Sidelined and volunteering

All lined up

Last weekend's NYC60k race (aka the Knickerbocker) was probably the most low key running event the NYRR is in charge of that I have attended so far. I assume the XC runs up in the Bronx and the announced Classic runs for next year are very similar? No fancy signage, no DJs (AFAIK), no thousands of runners, no national anthem and pre-start entertainment. Just 500 runners lined up in a no-frill race ready to run 37.3 miles in nine loop in Central Park.

Oh, just to make sure we don't misunderstand each other. I did not run it. It did look like a lot of fun, though, so maybe one day? In a couple of years or so? Let's say three years. I volunteered, though. I thought that would be my +1 credit to get into the NYC Marathon next year but since that's not going to happen (I was only able to run three out of the nine required races to get guaranteed entry) I volunteered to a) to do something good, and b) to be part of something exciting. If I cannot run a race I still love to watch. And you may think that watching the same runners go pass you nine times can't be exciting but you would be wrong. It is great to watch how these amazing people make the best out of a situation that tests their physical and mental limits and since I was stationed right in front of the start/finish line I loved to see the beaming smiles every time they had another lap in the sack. Some of the volunteers and spectators were amazing to keep the spirits up even hours into the race (the winner finished in a little over four hours). You could hear them scream and shout the runners' bib numbers and encourage them to keep going. The watching crowd was in no way close to, say, the Marathon but it was just as noisy and up-lifting.

After watching these runners go by round after round I got a feeling who is in the leading group and who has how many more laps to go. The NYRR has a very nice write-up about the race but let me just add my few cents. The first seven laps were dominated by Vinicius Tavares (he's the guy in blue working his watch in the picture above) who clicked off one mile after another with a below seven minutes per mile pace. He really looked like he could keep it up forever but eventually he was overtaken by the winner and came in on a still respectable second place. Did I say these guys are amazing? Even when my shift was done at 11:30am (it started at 6:30am and, let me tell you, standing non-stop for five hours hurts just as much as running for an hour or two - at least for somebody like me who sits all day long on his job) I stuck around to at least see the top three finishers for the men and women. I finally made my way back home at around 1:30pm.

So, how was my volunteering experience? This time I signed up to help out in the start/finish area because I thought this would be the most exciting and rewarding spot to be. I definitely wasn't wrong with that and not just because it was a great place to be to celebrate with the runners and the spectators. Our captain, I assume an NYRR employee, was also a very interesting character. He sure knew how to secure the start/finish area. Most of us were positioned to secure the cross walk in front and at the back of the start and finish line at 90th Street and East Drive and made sure that pedestrians and bicyclists don't interfere with the runners. The NYRR got permits to use the pedestrian lanes of the upper short loop of Central Park and everybody else had to use the bike lanes instead. It sure got busy later that morning and in the afternoon and we had our hands full directing traffic across. We also had to make sure that non-participating runners would go around the start/finish area and most did do just that but some people couldn't care less and gave us the "but I don't want to" speech and just ran straight ahead. It wasn't such a big deal but it would have made the folks in charge of keeping tracks of the runners' laps a bit easier. They needed to see the runners' numbers and always had to remind folks to show their numbers when they cross the line. So folks who didn't want to help us out made things a bit harder but, again, luckily there were only a very few (I counted two) who behaved like the Lords of Central Park. After all it was a great experience, especially interacting with onlookers when I told them that this is a 60k race. Many couldn't believe that anybody would run such distances - especially on such monotone routes like Central Park. I also have to add my own kudos to the runners here. For volunteering my time I got a nice tech shirt and a great time. I will so do this again.

A few closing words about my own running. Well, my IT band sidelined me. After my last race I promised myself not to run until it cleared up. It's been two weeks now and it is getting better - very slowly, though. I am itching to get back on the road and run my heart out but I really, really, really shouldn't. For now I reset my training calendar for December, 1st to start a training program for a half-marathon that I want to run in the spring but I will keep this open because if I still cannot run for at least half an hour pain-free it is back to sitting it out until at least the start of 2014, which after all, would mark my first year anniversary for being back in running. We will see. I am not signed up for any races so the temptation is limited.

