New PRs, 11 days and couting

Staten Island Half - Rain & Wind

It's less than 2 weeks until my very first marathon. 11 days. And I am injured again. So close. I am still hoping that not running for as long as I can afford it will fix it as much as possible. This time it seems to be my right hip flexor. You see, my right hip has always been cause for trouble - just see many of my previous posts. This is especially annoying because it all went very well the first two thirds of the training program. I was doing great! Then came the Fifth Ave Mile which caused a bit of trouble. especially with the 10K just a couple days later. I recovered rather quickly, though, and kept on training just fine. Then the Bronx 10M happened and while I was doing my miles over the following week I felt my right hip to become more bothersome by the day. It was still ignorable and I just took an extra day or two of rest here and there but kept on training. It all started to go really downhill after the Staten Island Half. I ran my biggest PR ever but I was not able to do any more running for the following week. I popped a few Ibuprofen and just rested, knowing that the biggest challenge was still to come: a group 20M training run which I so not wanted to miss because of all the really long runs I still have to finish one successfully. I ran it. I felt great right after and on the way home. Then it became radically worse to a point that I wasn't able to walk without pain. That's where I let it be and I haven't run for over a week. It is getting better and I am positive that I will get to a point where I can run the marathon I just have to adjust my expectations and be prepared for a lot of pain and quite a bit of PT right after. I am mentally ready and I am convincing myself that I will be physically ready just enough to get through. Just two weeks ago I was confident that I could finish in around 3:16 hours (first marathon and BQ!) but now I am scaling this back to somewhere more around 3:30 or 3:40. I will try something like this: first 10 miles in 8mm, next 10 miles in 7:45mm, and the last 10 kilometers in 7:30mm. Negative splits but still quite conservative. The other strategy I am considering is 10-10-10 which prescribes to run slower than goal pace the first 10 miles (around 8mm), faster than goal pace the next 10 (maybe around 7:30mm), and then doing the utmost best, i.e. trying to keep the current pace, go faster, or whatever your body can manage at this point for the last 10K. I'll let you know in a couple weeks how it actually worked out, what I did exactly, and how soon I limped to the doctor. Running is crazy!

So, what happened since the last posting? I ran the Bronx 10M and kept my pace under 7 minutes per mile (6:51 to be precise). I PR'ed by 2:05 minutes. That was my goal two years ago which I missed. Thanks to the marathon training, though, I was able to pull it off this time! I thought I could repeat something similar for the Staten Island Halfmarathon a few weeks later but thanks to the brutal weather and possibly my hip I ended up finishing it up with a 7:13 miles per minute average pace which still gave me a PR of 6:28 minutes! I am not complaining! You can find the details of those two runs in the sidebar or here for the Bronx 10M and here for the Staten Island Half. There is a funny fact about marathon (or any kind of distance) training: you go through all the long and speed runs and you don't really know what they do until you go and race. If there is one thing that I am taking away from this season of training (besides three PRs) is that you just have to trust your coach. Trust your training. Line up and race and you will be rewarded. This was my first time ever that I feel confident that I am actually prepared to run something longer than 10 miles. No, not run. Race!

So, let's talk NYC Marathon. I got my corral assignment a few days ago. I will be starting in wave 1, corral B, start time is 9:50am. Unfortunately I will start in the green lane which runs on the lower level of the Verrazano Bridge, i.e. goodbye great views. I am scheduled to use the ferry that leaves at 6:45am which means that I will be in the start village at least 2 hours before start time. Here is to some hoping that the weather will be great and we don't have to huddle together for hours just to stay warm and dry. I am planning to bring an old long-sleeve shirt that I can discard and a heat blanket (if I still have one at home; otherwise just a trash bag) to sit on. My phone will probably be my source of entertainment in form of an e-book to read and pictures to take. I keep telling myself that this is just like any other race. This time I just have to be a lot earlier than usual. For the race itself I have an idea about how to pace myself (see above) and I have my strategy for nutrition and hydration all figured out (first gel @ 45 minutes and then every 30 minutes; I will pack 8 pouches). I will probably bring a refillable bottle for water but I may change my mind in the very last second about this and rely on the cups that are provided on the course. I am so bad at running and drinking from those cups but I recently read about the "pinch the cup" trick and I may just try that instead. I am okay with running with any kind of bottle (I am just too lazy and especially too cheap to buy anything special plus I like that bottle my daughter got from one of her school events - maybe it's for luck!) in my hand. Phone goes on my forearm and my Garmin on my wrist. I opted out of baggage transport so I can see for myself if those ponchos at the finish line are indeed as sweet as I read everywhere. I think I am ready. It's just that darn hip!

