Autumn Marathon

The Endless Autumn! This blog was originally supposed to be a...

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 10:16:40 -0500

The Endless Autumn!

This blog was originally supposed to be a record of my first marathon. Well, I did it! Finished the NYC Marathon in 5:20, my first 26.2 mile race. In preparing for the marathon, I put in many miles, met a lot of great people (who taught me how to prepare, train for and run a marathon), and got fitter in unexpected ways. I also learned how hard it is to keep a decent blog and to write regularly. Overall, it was a very satisfying experience and it helped me achieve a longstanding goal.

Notice, I did not name the blog “Autumn Marathons (pl.).” My intention was to do the 26.2 mile distance once, then go back to my running; testing myself with road, trail and cross country races at distances like 5 miles, 10k, or the occasional half-marathon. While very satisfied at the achievement of finishing the long race, I did not count on posting a time that left me feeling as though there was something extra left in the tank if only I knew how to find it.

And so: I notice that only two more NYRR races will give me the nine needed for the 9+1 NYC marathon qualification standard for 2012. The first of these qualifiers, a five-miler in Central Park, takes place tomorrow. No reason to miss that opportunity! Alternatively, it might make more sense to try for a better marathon time at a smaller, lower-key event (with less pre-dawn, pre-race waiting around and smaller crowds). Or…I could try both. The Autumn Marathon continues!

Nice! boston: Much to savor in nation’s oldest race - Some 600...

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:38:37 -0500

Nice!

boston:

Much to savor in nation’s oldest race

- Some 600 students, faculty, alums, and invitation-only guests will run for both pride and apple pie in the Northfield Mount Hermon School’s Bemis-Forslund Pie Race.

Point of No Return

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 07:40:12 -0400

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 all year - either in the CrossFit box or on the roads/trails.
Improved my technique both as a runner and CrossFitter (lifts, gymnastics, mobility, etc.) thanks to great coaches and a fantastic community of fellow athletes.
Returned some excellent personal results at races ranging in distance from 5k to 13.1 miles - the reward for training and improving technique.

Not (so much):

Have not done enough longer runs which would give me a confidence about the ability to cover the full 26.2 miles. My longest was 18 miles.
Definitely am a little worn down between the training/racing, some work-related and personal stress, so am not as excited about my first full marathon as I would like to be at the end point of my training.
I have gone a little off my optimal diet and have gained 5 lbs over the past few months. This may account for some of my energy loss.

Still, overall I have rarely been as fit as I am now. Remembering how it felt to run even three miles when I returned to regular distance running three years ago, it feels fantastic to have arrived at this moment!

My hope is always about myself...

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:00:06 -0400

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 performance Monday night, after losing this year’s United States Open, was the very essence of graciousness and a reminder of what good sportsmanship really means.

On court, Mr. Nadal plays a relentless, slashing game. Off court, he is nearly always polite and soft-spoken. He had to be deeply tired and frustrated after losing the championship to Novak Djokovic in four grueling sets — his sixth straight loss to his rival. But at the postmatch press conference, Mr. Nadal refused to make excuses or look to blame anyone but himself.

When reporters opened by asking about a medical timeout Mr. Djokovic had taken, Mr. Nadal said, “We are starting the press conference in a bad way, I think. It’s not the right moment to find excuses.” When he was asked whether Mr. Djokovic’s evident back pain gave Mr. Nadal hope during the match, he said, simply, “My hope is always about myself, not about the opponent.” As for any future Nadal-Djokovic matches, he said, “It’s going to be tough to change the situation, but the goal is easy to see.”

It was moving to watch a man who had played with so much heart also speak with so much heart. His praise for Mr. Djokovic, who is having one of the greatest seasons ever, was generous and accurate. But the thing of beauty — and the very ethic behind his game — was the self-recognition in Mr. Nadal’s words, the sense of his personal responsibility for what happens to him on the court. It can be summed up in one of his own phrases, uttered with a terse eloquence: “Accept the challenge, and work.”

