not only was the fred lebow classic 5 miler a last minute substitution, it was actually a substitution for a substitution! from a fa 50k trail run in massachusetts, then to one in new jersey, and, ultimately, a 5 mile road road race in central park, it was big a drop in expected weekend mileage (and a switch from trails to roads, as well). but, given the forecasted snowstorm that approached the city, i didn't mind the change in plans at all.
race morning registration turned into a minor challenge, in and of itself. emmy picked me up just before 7, and after finding a parking spot a few blocks from the nyrr, we jogged over there. the two of us were practically the last runners to sign up - there was one more guy just behind me, in fact. it was almost 7:50 as we stood outside the club putting on our bibs and chips. the half mile or so run up to the baggage check and then over to the start corral doubled as a makeshift warm-up. shirt pick-up had to wait until after the race.
in an interesting twist, emmy hopped over the fence midway into the first corral. i, instead, went in via the gate - which was a mistake. since it was so late (less than 2 minutes to the start), the runners from the second corral had already moved up. i found myself, technically, well into the second corral! in a longer race i wouldn't of cared a bit. but now, it took me - remarkably - more than 20 seconds to just cross the start mat! worse yet, the first mile was very crowded and i spent it (unwisely) weaving in and out of runners until the field opened up.
it was particularly crowded on the transverse, but soon enough there was some breathing room on the west drive. my split for the first mile was 7:01 - disappointing to say the least. i tried to make up the lost time in mile 2, with a 6:39. the 13:40 2 mile split, 6:50 pace, was still less than ideal. i had hoped to run a 6:45 pace for the race, and finish in 33:45, or come in with a sub-34. that was a pretty realistic target since my 5 mile split a the boston build-up 10k the week before had been 34:10. so much for the best laid plans...
the current 6:50 pace now made even a 34 minute finish a stretch. unless i really pushed it to make up some of the lost time, that wasn't going to happen. and it didn't, with these splits remaining splits: 6:57, 7:01, 6;52 to finish in 34:32 - a 6:54 pace. somewhat disappointing, but under the circumstances, i chalked it up as a training run. just after the exiting the chute i found emmy and john (my old wtc teammate). emmy's sub 33:56 took 2nd in her age group and john's 33:19 won his - great work guys!
later that morning, just as the snow started to fall, i tacked on another 7.5 miles via the post road. that upped my day's mileage to 13, well less than half what i had planned to run. but with the race, they were quality miles and i was more than satisfied with the result. still, with two weekends of the new year headed into the books, i haven't gotten in a significant long run yet. that needs to be rectified.
for the short term, however, next weekend is the boston build-up 15k in ridgefield.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
fred lebow classic 5 miler: race report
Saturday, January 10, 2009
fred lebow classic 5 miler: race photos and results
coming in for the city for the fred lebow classic 5 miler was a last minute decision. with the temperature outside my house just 20 degrees, barely higher, at 24, in the city, and snow set to arrive later that morning, it was a reluctant - but easy - call to skip the watchung winter fa 50k over in new jersey.
we barely made it to the nyrr in time for race day registration.
put on bib and chip right outside the club.
ran to the start/baggage check - which doubled as an impromptu warm-up for the race.
when the race was all said and done, i finished in 34:32 and emmy in 33:56 (2nd place ag).
here is my race report.
here are the results at nyrr.
Friday, January 9, 2009
switching fa 50k's: g.a.c. to watchung reservation
i had hoped to visit the land of the stone cat trail races this weekend for the 11th annual g.a.c. fa 50k. but i was outvoted in this proposed endeavor, 2-1, by rob and emmy. instead, they want to run the watchung winter ultra across the river in the wilds of new jersey. that plan certainly makes more practical sense: a fa ultra ain't free if you need to spend $89 for a hotel room, and ain't too convenient it you need drive up the day before to run it. and, on the plus side, a lot of familiar faces from the local ultra running scene have already signed up for watchung!
so watchung reservation it is! or is it? within a day of our registration for the watchung winter fa 50k, the weather forecast went from dry, to wet, to outright snow accumulation! arrgh! the last thing on earth i want to do this weekend is spend 5+ hours traipsing thru snow covered trails hiding all their rocks, roots, and fallen branches (although that would be infinitely preferrable to the same amount of time slogging thru rain and mud)! so, 24 hours from now, i may or may not be out on my first long training run of the season?!