That was a quick update. More to come in November. Good luck to everybody running the NYC Marathon with me. Keep on running, guys!

Unavoidable?

New York Times, Sep 26 '08

Here we are again. Back to the doctor and physical therapy. Races to be forfeited, training to be missed, fitness levels unavoidably to decrease. I tried everything I could to not to get to this point but, obviously, I tried too hard and stopped a bit too late. It all started with a left knee/hamstring pain that flares up after running and keeps persisting after rest. It does go away slowly, but too slowly for my taste. When I saw the doctor about this three weeks ago we didn't come to a good conclusion and we are trying a lot of different things in PT to figure this out. For good measures I also threw in the reoccurring pain in my right hip and for that we actually figured out what it most likely is: a labral tear, i.e. a bit of cartilage that covers the rim of the hip socket is damaged. I still have to get x-rays and maybe an MRI to be certain but looking back on when the pain started many, many years ago (12+ miles non-stop on a kick scooter) I think I agree with this assessment. That, at least, will not stop me from running. So, as soon as the hamstring (or knee or whatever it is) problem is under control I'll be back on the road.

All that means, though, that I won't be able to race (due to the lack of training) until at least the end of February. I already missed the 5/10 miler and the Fred Lebow Half in Central Park a couple weeks ago and I will miss the Riverside Park 5k in a week, and most likely the NYRR 4M in Central Park at the end of next month. I hope to be able to run again in 2-3 weeks and that should give me plenty of time to prepare for the Washington Heights 5k on March 1st without getting injured (while running a pathetic pace.) I added a handy little widget to the right side of this blog that shows you my race schedule for this year. It will be modified and added to as needed.

This Sunday I am scheduled to volunteer for the Super Bowl Sunday Gridiron 4M in Central Park. I thought I should earn the +1 for the 2016 Marathon as soon as possible to avoid the rush. Then the following Wednesday I will be part of the 2015 edition of the Empire State Building Run-Up. This is an event that had been produced by the NYRR since its inception but the ESB management company decided not to renew the contract for this year and gave it to my all-time favorite race management company NYCRUNS. This is a paradigm changing decision because over night the ESB Run-Up changed from an NYRR-produced event with all its pomp, glitter, and polish to a, hopefully, a lot more laid-back, fun, and just awesome NYCRUNS production. As soon as I heard about this change I offered my time to volunteer. I just have to be part of it. This is going to be awesome. Plus, I'll get $25 in race credit! I will write about this experience in a later entry, for sure!

I'll be resting for a while. Hopefully, you all will keep on running!

Another year, a new chance for even better things!

Happy new year, everybody. I slacked off a bit to keep my blog updated so this is going to be rather long entry again. I've got three races to cover, give an update on my injuries, recap the year, talk about my running resolutions for 2015, and finally mention a bit about my planned races in the new year. Let's not dawdle and jump right in, shall we?



Race recaps

Since I missed all of winter racing last year due to injury I am glad that things are better this year. I am planning on running all of the races part of the NYCRUNS Winter Series (two of them in Riverside Park, one on Roosevelt Island, and one in Central Park) and getting a head start on earning guaranteed entry in the 2016 NYC Half. So far I ran two of the winter series races, the 5k in Riverside Park and a 10k on Roosevelt Island, and my last race to finish up the 9+1 for the 2015 NYC Marathon, the NYRR Ted Corbitt 15k in Central Park. Due to problems with my right ankle and left hamstring I wasn't in tip-top shape and pretty much neglected any training and just ran the races. Considering the lack of mileage I think I did pretty well:

• NYCRUNS Winter Running Series 5k, 11/30/2014, Riverside Park, net time 20:35, pace 6:38, 26th out of 458 finishers total, 6th out of 42 finishers in my age group
• NYRR Ted Corbitt 15k, 12/13/2014, Central Park, net time 1:03:50, pace 6:51, 254th out of 4,468 finishers total, 34th out of 308 finishers in my age group
• NYCRUNS Winter Running Series 10k, 12/21/2014, Roosevelt Island, net time 41:21, pace 6:40, 28th out of 479 finishers total, 5th out of 45 finishers in my age group

