Bleeding nipples

Maybe not the best title for a posting but I guess I should be just proud of reaching another mile stone in my running career: I ran until my nipples bled. What's next? Toe nails falling out? At least my knees held up really well. Let me start from the beginning, though.

Medals!
Photo by MarathonFoto

As my seventh NYRR race of the year (not including the two I had to forfeit because of my fractured toe) I ran the second to last race of the 5 Borough Series, the NYRR Bronx 10 Miles. It's a familiar route since I ran the exact same race at the end of September of last year as well. What I forgot, though, was how semi-hilly it is. It's not bad but it really got to me this time. My goal was to cross the finish line in under 1:10 hours, i.e. sub-seven minute pace, something that was predicted I would be able to pull off. If only my mind did not play tricks with me I probably would have done it. The thing is... those hills are murderous after running nine miles as fast as I could. I had to do something that I promised myself I would never ever repeat again after last year's Staten Island Half: I walked. At the end of mile nie I was fighting myself but the weenie in me ruled supreme and I slowed down to a walk up the hill. It wasn't a long walk, maybe 30 to 45 seconds (time is something funny when you are exhausted) but I did it again for another 15 seconds or so on the last hill, half a mile before the finish line. In the end I definitely lost at least a three quarter of a minute. I admit, walking felt great and I was able to run even better after those breaks, but still... after all I did rather well. I finished in 1:10:38 hours (argh!!! If only I didn't walk!!), placed 401st out of 9,462 finishers, 54th out of 701 in my age group, and 6th out of 81 New York Flyers. That gives me an average pace of 7:04 minutes per mile (I can't believe I walked!) and I improved my last year's time by 3:21 minutes. Next year again. I have to focus a lot more on endurance to get through longer distances just as easily as I get through 5 and 10ks. Just to remind me in the future about walking and to avoid it, here are my splits:

1. 6:35 (too fast!)
2. 6:49
3. 7:01
4. 6:57
5. 6:54
6. 6:45
7. 7:13 (the slow-down was caused by turning the corner into a steep-ish incline)
8. 7:01
9. 7:15 (exhaustion set in)
10. 7:46 (too much walking but very strong finish)

Finished! Literally.
Photo by MarathonFoto

After the usual going out a tad too fast I did quite okay for the first 10k of the race. My original plan was to run a 6:50ish pace bu doing the first 3 miles at 7 minutes, the next 3 at 6:50, the next three at 6:40, each, and the last one in whatever was left in me. Maybe my problem is getting a bit too caught up in keeping up with the "guys" at the start. Most of the time now I start in the front coral with all the people who can run this course in under an hour and I always tend to be front-ish with the fastest of them. For the future I should take note and stay more in the middle or towards the end of the first coral so I get to run with the folks that are more like me, pace-wise, that is. I will learn some day!

All that said, it was a great morning out in the Bronx. We had 10,000 starters thereabouts and when I was waiting for the start and turned around to look back the entire Grand Course as far as I could see was filled with runners.

Still setting up

Ah, I guess I have to mention my nipples. At around mile six I always get a cup of water and douse myself to cool me down. This time I did it twice, spilled quite a bit of Gatorade over my shirt, and sweated a lot. That created the perfect environment to chafe both of my nipples to a point that they started to bleed. I didn't realize that until much later after the finish when I saw a red dot on my shirt, wondering what happened there. Once at home, taking a shower was excruciating because the salt from my sweat irritated the wounds even more and now I am sitting here in front of the computer, two days later, with really itchy nipples. Not sure what to do next time. Either stop pouring water over me and leave that for after the finish line or putting a band-aid over them.

Now that my knees and hips seem to be holding up just fine I created a plan for what to do with winter this year. I am quite excited about this since I had to sit it out last year and so this is what I have planned so far:

October 12, 2014: Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp. 10k

November 22, 2014: Laurie Harris Hope & Dreams 5K, Roosevelt Island

November 23, 2014: Race to Deliver 4M, Central Park*

November 30, 2014: NYCRUNS Winter Running Series - Riverside Park 5k

December 13, 2014: NYRR Ted Corbitt 15k, Central Park*

December 21, 2014: NYCRUNS Winter Running Series - Roosevelt Island 10k

January 11, 2015: NYCRUNS Winter Running Series - Central Park 10 miles

February 22, 2015: NYCRUNS Central Park Half Marathon

* Last two NYRR races to get guaranteed entry into 2015's NYC Marathon

I'm also planning on volunteering for the NYCRUNS Brooklyn Marathon to pay for my NYCRUNS races.

