july 2013 race schedule

july kicks off with the world lung foundation putnam county classic 8 miler on the fourth of july!  for the third consecutive year i won't be running the race because i'm serving as the co-race director. but i will run the course the day before (wed.) w/emmy, to mark the miles.  if you're anywhere near mahopac this thursday morning, come join us for the race!

if the race itself isn't enough for the 4th of july, that night is the van cortandt track club's summer series relay in van cortlant park.  the trrc is teaming up w/the vctc to single out runners who team up for both races!  while details haven't been finalized, runners who team up for both races (the 8 miler in the morning and relay in the evening) will participate in the "challenge."

the second relay of the month comes up the following week.  this one is in new canaan, part of the waveny xc summer series.  the two-person, 6 mile relay is one of my favorite events (and i've run it w/katie many times).  not sure if she'll be my partner this year, but i won't miss it.  that mid-week race (tuesday night) is followed up with the norwalk summer series 7 miler on saturday.

it's back to nyrr races on the 21st - with the queens 10k.  this is the third event of the 5 borough challenge.  while i'm still not used to the queens "10k" instead of half marathon (or Bronx "10 miler" instead of half marathon), hopefully i'll be able to run all 5 this year - something i haven't done since 2005!

on the last weekend of the month, the norwalk summer series 9 miler is the day before the escarpment trail run.  i'm not sure if i'll run the nine miler - or volunteer instead.  the escarpment trail run is tough enough without running a nine miler the day before (as i did one year)! 

here's how it looks so far:

7/4 - wlf putnam county classic
7/4 - vctc summer xc series relay
7/9 - waveny summer xc series relay
7/13 - norwalk summer series 7m
7/21 - queens 10k
7/27 - notwalk summer series 9m
7/28 - escarpment trail run 30k

as always, if you're at any of these events - say hello!

update:  somehow, i forgot to mention the 1.7 mile aquaphor underwear run in central park on friday night, july 12!

another 60 mile week/200 mile month!

june came to a close just as may did, with a 60 mile week that pushed my monthly mileage over 200 for the second straight month. i followed up may's 220 miles with 227 miles in june.  my base building and recovery has really come along over the last 3 months: 133, 220, and 227 miles.  my average weekly mileage has crept over 50 miles for the last 6 weeks - which include an unplanned "recovery" week of only 32 miles in mid-june).

but the highlight of june wasn't the mileage - it was a return to the track!  i had 4 weeks of interval workouts and a one mile race during june.  the 4x800, 4x100, 4x100, and 4x800 workouts over the last 4 weeks were a welcome return to the track.  if the 6:04 mile i ran in greenburgh is any indication, some of my speed is slowly coming back!

the july goal is pretty straightforward - keep logging the 50 mile training weeks, but increase the volume of speed work.  now that i've become reacquainted with intervals, need to build up the number of reps from 4 to 6 (and then, hopefully, 8).  i also want to add in some 1,200 meter repeats as well (on the road to mile repeats during august).  i'm glad to be back to track work!

2013 norwalk summer series 5 miler: race photos and results

it was very humid this morning for the norwalk summer series 5 miler.  i had hoped to run a 7:15 pace for the race, but the weather made me reset that target to 7:20.  still, even that more relaxed objective proved out of reach.

i ran an easy warm-up mile with roy before we lined up for the start.  but with a 7:20 first mile, i knew it would be tough to keep that pace for the next 4 miles.  as it turned out, my 36:59 finish (rounded up to 37:00 in the results) worked out to a 7:24 overall pace.  it was a somewhat disappointing finish.  but given the humid conditions, i'll take it.

here are the race results from hi-tek racing.

2013 greenburgh mile: race photos and results

what a fantastic morning to run the greenburgh mile!  no humidity!  i've run this mile about 7 times (more than half of those were with katie).   ithink that the last time was back in 2009 - so this was a welcome return.

my target was a 6:20 or so.  i've been putting in some speed work at the track over the last 3 weeks and i was anxious to see if my speed was starting to come back.  i warmed up with an easy 3 miles before the start.  the mile itself came in a 6:04 - a big, pleasant, surprise for me!  i even had a chance to squeak in under 6 minutes, but just didn't have enough kick to bring it in.

i finished 6th overall; i was passed by a couple of runners in the last quarter mile.  hopefully, more speed work will help me get back a finishing kick.  my 6:04 was good enough to win my age group.  it was the just off the 6:02 finish time i had back in 2009!

i'll add a link to the results once they're posted.

katie's high school graduation!

i was a very proud and happy dad today.  on a beautiful sunny day, the summer solstice actually, she graduated from high school.  of all the various posts of her activities over the years, this one is a real landmark. she has one more summer as a camp counselor, then off to michigan for her freshman year of college.  a big step for her in so many wonderful ways.  and for pat and me, we become "empty nesters" - at least until school breaks, holidays, and summers :D

congratulations katie!

happy summer solstice - 2013!!

happy summer solstice!! 

summer officially arrived at 1:04 am here on the east coast.  so get out there and enjoy the longest day of the year.  for me, it's a trip over to the high school this morning.  katie has her graduation today!  it's a beautiful day to watch the seniors get their diplomas outside, on the field!

tomorrow, the days start getting shorter...

national martini day :D

wow!  who would of thought that martinis would have their very own day in the sun.  when i stumbled upon this bit of news i knew that i'd have to defer gratification until i had gotten in my run this afternoon.  so it was with an interesting set of expectations that i arrived at the track after an easy 3 miles to run 4x400 w/a one lap recovery jog between reps: get the workout done, first - and, second, have a martini for rehydration :O

i wouldn't go with this sort of rehydration plan, as a general rule.  but since martini day is a once a year thing - think it's okay this time around :D