I am especially proud of my 6:51 pace in the Ted Corbitt because I redeemed myself from the not so good outcome at the Bronx 10M. I met a teammate of mine, Chris, in the start corral and we talked about how we planned this run to be. He said he was going to run a 6:30 pace more or less, while I was aiming at a 7ish pace, so I just latched onto him and didn't leave him out of my sight. I also made a point of not overtaking him (there were a couple of opportunities to do so) because I wanted to leave this to the end of the race where I would come from behind, surprising him. Unfortunately, the hills in the second loop of the course put an end to this plan prematurely and I had to let him pull ahead while I struggled through the last couple miles. The course was a 4M loop, a 5M loop, and some through Central Park but the hills, especially the Cat Hill, makes it challenging. I definitely need a lot more hill work, maybe a few training runs in Riverside Park or the Harlem Hill in Central Park would be a good idea. The next half marathon I am signed up for is 2 complete loops of Central Park, all hills included. Fun! Here are the split times according to Endomondo:

1. 6:44, I struggled a bit with my phone and the armband, the start was on the 102nd St traverse
2. 6:23, nice and easy, rolling hills
3. 6:48, first edition of the Cat Hill
4. 6:34
5. 6:55, for some reason I slowed down as soon as I took the corner from the traverse back to the West Park Drive. That was entirely psychological.
6. 6:45, back to the rolling hills
7. 6:53, is it over soon?
8. 7:12, Cat Hill, 2nd edition
9. 6:53
10. last half mile in 3:11, back to the 102nd St traverse

That was my 9th and last one to get guaranteed entry in this year's NYC Marathon. This is exciting and I will be able to register for it in a couple of weeks. Once I pay my $200 and some I am committed and I am planning on taking advantage of the marathon training program that my running club offers every summer.

There is not much to say about the other two races. They were fun and I did as expected, maybe a few seconds too slow but it's okay. The competition was pretty stiff, I must say. Plenty of sub-40 minutes in the 10k race in my age group. One day I hope to join them.

Injuries

Ugh, let's talk about the not so good stuff. As I mentioned a few times before my right ankle and my left hamstring have been bothering me quite a bit. It didn't stop me from racing but I wasn't able to do much in regards of training between them. After the 10k I stopped running altogether for two weeks over the holidays and started again last Saturday with an easy 4M loop around Roosevelt Island. The ankle seems to be holding up but the back of my thigh, just above the knee, hurts when I step on the foot and it developed a spot that hurts when pushed deep within the muscle. The foam roller seems to ease the pain a bit so maybe I just keep rolling it out religiously. I am due for another round of Euflexxa injections anyway, so I will bring it up with my doctor. My right hip joint also flared up but this always comes and goes. I became a bit lazy with my strength training for my hips and gluts so this is definitely something I really need to pick up again.

Recap of 2014

I have been running now for two years, running races for 18 months. It's been a very good year once I recovered from ITB injury in the spring. I was able to go faster and longer. I hope I can add more to that in 2015. Here is the year 2014 in numbers:

• 28 races run
• 132.1 miles raced
• 764 miles run in total
• 8 PRs run
• 8 age-group awards won
• 5:45 best 1M pace
• 6:17 best 5k pace
• 6:25 best 4M pace
• 6:33 best 5M pace
• 6:36 best 10k pace
• 6:51 best 15k pace
• 7:03 best 10M pace
• 7:47 best half marathon pace
• 2 pairs of shoes used (and abused)

It's been a very good year. I hope my current injuries are just fleeting and 2015 will kick in with a bang. I have to catch up with quite a bit of training but the first race of the year will happen in a week already.

Resolutions for 2015

This is an easy one: treat injuries with respect. I think I did quite well last year but I probably overdid the racing part in the summer and didn't allow enough rest in between races and training. Other than that, I want to finish a half-marathon without injuries, and run my very first marathon. I also pledge to get myself a GPS-enabled running watch. I need to watch my splits with more care. All in all, I am just going to have even more fun.

Plans for 2015

I would say I will have at least four highlights this year. The first one would be, of course, the 2015 NYC Marathon on November 1st. I have guaranteed entry and I will run it. Secondly, I will also earn guaranteed entry for 2016, of course, doing the 9+1 again. Included in this will be running all five of the NYRR 5-Borough Series (excluding this year's NYC Half) to get guaranteed entry into the 2016 NYC Half. Since I volunteered for the Brooklyn Half last year I have a guaranteed spot in this year's edition, which is a good thing to have because this race sells out within a couple of days. Last, but definitely not least, I will be doing my first destination race. I was accepted into the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in Washington D.C. via lottery. The hotel room is already booked and we are going to go on a family vacation that weekend.