I am back! And we all keep on running!

Fastest Mile

Just crossed the
finish line
Photo by Marathonfoto

I'm back! I dared to put my foot to the test and ran the Fifth Avenue Mile last Saturday. It felt so good to line up with other runners and just give all you can (and try to beat as many of the the other runners as you can.) The Fifth Avenue Mile is a fun event because it was just about running one mile as fast as you can. The start line was on 80th Street, just south of the Met, and the finish line was at the south east corner of Central Park on 60th Street and 5th Avenue. Since it is such a short race we runners were divided into heats by age and gender. I was in heat 10, male runners 40-49 years of age, 677 runners in total. I read a few pieces about strategy and tactics on how to run this but in the end it was just all about go out and run as fast as you possibly can. The only thing to watch out for is probably to not go out sprint-style. Just go out fast and get faster as you go until you collapse on the finish line. The advantage of this course is that the second to last quarter mile is on a downslope and the last one is flat, i.e. there was a lot of opportunity to really ramp it up in the last half of the race. A mile can be extremely long in some races but it was very short in this one. I finished in 5:45 minutes which placed me 902nd out of 5610 finishers, 93rd out of 401 in my age group, and 5th for my team. I think I could have been a tad faster but I wasn't in tip-top shape because I haven't really run for almost four weeks. Considering my injury I was surprised how much I had in me, though. I think I am ready for the Bronx 10 Mile in two weeks.

The other thing I did running related was volunteering for the first NYRCUNS Queens Half Marathon in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park. It was a great event, as always, and I was course marshal at mile 10. The main reasons why I signed up for this were that a) I really like what NYCRUNS is doing, b) I wanted to support them for their very first half marathon in Queens, and c) we got double race credit ($50), an official NYCRUNS race management tech-shirt, a Queens Half tech-shirt, and bagels to bring home. Until today I do not know why so few people want to volunteer for them while the NYRR gets all the volunteers it needs. Sure, it is a requirement to get guaranteed entry in the NYC marathon but why are there so few that would do the same for race credit (free racing!) and just a good time all around? Anyway, it was a great time.

I will give my toe (and my hip which suffered a bit from my limping) another week of rest before I start with doing a few slow and easy runs to prep me for the 10 miles I will run on the 28th in the Bronx. Until then, keep on running!

Sidelined (again)

Shamelessly stolen from
http://www.exercisebikes.us/search.htm

Three weeks and counting... today was the 4M Autism run in Central Park and I had to skip it. Next weekend if the 5th Ave Mile and I have no idea if I will be able to run it or not. My toe is getting better but it is going frustratingly slow. I had a follow-up with a podiatrist a week ago and he suggested to stay away from running for at least two more weeks for the fracture to heal sufficiently enough. If I can jump on the foot pain free I can go back out on the road, he said, and that is not happening right now. In order to maintain my fitness level (or lets say, not to let it deteriorate it too much) I started hitting the gym to use the stationary recumbent bike. It is not the same and requires a lot more time to have the same impact as running but it is better than nothing. I am doing an hour or 45 minutes of cycling every night, followed up with some weight training. I think I will try the elliptical soon, i.e. when I think I can walk pain free for at least an hour. I cannot wait to get back outdoors, though. The gym is mind numbingly dull.

Luckily for this season I have a coach available through my running club and I have been staying in touch with him. According to him I should take a week of easy running once I get the go ahead and then ease back into speed training. To get my four missing races for guaranteed entry into next year's marathon I will have to add new races to my schedule. I am thinking of the Dash to the Finish Line, Race to Deliver, and the Ted Corbitt 15k. If I will not get to run the 5th Ave Mile I will have to add the Poland Spring Kickoff and cancel my commitment to volunteer at NYCRUNS's Haunted Island. Let's cross fingers.

Other races I am interested in running this fall and winter (all NYCRUNS): the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp. 10k (instead of the Staten Island Half this year), the Festival of Lights Half Marathon (as test how well the coaching sessions prepared me for a half marathon), and the NYCRUNS Winter Running Series (Riverside Park, Roosevelt Island, and Central Park). Also, if I get through the Festival of Lights Half well enough I may try the Frozen Bonsai Half as well.

Keep on running while I put up my legs.