9/11/01

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:11:09 -0400

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 with those of fellow New Yorkers of that time. I narrowly missed being present in my Twin Towers office because our young children had just started school, so my wife and I lingered with them in the schoolyard. Arrived at Chambers Street in time to see the gaping holes in the buildings and the ghastly, tragic site of the jumpers. Saw the south tower, including my office, fall while walking homeward on the Brooklyn Bridge. The ash cloud went directly through our downtown Brooklyn neighborhood: for days, we picked up singed papers that had blown across NY harbor from the towers. The flyers for missing people (almost of whom had died) on every street corner. The constant drone of helicopters and military flights for several months afterward; the constricted chest and feelings of grief every time we passed the debris pile (which continued to smolder for months) at Ground Zero.

We think of 9/11 now and again, especially on occasions like this 10th anniversary, but not very often. Life has moved on: our kids are nearly grown, the city is a different place. But when I do think of it, my mind sometimes reaches back to that Friday before 9/11 and what strikes me is, what a very different, nearly unimaginable world we lived in that day.

Carroll Gardens Green Market 9/11/11

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 09:02:35 -0400

Carroll Gardens Green Market 9/11/11

"Let’s remember one of the cardinal rules of social media. Out of 100 people, 1% will create..."

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:00:00 -0400

“Let’s remember one of the cardinal rules of social media. Out of 100 people, 1% will create the content, 10% will curate the content, and the other 90% will simply consume it. That plays out on this blog, that plays out in Twitter, and that plays out in most of the services we are invested in.”

- A VC: The Logged Out User (continued)

Jose Reyes, Brooklyn Cyclones by AshMarshall on Flickr. Great...

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:02:27 -0400

Jose Reyes, Brooklyn Cyclones by AshMarshall on Flickr.

Great evening for NYC sports yesterday with the Jets, Giants, Mets and US Open all in action on a beautiful, cool late-summer evening. Opening Day at US Open was the headline event with Federer and Venus Williams leading off. The NFL is so big that even a preseason matchup between the two area teams attracted a giant share of local attention. But for my money, the best event of the evening was the Mets sweeping a DH from the Florida Marlins. The first game included a sparkling performance by R.A. Dickey, the Mets’ folksy knuckleballer. He has pitched well all-season, but has received terrible run support. That didn’t change yesterday, but even a 9th inning home-run given up by the bullpen couldn’t obliterate the 2-0 lead he left. The second game brought the return of Jose Reyes from his latest stint on the DL. There’s a lot of angst among Met fans about whether he will remain a Met; and whether or not the team should offer him the kind of money the MLB free agent system will dictate. Indisputably, he is one of the most charismatic athletes around and his team is much more entertaining with him on the field.

031 by MTAPhotos on Flickr.Via Flickr: Hurricane Irene: MTA...

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:50:31 -0400

031 by MTAPhotos on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Hurricane Irene: MTA Police finished securing Grand Central Terminal after the last trains departed. Photo by Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Marjorie Anders.

All NYC has an eerie ghost-town feel to it today, 8/27/11.

"You can maintain your cardiovascular capacity by cross-training, but it is extremely difficult to..."

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:52:00 -0400

“

You can maintain your cardiovascular capacity by cross-training, but it is extremely difficult to maintain your performance when you rely on cross-training,” Dr. Tanaka said. “This is because you are violating the principle of the specificity of training.”

Anyone who has been injured and forced to do an alternate sport knows this already. If you cannot run and end up substituting workouts on a bicycle for running, almost invariably you will end up losing running speed and endurance.

But if an alternate sport doesn’t help endurance athletes, resistance training might. It’s a bit counterintuitive — if you are training for an endurance sport like running, your workouts increase your ability to perform the same motion over and over again but do not markedly increase your muscle strength. Lifting weights is just the opposite — you do a few repetitions with the goal of increasing muscle strength and size. Yet in a review of published studies, Dr. Tanaka found that resistance training improved endurance in running and cycling. The effect occurred both in experienced athletes and in novices.