My preliminary race calendar for the next three months (and a bit of a preview for the rest of the year) is as follows:

• 1/11, NYCRUNS Winter Running Series: Central Park 5 Miler
• 1/25, NYRR Fred Lebow Manhattan Half
• 2/1, Volunteer at NYRR Gridiron 4M
• 2/4, Volunteer at NYCRUNS Empire State Building Run-Up
• 2/7, NYCRUNS Winter Series: Riverside Park 5k
• 2/21, NYRR Al Gordon 4M
• 2/22, Volunteer at NYCRUNS Central Park Marathon
• 3/1, NYRR Washington Heights 5k
• 3/14, Public Prep Ultimate Pi Day 5k
• 3/15, Volunteer at NYC Half
• 3/21, NYCRUNS Riverside Park 10k
• 3/29, NYRR 10k Spring Meltdown
• 4/12, Cherry Blossom 10M
• 5/16, NYRR Brooklyn Half
• 6/21, NYRR Queens 10k
• 8/1, NYRR Team Championships
• 8/22, NYRR Percy Sutton Harlem 5k Run
• 10/11, NYRR Staten Island Half
• 11/1, NYC Marathon
• 12/12, NYRR Ted Corbitt 15k

I will probably pick up a few more NYRR races and fill in the gaps with NYCRUNS events. I may also add a few more volunteering opportunities for NYCRUNS produces races since it pays the bills. I enrolled as a member so I get the added benefit of discounted entry fees and the ability to defer up to three races per year. The three most exciting events in the current schedule: Volunteering at the ESP Run-Up (this is awesome!), the Cherry Blossom, and the Marathon.

Happy new year! Keep on running all through 2015!

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.

Black and Purple

Not good

Just great - I had two races lined up for this coming weekend and I have to forfeit both of them plus the last 5k in Prospect Park for this season. Why? Because I am unable to walk through my apartment without breaking a toe. Yup. I just walked from the living room to the kids' room to fetch something and hit my pinky toe on the workout machine we store in the hallway. I was hoping that I just sprained it but the cracking sound/sensation that came with stubbing the toe made be suspect something more that just fleeting pain. I did hope for the entire night, though, that ice and pain killers would make it go away but the urgent care visit the next morning and a few x-rays made it clear that I better take it easy for a couple weeks. The good thing: it is just a fraction, it is just the pinky toe, and it is not displaced. According to the doctor it should be as good as new within two weeks but, me being me, I will test it as soon as the bruising, i.e. the pain, subsides. Maybe a week? I really do not want to miss the Labor Day 10k and the Autism Speaks 4M. I am afraid I would lose my fitness and have to start from "semi-scratch" again... I've got points to collect in order to get guaranteed entry into next year's NYC Marathon! Since I will be missing the Percy Sutton Harlem 5k Run I have to make up for it and, fortunately, I will have the Dash to the Finish Line to do so. If I miss the Autism run, I have to find another NYRR race, that I haven't planned on running. Maybe the Poland Sprint 5M or the Ted Corbitt 15k. Or I will run those anyway...

On the volunteering side of things I have done a Long Training Run pace leader job for the 8 minutes per mile group with the NY Flyers and I volunteered as course marshall on for the MS Run the US New York Finish 5k, an NYCRUNs event. I am debating if I should volunteer at the race I registered for on Sunday but my gut says that I shouldn't spend too many hours standing on my feet with a broken toe. I will probably just eat the registration fee and not bother with it any further. I also signed up as a volunteer for the upcoming NYCRUNS Narrows Half Marathon, the NYCRUNS Queens Half Marathon (but I may be running it), and the Yonkers Marathon. I am just not ready to run those distances, yet, but I want to be part of it. And since I get race credit for every time I volunteer I cannot think of any better opportunity to be there through volunteering.

Last but not least, just a quick recap of the seventh installment of the PPTC Al Goldstein Speed Series on 8/13. I improved my time once more and was able to stay under 20 minutes. I finished the 5k course in 19:54 minutes (6:52 pace), placed 38th/292 total and 4th/24 in my age division. I doubt I will be able to run the last one on this series so I just want to mention that this was a great race series with a lot of bang for the buck.

Not sure what my next race is going to be. In the meanwhile, keep on running!

Needles in your knee

Yup. That pretty much visualizes it.