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on a somewhat related note, the nyrr has taken note of the weather forecast (plan b would have been to run the fred lebow 5 miler in central park):
"A snowstorm is predicted for Saturday morning, January 10. NYRR is watching the weather closely, but we do not, at this time, anticipate any changes to the NYRR Fred Lebow Classic. If changes are necessary, we will update this website by 6:30 a.m. on race morning. Please check here before leaving the house."
so lets see what tomorrow brings...
Thursday, January 8, 2009
boston build-up 10k race report
the boston build-up is one of my favorite race series (just behind the norwalk summer series and the new york ultra running grand prix). the 2009 edition was my 5th time lining up for the 10k, which kicks off the winter race series at the start of january. it's a tough 10k course, with the toughest hill of all waiting in the last mile - the 9k mark to be precise. in light of the 10 miler i ran the day before in norfolk, my target was a sub-45 minute finish.
that time would substantially better my 2008 finish of 52:24 (which became a training run after the "recover from the holidays" fa 50k i ran the day before). but, it would be well off the 40 to 42 minute results i posted in earlier editions:
2004: 42:32
2005: 40:50
2006: 40:35
remarkably, in each of those prior races i confess to walking a portion of the last hill. and, under the circumstances, i fully intended to walk some of it again this time around!
a great thing about this race is it also doubles as a social event. the 10k garners the highest turnout of the series, with participation declining as the race distances increase. in addition to emmy (who ran the norfolk 10 miler with me), rob, roy, john, kate, brian, anton, dawn, don (who, amazingly, i didn't see before, during, or after the race!), kim, joe, mike (a/k/a torpedo), just to name a few, were all there!
aside from a huge sheet of ice that stretched out in front of the start line, the road conditions - and weather - were great for racing. once the horn went off a bunch of runners ran on the school sidewalk (i among them) to avoid the ice. after that tricky start, the course exited the high school and took to the streets of norwalk (rowayton, actually). i could see emmy a good distance in front of me, which was surprising since she had told me minutes earlier that she wasn't planning to race it!
by the first mile i had caught up to her and took a second to innocently mention that we were going at a sub 6:30 pace! emmy, without missing a beat, said that was okay since we were going downhill! well, so much for a 45 minute 10k! while i knew that we wouldn't maintain this pace and finish up in 40 minutes, i would tag along and see what happened. we hit the 4k split at 16:24, a 6:35 pace; and, just beyond it, the 3 mile split at 19:54, a 6:38 pace. i was surprised to be running this fast, but figured the course itself would ease the pace.
four miles went by in 26:59, a 6:45 pace. the 8k split of 34:10 and 5 mile split of 34:10 were both at a 6:50 pace. knowing what lay ahead, namely the last big hill, i had to ease back a little. the hill itself looks menacing enough on the approach. but once you reach what seems the top and cut to the right, the second half reveals itself - and there's a bit more to climb. i gave in to temptation and walked the second part of the hill. my split at 9k was 38:45, a 6:56 pace.
i finished in 43:09, for 6:57 pace, which was almost 2 minutes faster than expected. without the walk up the hill it would have been a sub-43. but, had it not been for emmy's decision to race it (and she won her age group as a result!), i'm sure my result would have been much closer to 45. it turned out to be a reversal of my original plan for the weekend (run the 10 miler hard, take the 10k easy). still, it was a productive pair of races and i was very pleased with both.
here are some race photos.
postscript: even though the ipod ban is now effectively dead, it's still within the race director's discretion to apply it to any given race. check the fate of the runner who finished in 1:01:01 - he was disqualified for using headphones during the race!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
soldier dead from bar fight over jimmy buffett's "margaritaville" on jukebox!
if the random act of violence against the runner near gracie mansion this weekend here in nyc wasn't sad enough, now we learn that a soldier has died in the wake a bar fight in steamboat springs, colorado. the fight was triggered because he and his friends decided to play jimmy buffett's "margaritaville" on the jukebox over the objections of some other bar patrons!
when i read this, i honestly couldn't believe it was true. there had to be more to this senseless tragedy than just the headline account. apparently not, as the initial news report, relates:
The incident occurred before 12:15 a.m. Friday when police were called to a fight between five people outside the Tap House.
"The initial disagreement was about music being played on the jukebox," said [police captain] Rae, adding that it was a Jimmy Buffet song.
"Richard Lopez and two other individuals put on the song, but two other individuals did not agree with it."
It was not known which Jimmy Buffett song was being played at the time, but the fight was taken outside the bar.
By the time officers arrived on scene, the fight was over and Lopez was on the ground at Lincoln Avenue and Seventh Street.