A more recent study of experienced runners by a group of Norwegian researchers confirmed that weight lifting could increase performance. One group did half squats with heavy weights three times a week while continuing a running program. The other group just ran. Those who did the squats improved their running efficiency and improved the length of time they could run before exhaustion set in.

”

- Benefits of Cross-Training May End Before the Finish Line - NYTimes.com - by Gina Kolata (Published 8/15/2011)

The perfect end to the perfect summer day in NYC.

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 21:05:06 -0400

The perfect end to the perfect summer day in NYC.

NYRR Club Team Championships Race Report

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:28:00 -0400

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 fewer than six hours sleep - after having driven my son and his friends back from a Cross Country camp in Pennsylvania the day before. That should have worked to my disadvantage. However, I got out to quick start with a 7:20 mile and followed it with a 7:30. Mile three went by in 7:45 and mile four, which includes CP’s famous “cat hill” was closer to 8:30. The final mile, with the ageless Frank Deleo breathing down my neck and the PPTC women team cheering us on, returned to a 7:30.

There was nothing special about my training the week of the Club Team Championships: four workouts at CFSBK plus one session of short intervals on the Red Hook track. I skipped the PPTC 5k run the previous Wednesday - quite possibly the extra rest helped me on Saturday: I also took a rest day prior to the Blessing of the Fleet race. Another possibility is that the CFE training pattern (three running workouts plus 3-4 CrossFit WODs per week) prepares an athlete better for shorter distance races than for ten miles and up. However, there are plenty of testimonials from folks who have run not only marathons, but competed in triathlons (including Ironman events) and ultra-distance runs using the CFE methodology.

The Club Championships is a wonderful event. It is restricted to members of NYRR-affilated running clubs which makes it smaller than almost all the other Central Park races. Because the race is worth double points in the NYRR club team standings, it is well attended. Club members turn out wearing their colors, the men’s and women’s heats are run separately making for a large cheering section, and many of the teams have post-race picnics near the finish. All of this creates a festive atmosphere and makes for one of the best days on the NYRR calendar.

Blessing of the Fleet Race Report

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 23:01:05 -0400

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). This year, the stars finally aligned - I was able to make it to RI for the Friday evening (July 29) competition and even to spend a couple days at the beach beforehand. It also provided an early test of my fitness exactly 100 days before the New York City Marathon on November 6.

My experiment with the CrossFit Endurance approach to training yielded a number of low mileage training weeks leading up to the race. Shorter races over the past month had proved to be a mixed bag - I ran my best 5k on the road in Prospect Park, but had withered in some intense heat at Van Cortlandt Park. The typically hot July weather meant that I had been better about getting to the gym for CrossFit WODs and at running short intervals, than at doing the sort of tempo work required for longer races.

Race day was overcast, muggy and warm with thunderstorms forecast for the late afternoon (start-time was scheduled for 6pm): weather better-suited for lying low and catching a few movies. Nevertheless, some 3000 runners turned out for the race which is run mostly on narrow residential streets in and around the seaside community of Narragansett.

The start was crowded, but I was able to hit my first mile goal of running around 8:20 mile. The plan was to ease into the race and, assuming I felt strong, to accelerate during the second half of the course. Although I was able to maintain the 8:15-8:20 pace for the first few miles, my legs felt heavy and I knew (from a car tour of the course the previous day) that the biggest hills were in the middle of the race. In contrast with some recent races where my form felt good, my legs started to cramp and strain by mile 6. The last few miles were a struggle - and it was telling that for the final downhill mile, when I should have been able to kick it in, my time was in the high nines.

I was able to finish in 1:29:28, just under 9-minute pace overall. However, the time was slower than either of the half-marathons I ran a couple months earlier. Part of the difference is attributable to the hot, humid weather, both on race day and in weeks prior. However, it seems pretty clear that I need to be hitting those tempo runs at 5k-10 miles pretty regularly. There are only 96 days to the marathon from the date of this report - so time to get started.

I’m taking a few days off from CrossFit and marathon...