Today I got my second round of injections into my knee and I am still alive to talk about it. It's actually not that bad, I must say. It's almost like going to the dentist but a lot shorter and a lot more comfortable. Let me start with summarizing what treatment I am getting.

As explained last time I was diagnosed with grade 1-2 arthritis in my right knee, i.e. the cartilage is worn down and too thin to provide enough cushioning between the bones and the knee cap. That can cause all kinds of uncomfortable pain in my knee after running, prolonged bending of my knees, etc. Luckily, there is that stuff called Euflexxa on the market that provides artificial lubrication for cases like mine. There are a few downsides to it, though. 1) It is quite expensive, almost $2,500 per treatment (which is covered 100% by my insurance - lucky me), 2) one treatment consists of one doctor visit, i.e. injection, per week for three consecutive weeks, 3) it needs to be injected via needle into my knees, and 4) it only lasts for six months after which the whole process needs to be repeated. The time between treatments can be extended if I decided to become less active but while I want to keep running it is suggested to follow the recommended treatment schedule.

So, when I come into my doctor's office I am asked to lie down with a wedge under my legs that keep my knees bent in a more or less 90 degree angle. Wait, not true. I have to sign a consent form first that relieves the doctor from all kinds of responsibilities for certain problems such procedure can cause - business as usual. The first thing the doctor will do is to sterilize the surface of my knee and then apply cold to numb the skin around the injection site. Then he will inject lidocaine to block the nerves on the side of the knee. This is probably the most uncomfortable part of the entire procedure and, not unlike at the dentist, you will feel a tiny bit of pain and some burning sensation when the drug goes in. In my case, most of the "drama" plays in my head (my dad used to call this "Kopfkino") and I am always lying there, waiting (instead of going to my "happy place") for any kind of pain to surprise me and make me jump up, swearing like a sailor. It never happens, though. All the nervousness for absolutely nothing. Once the knee is numb, which is a matter of seconds and feels absolutely nothing like lidocaine in your mouth, i.e. it doesn't feel weird or anything worthwhile to report, he takes a second syringe, the one with the Euflexxa, and injects it in that same area. I kind of looked when this happened the very first time and seeing a syringe sticking out of your knee does look a bit amusing. The doctor told me that there are certain spots on the knee that are perfect for this kind of injection because there are no tendons or muscles to puncture through, and I agree with this, because I have felt very little soreness afterwards. Since I am getting this done for both knees the same happens for the second knee as well. Last but not least he bends my knees up and down for a while to redistribute the gunk he just put in there and you can actually hear it move around. It's hard to describe what kind of sound it makes but with the sensation of what's going on inside the knee it made it sound like somebody is popping bubble wrap very quietly. The whole thing takes less then 30 minutes and I am out of there quickly.

It is probably too soon to tell if it actually does anything good, but I must say that my knees do feel quite a bit better than before. The 4.5 miles I ran two days after my first injection felt really good. No pain in the beginning, during, or after the run. It was pure bliss. At this point I want to credit the physical therapy and the injections for that.

I will get my third and last round of injections at the end of next week and I will report back over the next few weeks or months what difference it made. Stay tuned.

Next race up: The Dawg Dash 5k on Saturday. My wife will be doing registration, handing out bibs, and refreshments.

Keep on running!

The Scots are coming but let's talk about the Irish first

A Beautiful Day

So much has happened in the last few weeks that deserves mentioning on this blog but before I do so I want to give you a recap of a race that I ran on September 14th, 2013. For some reason I never found the right words to put my experience on paper and kept postponing it until now. That one day in September has been the pinnacle in my very short race career. I ran the fastest ever. It was the Great Irish Fair 5k, an NYCRUNS 5k race on the boardwalk of Coney Island and I finished it in 20:52 minutes, a pace of 6:44 minutes per mile. I placed 10th out of a field of 176 finishers but awards were only given to the top three male and female winners. That's fine because we all got free food and beer at the Irish festival afterwards. From that race on things went pretty much downhill pace- and injury-wise because I started to run longer distances without training for it correctly.

Just as you would expect it from an Irish event it started rather late, at 11am, which gave me enough time that day to get down to Coney Island without waking up in the wee-hours. The race was a good one. It started on the Coney Island boardwalk right under the Parachute Jump and led us West for a bit, back East all the way to the Aquarium, and once more West to where we started. The board walk itself wasn't the safest ground to run on because of broken wood and the occasional nail poking out but as long as you stayed on the planks that are parallel to your running direction you were fine. To this day I am proud of what I achieved that day and I hope that I will be able to get back into even better shape. I don't think I reached my best, yet. After the race I helped myself to a cup of beer and a hot dog, and did one of the things I always wanted to do after a race: I took off my shoes and socks and walked in the Atlantic Ocean. It was perfect (with the exception of having sand all over and getting wet quite a bit) and I will sign up again once registration for the Great Irish Fair 5k opens up for 2014.