Two of Lopez's friends, who were not identified by police but are from Steamboat Springs, also were injured in the fight.
Lopez initially was taken to Yampa Valley Medical Center but later was flown to Denver Health Medical Center.
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subsequent reports provided more information, including background on lopez and the music that triggered the violence.
lopez died from the wounds he sustained early this monday morning.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
norfolk pub 10 miler race report
winter in norfolk is "icebox" cold!
"From a distance it looks harmless enough. The hills of Norfolk surround Doolittle Lake and the Norfolk Pub 10-Mile Road Race conquers each and every last hill."
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i've always wanted to run the norfolk pub 10 miler, but was never able to either fit it on the schedule, or make the drive up to norfolk. i wouldn't have run it this year either, had it not been for the first snowstorm of the season that resulted in its postponement. to keep the wintry spirit of the original december date fresh in mind, on saturday, the rescheduled date, a snow squall suddenly materialized on the drive up route 8 to norfolk!
this is a tough, hilly course in dry conditions. i had hoped to run it in 1:10, averaging a 7 minute pace - and would have been quite pleased with that outcome. but even without the benefit of the snow squall, it seemed as if there was plenty of snow and ice on parts of course. the squall just seemed to add a fresh coat on most the first two (and final two) miles. toss in the nasty wind gusts and the winter conditions were perfect - for a training run. shivering at the start line as a truck plowed the fresh snow on directly in front of us, i readjusted my target to 1:20!
except for a brief dip just into the first mile, the first two miles are basically straight uphill. my first mile was a 7:42, and the second was 9:12! i was amazed to have run 2 miles, on packed snow and ice, in 16:54 - an 8:27 pace! at that point all that went through my practically frozen mind was, "what am i doing here?" things brightened (warmed) up a bit for the next few miles: 7:33, 7:29, and 7:26 got me to the five mile mark at 39:22, a 7:53 pace. i'm not sure if i walked any of the hills in those last 3 miles.
for the second half of the race i did walk up to the crest of a few big hills - at least 3 times! here are my second half splits:
7:44 47:06
7:50 54:56
9:41 1:04:37
7:44 1:12:21
7:41 1:20:02
mile 7 was across open fields, with winds so strong that it felt like a wind tunnel. i walked a good chunk of the mountain that suddenly appeared in mile 8 (which accounted for the 9:41). mile 9 was mostly downhill, on packed snow and ice - the most treacherous stretch of the course (imo). interestingly, i walked the last (short, steep) hill in the last mile and still managed to run it in 7:41! that wasn't so much a testament to speed (before and after the walking) as it was a burning desire to finish up and get out of icebox like conditions :D
we were handed candy canes after crossing the finish line. emmy finished right behind me and was the third woman overall! at the start, the race director announced that our bib tags were good for a draft beer at the pub after the race - woo hoo to that! after a stop the town hall to collect our stuff, we head over to the speckled hen pub, where the awards ceremony would take place. the coolest thing was seeing the place completely packed with the runners who had just finished the 10 miler :D
the pub had an incredible selection of beer. in fact, it devoted an entire menu to their collection of bottled beer. i opted for a draft dogfish head 90 minute i.p.a. and emmy had a draft old speckled hen ale. as it turned out, we couldn't stay for the awards ceremony. but emmy did win $20 for her 3rd place finish! a friend of hers was kind enough to bring the loot (together with the pez dispenser(!) prize) down to the boston build-up 10k the next day (which he was also running).
here are some race/post-race photos.
photos from the "2009" edition!
Monday, January 5, 2009
runner slashed outside gracie mansion sunday afternoon!
a 39 year old runner was slashed across the forehead as she jogged through carl schurz park, just behind gracie mansion, on sunday afternoon. remarkably, the bizarre and unprovoked attack took place in broad daylight in front of witnesses!
here is an eyewitness account from the ny times report:
“There was a person who was there before me, sort of kneeling down with her and trying to comfort her,” he said. He said the first man told him that the victim had said the attacker had not spoken to her.
The attacker “hadn’t really said a word,” the passer-by said, “and then continued walking northward. Kind of a deranged guy, I guess.”
The woman was distraught, the passer-by said: “She seemed to really go into shock. Her body started really shaking. Her face was kind of bloody.”
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the runner was taken to the hospital for treatment of the laceration to her forehead. she was not robbed, and the police believe it was a random act of violence. the attacker remains at large!
here is the daily news report of the incident.
