednesday marked one year since the day I walked into NEPA CrossFit for my introductory WOD. I wrote down what we did -
10 squats, 10 pushups, 10 situps, 10 supermen x 8 rounds
It actually doesn’t sound like much, but I remember being very sore the next day. CrossFit has definitely made its mark on my life: have lost weight, gotten stronger, disrupted my running training, changed my...
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Something old, something new
After completing a hard tempo workout on Sunday, I wasn’t expecting to run again until mid-week, but with CrossFit part of the deal is that never know what to expect. This morning’s WOD at CFSBK included 6x400m with equal rest. I concentrated on my form and surprised myself by running the pieces from 1:33-1:42, “fast” by my recent standards.
Got an unpleasant surprise yesterday...
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“I thought of something I learned from reading Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of...”
– Patti Smith, Just Kids
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Train less, go faster!
…is the motto of NYC Endurance, whose regular class/workout I joined for the first time Tuesday evening. The group’s approach is to combine a holistic, functional fitness regimen like CrossFit with limited, targeted endurance workouts in order to prepare an athlete to excel in marathons, triathalons and even ultras. The endurance workouts, no more than three per week, include sprints, longer...
Leatherman's Loop
On Sunday, I ran the 25th Annual Leatherman’s Loop - a 10km trail race that takes place in the beautiful Pound Ridge Reserve in northern Westchester County. There are a number of unique things about the race:
there isn’t much wilderness near NYC and a race with three stream crossings is a rarity;
this is a completely runner-supported event which is directed by the races founders -...
CrossFit for Running →
A lot of my running friends and teammates don’t know what CrossFit is. Since it is an integral part of my fitness regimen and preparation for road races including the NYC Marathon, I have decided to blog some of the workouts I do at CrossFit South Brooklyn (CFSBK, for short).
Today’s workout was more running oriented than usual: it was a combination of a workout called...
April 2011
4 posts
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A Better, More Peaceful Person
For reasons I am not open or public enough to blog, April has been a difficult month for me. How I would have managed it without the pillars of running and CrossFit, I do not know. I ran two 10ks, one on the VCP trails and one in Central Park, posting decent times and feeling very strong. My CrossFit practice improved despite constantly being on the road for work. My weight hit its lowest point...
January 2011
1 post
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Winter Season
Walking across Gowanus last week with A, we passed my favorite urban garden in NYC. I remarked how pathetic the garden looked (pointing at the wilted sunflower stalks). My wife, who prefers winter said, “You don’t get it! The garden is working hard now gathering strength for the spring growing season.” Or words to that effect.
It wasn’t so cold that evening and gazing...
November 2010
3 posts
First Winter Run of 2010-2011
First winter run of the year. 35ºF, windy, clear around NY Harbor. Did the PPTC Saturday morning group run for the first time in ages: I am hoping to become a regular again. Group consisted of about six fast runners, Mike Ring and myself. Ran in Inov8 flats - still working on forefoot strike technique. Am feeling good about this, but am running slowly because the new stride requires a faster...
He Danced...
Sufjan Stevens’ concert at the Philadelphia Academy of Music on Wednesday was the best set I attended all year.
As one of the tweets I read afterward correctly said - “the whole concert was a coherent work of art.” The music was challenging, but beautiful; the songs mostly new, but with some classic tunes included. They were all carefully sequenced. Projections on the stage...
WatchA few weeks ago I had the privilege to be present at an appearance by Regina Spektor at The New Yorker Festival. I was pleased to discover yesterday that the entire interview (first part of the appearance) has been posted on YouTube. If you take the time to watch some of it, you will witness one of the most intelligent, authentic, talented and funny performers in music today. Spektor also...
October 2010
3 posts
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Sculley on Jobs →
This interview of long-ago Apple CEO John Sculley is notable for the evidence it presents about Jobs’ genius, its analysis of the reasons behind his and Apple’s success, and for the rare humility demonstrated by Sculley. Overall takeaway is that what we perceive as Jobs’ genius was hard work and took a long time to develop. Highlights for me were:
Jobs was obsessed with design...
August 2010
2 posts
Persistence
Finished the Queens Half Marathon week before last in 2:38, a “personal worst.” It was 86F with 60% humidity when the race started at 7am and I could make several other legitimate excuses for the poor performance. There were many points during the race when I considered dropping out entirely. Early in the race, I told myself to just get to mile 3, then mile 5, then the 7 mile marker...
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July 2010
4 posts
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“My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly...”
– Commencement speeches can be amazing; people’s stories are always worthwhile. This one is worth reading in its entirety (it’s very brief).
Jeff Bezos Princeton Commencement
(via soxiam)