We all know what has happened after that and how I have been plagued with injuries in my knees and feet for the last few months. After the last half-marathon I developed an unpleasant clicking in my right knee that just didn't want to go away and I eventually decided to see a doctor and have it checked out. When ice and rest doesn't do much you better get professional advice. The doctor figured runner's knee but sent me off for an MRI which agreed with his preliminary diagnosis. In my case I am suffering from chondromalacia patella, degradation of the cartilage under my knee cap, that causes my bones touch each other, bruise slightly, and keep the tissue surrounding them inflamed. For the medically inclined among my hardly existing readership here is the official diagnosis:

• Focal degenerative complex along the posterior portion of the lateral tibial plateau, with full-thickness cartilage defect, and subcortical reactive marrow edema.
• Focal grade 1-2 chondromalacia of the medial facet of the patella, with accompanying focal marked synovitis in the adjacent medial joint capsule. There may be an underlying medial patellar plica at the site, but this is difficult to visualize.
• Mild to moderate "iliotibial band syndrome."
• Evidence of old Osgood-Schaltter disease with superimposed acute component in the distal patellar tendon, and in the superficial and deep infrapatellar bursae.
• Small joint effusion.
• Study negative for meniscal tear or knee derangement.

Phew. That was just as hard to type as it is to read. Well, my cartilage in my knee is thinning, things are inflamed, there are some leftovers from a condition that I unknowingly had when I was a child, but the tendons in my knee are in good condition. I assume the fact that my right foot is not parallel to my knee is not helping my condition especially when pounding the pavement during a run for a prolonged time. Nevertheless, it is not bad enough to require that I give up running but if we don't do anything about the current condition I may end up with knee replacement down the road. So, for now I will get an injection into each knee. Two injections per knee once a week for three weeks, to be precise. Sounds bad? Yeah, I am not looking forward to it but it is not supposed to be as bad as it sounds. What's going to happen is that the medication that will be injected will act as a lubricant to keep the bones from doing damage to each other. It is supposed to reduce the pain I would get from too much running and prevent further degradation of the cartilage. The bad thing: that medication is extremely expensive (almost $2,500 for one full treatment of both knees - 10% of which will have to come out of my pocket, health insurance will luckily cover the rest) and it needs to be re-applied every six months. I will definitely do a progress report over the next few months and talk about how things improve, if at all.

The other thing that I was prescribed was physical therapy to make sure other muscles in my legs take off as much load from my knees as possible. The first evaluation showed that my glutes did less work than they are supposed to, especially in my right leg. So we are focusing at the moment on getting my glutes stronger and make myself more conscious about the bio-mechanics so that I activate my butt and hips more when climbing stairs or running or walking. I must say that I do feel a lot better after my first five sessions and the only thing that is left is the clicking (which only shows when climbing up stairs and may not go away ever again) and a bit of ITBS left over from my last race. We are working on it. Today I got a gait analysis and I was told that my running technique is almost flawless. I just need to work a bit on my hip extensions - I tend to turn out my legs a bit too much when running.

This has been quite a long blog entry already but there is more! Because of my injury I wasn't able to run the Spring Fling 10k but since NYCRUNS has an awesome volunteering program I helped out with the race doing course marshaling and I got credit for the missed race that I will apply to a future race. Volunteer for a race and get $25 race credit and whatever swag they handed out to runners, including the food. You cannot beat that!

Long sleeves wasn't the best
idea. Photo by Marathonfoto

And then the NYRR Scotland Run 2014 came along. I paid for it, I would get a point for guaranteed entry into the 2015 NYC Marathon, plus my knee didn't feel that much off, so... I ran it. I even finished it and not in last position. It was hard, though, but not unsurprisingly because I haven't run for almost four weeks now and jumping right into a 10k took a lot of effort. The fact that I was able to finish it and was still able to maintain a better than 7:30 minutes per mile pace still shows that my fitness level hasn't degraded too much, yet. It is far off from the 7:10 or so I did in a 10k last year but I am confident that I will be able to get back into it. I mean, I was in the middle of a 10k training program when my knee acted up.