Marathon weekend

Running up on 6th Ave
Picture by MarathonFoto

It's the pinnacle of almost every runner's running career, I would assume. Running a marathon and keep running them. Last weekend was the NYC Marathon. It was an exciting few days and I got really into it. I did not run, for many obvious reasons like I only started running for "real" this year, my knee needs a lot more healing, and I didn't do any training to run 26.2 miles, but I did participate in a 5k the day before which finished at the Marathon finishing line in Central Park and I volunteered with my fellow team members at the Power Gel station on mile 18. It was an awesome experience and it just made me want to participate in the New York marathon in the future even more. Maybe not for 2014 due to not having a guaranteed spot but definitely for 2015. Let's cross fingers and knock on wood.

Almost at the finish line
Picture by MarathonFoto

Let's start with the Dash to the Finish Line on Saturday, a nice little 5k race that started in front of the UN, brought us over 42nd Street to 6th Avenue, all the way up to Central Park South, into Central Park at the corner of CPS and 5th Ave, up to the 72nd Street traverse, and going over the south loop to the finish line. This race, the NYC Half, and of course the NYC Marathon, are the only three races per year where Manhattan streets are closed to car traffic for us runners (I guess we have to count in NYC Summer Streets for leisure running) and it is such a rush to run Manhattan Streets with spectators lining up on both sides of the street. It was a sold-out race with 5,000 runners and it got a bit crowded. I believe it is rather hard to run PRs in short races with such huge crowds because you always end up jockeying for position. You rarely run in a straight line for the first 10 minutes or so and lose a lot of momentum when you have to find a way to get ahead of runners in the way or cutting in, etc. My knee was not recovered at all (thanks to my inability to just not run for a couple of weeks) but I just ran through it and made it to the finish line in a decent time despite everything including not really seriously running for a few weeks now. I finished in 316th place, 28th/496 in my age and gender group, first for my team, with a pace of 6:56 minutes per mile and a total time of 21:28 minutes. Not the best time (I had better) but considering everything not bad at all. Of course, the fact that thousands of really good runners were running the marathon the next day they either didn't attend this one or ran really slow to avoid any injuries. I know, for example, that there are a lot of faster guys in my running team, but they didn't show up.

Package pick-up for this race was at the Marathon Expo at the Javits Center on the West Side of Midtown. It was crazy there. Thanks to security (I tell you, the terrorists have won...) I had to stand in line to get into the building, stand in line to get through security checks, stand in line... you get the picture. In the end I got my shirt and my bib but no bag. Only marathon runners got a bag for their goodies. We 5k-ers are second class citizens who had to wait until bag check-in or crossing the finish line to get a clear plastic bag. Ugh. Well, I did throw it away eventually after eating the meager snacks that came with it (one apple, a baggie of pretzel sticks, and a pint-sized bottle of water) so none of this really matters in the big picture. And that big picture was: I ran the streets of Manhattan and I crossed the NYC Marathon finish line without actually having to run the marathon. It was awesome. Period.

Cheering on some runners
Picture by Linda Chan

My motto for this weekend was: if you cannot run the marathon at least do some volunteering work. And that I did happily. My running team has been staffing the Power Gel station at mile 18 of the race for a few years now (I think). This year I signed up for it and helped out. It was amazing. By the time I arrived at my spot the wheelchair racers were just passing by. Image propelling a wheelchair for more than 90 minutes just with your arms, shoulders, and back. Some people say running is hard but doing that motion non-stop? Then the hand-cycles whizzed by, followed by the woman pro-athletes (which I missed because I jumped into a deli to get some water), then the pro-men, followed by the amateurs. I was able to stand right there at the curb, without a barricade, and have the runners pass by me just like that. Very few of the pros and the wheelchairs needed gel - I assume they have their own fueling system - but as soon as the masses of runners (more than 50,000 I read) started to come by we all were handing out packets of gel non-stop. I wasn't able to stay there for the entire day (the last runner crossed the finish line after 10pm) but was able to see probably the first half to 2/3s of the runners. We had runners of all kinds. Serious ones, costumed ones, always smiling ones, picky ones ("does this have caffeine" or "ugh - hate that flavor"), polite ones ("thank you!" or "It's awesome you guys are doing this"), you name it. I even had two people recognize me (one co-worker and one other runner from Roosevelt Island who I met on the way to the Bronx) and I was told a few others noticed me but didn't make themselves noticeable to me. I was just standing there, stretching out my hand, with a packet of gel in my hand, for everybody to grab. Some women runner had long fingernails which scratched my hand when they pulled the pouch out of my hand. After a couple of hours my hand was cramped up but I did what all endurance athletes do - push through it. If I can run a few miles, I can keep handing out gels for a few hours.