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:28:29 -0400

Genesee River High Falls

Genesee Brewery on the River

Lake Ontario

I’m taking a few days off from CrossFit and marathon training to enjoy the summer and travel with my daughter. Spent the day in Rochester, a beautiful city. I was particularly drawn to Lake Ontario because I have never been on the shore of one of the Great Lakes. They really are big! My reactions:

You can’t see Canada from the US shore which is logical given the size of Lake Ontario, but I am used to lakes where you can see the opposite shore.
Having accepted that the Lakes are really Seas, it was strange to look north at an ocean.
Very sad that the beach was closed to bathers by the NYS Health Department because of unhealthy bacteria levels.

Things for which I am grateful: the view of the Manhattan Bridge...

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:14:00 -0400

Things for which I am grateful:

the view of the Manhattan Bridge walking into DUMBO office.

Spent this morning, July 4, on the beach at Jacob Riis/Fort...

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 20:01:06 -0400

Spent this morning, July 4, on the beach at Jacob Riis/Fort Tilden. It was foggy and breezy when I arrived. The sun burned through the gray and by noon the crowds were arriving. I hope this shot captures the unhurried atmosphere this Independence Day morning.

Van Cortlandt Park Summer Cross Country

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 07:18:00 -0400

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 such a great opportunity for the urban runner. I headed up to the Bronx this Thursday after a long, busy and indulgent week (Father’s Day, daughter’s high school graduation, work) to get in a hard workout and to refresh the spirit.

The races are homey (numbers were left over from the recent Riverside Ramble) and inexpensive ($5 entry fee). Over 100 runners showed up this week which is about average for the series. The great thing about cross country is that your time is going to vary by course, and by conditions on the same course, so instead of paying attention to pace times, you are forced instead to focus on your breathing, your running form, the course and the runners around you.

Having arrived just a few minutes before the race, still somewhat full from graduation lunch, I wasn’t in the optimal state at the start. The focus was simply on running hard and steady - especially through the famous VCP back hills - and to finish well. As the kilometers passed, my attention fixed entirely on my breath, stride and whichever runner was right in front of me. My time of 26:03 was about a minute off my best for the course, but there were positive signs - I passed more runners than passed me in the last mile of the race and the folks that ran around me were visibly fit and seasoned runners.

Did the next best thing to going to the beach by taking longish...

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 22:38:20 -0400

Northwest view from BB Park

Harbor from Manhattan Bridge

Bklyn Bridge from Manhattan Bridge

Manhattan Bridge

Chinatown looking toward Catherine Slip

Bklyn Bridge Looking Southeast

Family Under FDR Drive

Railing

Manhattan Bridge from Manhattan

North from Battery Park City

Did the next best thing to going to the beach by taking longish run along the Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan waterfront in the early evening. I tested out a new photo app for Android, which I hope will make for more regular and better pics.

Normally, these days I don’t do LSD (long, slow distance) which is the bread and butter of the standard running/marathoning training program. I made an exception today and stopped regularly to take these photos. It was a relaxing and fun way to cover seven miles averaging about 11 mins/mile.

I’m going to try to blog music every Friday. Tumblr has...

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:00:07 -0400

I’m going to try to blog music every Friday. Tumblr has the tradition of “Cover Fridays” - but unlike last week’s tune, this is not a cover. My iTunes collects the KCRW “Song of the Day” podcast and it was on my iPod from last March. Not sure why I missed it then as Angus and Julia Stone got a lot of attention in 2010. Melancholy and evocative - a beautiful song!

bijan:

Angus and Julia Stone - Santa Monica Dream

Opted not to run today...

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 21:59:27 -0400

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 Recovery session involved a lot of soft tissue work in the legs, back and shoulder: amazing what a person can do to themselves with a lacrosse ball!

Have reached a strange point in my training. Spring endurance goals were reached a few weeks ago with the dual half marathons. New York is still nearly five months away. I am doing both CrossFit and running/endurance training, but it feels like I am slacking a little. I don’t plan to do much racing until later in the summer and probably won’t do longer pre-marathon runs until August. I’m wondering whether experienced marathoners have advice about what kind of running to do early in the marathon training cycle?