The race was one complete loop of Central Park. We started on the West side at around 63rd Street, went all the way up north, back down on the East side, all the way down south, back north and a little bit further than the start line. The weather was great and the atmosphere awesome. Thousands of runners getting together is always an awesome experience - especially when you are one of them. Thanks to my performance in the Dash to the Finish Line from last year I earned my lowest bib number ever and I started in the second start coral from the front. In the beginning of the race I was able to keep up just nicely but when the rolling hills started up in Harlem I lost a lot of time. I think I have to run a lot more often in Central Park. The hills, no matter how small they are, really got to me very quickly. The mile that had the most hills was my slowest mile. I recovered in the end a bit but I spent my very last dose of energy that I had. It was hard. I crossed the finish line in 1,229th place out of 8,067 finishers, 126th out of 571 finishers in my age group (40-44), and 19th place (out of 87 participants) for my running team. I am proud that I was still able to stay in the top-20% of the entire field. My net time was 46:18 minutes which equals to an average pace of 7:28 minutes per mile.

Today is Friday and I am planning on getting back into a much more relaxed 10k training plan tomorrow. It is supposed to be a gorgeous Saturday outside and I really need to get back out there and run my heart out. I will officially be training for a 10k in July but will run multiple 5-10ks during that journey. No more half-marathons until fall, i.e. the Yonkers or Philadelphia Marathons may be downgraded to halves for me this year. I am in no rush, am I?

I want to finish with what's coming up next. The next race will be the Dawg Dash, a 5k on Roosevelt Island, organized by the University of Washington Alumni Association. Then May's schedule has volunteering three times and racing twice. Considering the condition of my knee I may have to postpone my first marathon to 2015 and focus on half-marathons only for this fall. I think I really have to take it slow and get a lot more miles under my belt before I do anything crazy.

Keep on running!

Frozen Penguins and more

Pretending to be all upbeat
between miles 11 and 12
Photo by Ken Shelton

I mentioned in a previous posting that I was scheduled to run a half-marathon as part of my training for a 10k. My Endomondo training plan keeps changing (adjusting?) the distances from one work-out to the other and the long run for last Saturday kept on changing from 9.1 miles down to 7 point some miles and eventually (and somehow luckily) back up to 9.3 miles. So, how much more effort would it be to run 13.1 miles in a race setting compared to a leisure 9.3 miles on a beautiful Saturday morning? Well, more than my naïve mind thought but not as much as it could have been. I knew I was risking the health of my left IT Band again and I knew that it is also possible to muscle through a 13.1 miler without proper training but with a certain cost.

All the way in the back

This was the first time in my running career for me to be a bit nervous about a race because I knew I could risk being able to finish up my 10k training and everything else after that (proper half-marathon in the late spring, some down time in form of some casual racing during the summer, and then into marathon training for the fall). This time, though, I did not overdo anything the week before the race. I took my rest days seriously, tried to eat proper food and get enough rest the night before. Two of those three did not quite work out - guess which ones? The start of the race was at 10am which gave me plenty of time to go through my morning routine, catch the tram and train to Shore Road Park down in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and I arrived with plenty of time to spare to watch the ending of the 5k that happened right before and to warm up properly. I was debating with myself if I should shed the long pants and run in shorts or not. My always daring side tempted me to just run in shorts - it was a beautiful day after all, the temperature was in the mid-20s, and there was very little wind - but my cautious side reminded me that this was just going to be a long run with a slow pace. In the end I took off the pants but left my long-sleeve shirt, gloves, and hat on (the hat went off after 5 miles into the race). I just had to be a bit hardcore, I had to.

The route was a very simple one: we ran 2 1/2 miles out, came 2 1/2 miles back, out another 4 miles, and back again 4 miles, i.e. we ran under the Verrazano Bridge four times and had constant beautiful bay views on one side and stinking car traffic on the other side. This is the first NYCRUNS race, by the way, that I started at the back of the pack because I took my sweet time to get my gear in place and use the bathroom and I learned, that it really doesn't matter one iota if I start in the front or the back. It all works. Once the race was on I got into my usual rhythm quickly. I planned to keep an 8 minutes/mile pace but realized very quickly, that I rather kept my pre-injury 7:30 mile pace without problems. For the first 8 miles, that is. Once I crossed the 8th mile marker my lap times went from 7:30 to 7:45 to 8:00 and I finished the very last mile in 8:15 minutes/mile. This time, though, this was not caused by any mind tricks or an aching knee. It was pure exhaustion due to the fact that I never ever trained properly to run relatively fast for so many miles and my quads started to tell me that there was very little left in them. My mind almost fell for it and once I passed mile 12 I was very close to just walking the last mile but I decided that I was not going to give the person running behind me the time of the day and let him/her (I did not turn around to see what was going on behind me) pass me without putting at least some effort into it. In the end, I must admit, a handful did overtake me but I never stopped for a break or slowed down to a walk. This time, I did not repeat what happened in Staten Island a few months ago.