Marathon is over now. The races are not slowing down, though, but I will for a few weeks. I promise that I will not run for at least two weeks and then pick it up very slowly. I have to let that IT band heal. Starting January I will start a training program towards marathon distance for the fall of 2014. That's the plan and will, as always, be adjusted.

Staten Island Half aka My first half-marathon

Well, as the picture to the left shows you, I did run and finish my very first half-marathon. It was an interesting but humble experience. Again, it was rather massive (almost 7,000 finishers) but extremely well organized, that's what the NYRR does. I admit, I did not train for it properly and I only ran this distance once as part of the long run I volunteered for to be a pace leader so I should be proud of the fact that I only played with the thought of giving up twice at around miles 11 (I pushed through then) and 12 (when I slowed down to a walk to drink up some Gatorade.)

Crossing the finish line
Picture by MarathonFoto

Let's get the numbers out of the way first. I placed 1051st total, 134th/596 in my age group, and 9th for the NY Flyers. My total time was 1:42:02 hours which gives me a pace of 7:48 minutes per mile. After all, and despite everything, I did rather well and stayed below my hoped for 1 hour and 45 minutes finish time. With some proper training, though, I think I can bring this under 1:35 hours and maybe down the road under an hour and a half. I wonder, though, if this is wishful thinking for a guy approaching his mid-40s. I read that the 40-44 age group is usually one of the most competitive age groups, i.e. it seems that most runner who have been doing this for a while peak. From then on it is just downhill and by the time you are in the 60+ group you are one of the few who still run, anyway, and win an age group award by default, as long as you keep your health up (*knock on wood*).

I got my finisher medal
Picture by MarathonFoto

Crossing the 10 miles was entering unknown territory for me. I have been racing 10 miles before and many of my long training runs capped out at that distance but I thought to myself that running 13.1 is just another 5k on top of a distance I already know. I think this is actually true and I noticed that my mind started to play tricks on me as soon as I passed the 10 miles marker. As they say, running happens mostly in your head. My right IT band acted up at around mile 6 or so but I was able to ignore this just nicely until I got this idea that once I passed 10 miles I should do a whole body check and identify the aches. Not a good idea! I focused more and more on that pain and it just ruined it for me so much that by the time I reached the fluid station at mile 12 I stopped, walked, and drank a couple cups or Gatorade and water. My idea of a good run has always been "Do not walk - keep running" but I just couldn't hold it up anymore. Of course, as soon as I rested a few seconds and wanted to start running again, my knee was in searing pain but I was able to run through it and miraculously made it to marker 13. Just one more tenth of a mile and I made it. I turned the corner, noticed that it is an awesome feeling to finish a race on a declining segment of road, saw my wife and kids standing at the curb side, high-fived them, picked up speed, and crossed the finish line. I made it.

I really have to rethink my training. I need this knee to recover first and the start slowly and really build up to a half-marathon. I really cannot just increase the mileage nilly-willy, but it seems that I am not the only one who falls into this ego-trip. I'll promise I do better. Until then I have one more race on my schedule: the NYRR Dash to the Finish Line. And then will I rethink my training.

One more thing: hills suck. Even the smallest hill can become your greatest enemy after an hour or two into a run.