Made it!
Photo by Ken Shelton

I finished in 1:41:59 hours which is equivalent to an average pace of 7:47 minutes per mile. I placed 58th out of all 326 finishers and 12th out of 36 in my age group of 40-49. This is a three seconds improvement over the Staten Island Half last year! I am rather proud of this achievement because it shows that there is a lot left in me once I really do train for a half-marathon. I was exhausted, my quads were screaming, and my left IT band did hurt for the next two days (at the hip, not at the knee, luckily!), but I got through it without major issues. I do have to watch my left achilles tendon, though, because it has been acting up a little over the last couple of weeks and this half-marathon probably made things a bit worse. Ice will do the trick and by Friday I should be back on the road finishing up the last two weeks of training for the upcoming 10k race on the 22nd.

Currently I am reading "Running on Empty", a biography by Marshall Ulrich about his attempt to break the world record in running across the United States from San Francisco to New York at the age of 57. It is a fascinating read how such a feat is possible in the first place and sometimes I see myself as somebody who would do something "stupid" like that as well. When I read his words I can feel the excitement of testing your limits and the temptation to press further and further. That's one of the reasons why I did an entire half-marathon instead of a simple 9.3 mile training run. But then on the way home after the race, legs aching, hips burning, mind and body running on very little, I wasn't able to read one bit further in his book. I just didn't feel it anymore. I was tired and felt like somebody who just threw up all night because of a stomach bug and now is confronted with a plate of food in front him (Ulrich's book being the food here.) I could not see myself doing this ever again. That did not last very long, though, since I am now ready to sign up for my next one and the marathon is still on my to-do list for this fall. It will hurt and I will be extremely miserable afterwards but knowing and accepting this beforehand makes me get though this a lot faster and my mind recovers quickly. Off to the next challenge!

Next few races on my schedule:

• March 22nd: NYCRUNS Spring Fling 10k
• April 5th: Scotland Run 10k
• April 10th: Urban Enviro XC 10k (tentatively)
• April 26th: Dawg Dash NY 5k
• May 11th: Japan Run 4M
• May 26th: NYCRUNS Memorial Day Ice Cream Social 10k
• June 5th: JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge (3.5M)
• June 15th: Portugal Day (5M)
• June 22nd: Queens 10k

I am also scheduled to volunteer at the NYC Half on March 16th with my fellow NY Flyers team mates, the NYCRUNS Mother's Day 5k on May 10th, and the Brooklyn Half on May 17th.

Happy running!

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.

Change of plans of the previous change of plans

This year we got digital medals

Ha! I could not resist. I just ran the Bronx 10 Mile. In my previous posting I wrote about my ankle being in need for an extended amount of rest and that I should rethink my training and racing strategy. Well, when I went out to the NYRR headquarters to pick up the shirt and the bib that I already paid for I looked at all the people coming and going, looked at the nice looking shirt, and saw that bib that just longed to be pinned onto a shirt, and I started to have doubts. I really wanted to run these 10 miles and I deferred my final decision to Sunday morning. I couldn't resist and made up my mind Saturday night. I tested my ankle. I put weight on it, I hopped on one foot, I ran back and forth, I made the decision that I will be fine. I could always just drop out or slow down or put ice on it or whatever.

Sunday morning came, and even though the alarm was set for 5am I woke up without the need for it (thanks goes to my two youngest kids going in and out of our bedroom who made sure I was kept awake that night - that and the usual excitement and nervousness, of course), got my gear in order, taped some gauze over my ankle for some cushioning (which I ripped off almost immediately during my warm-ups before the race because it was a lot more uncomfortable and painful with it than without), packed my seven things, and off I went. Getting to the Bronx was rather simple even at that time of the day and you always know you got the right train when it is full of folks sporting running gear.

Ready, set, go!
Picture by NYRR

Once on location time rather flew. It was a very well attended race, the last count is 6,555 finishers. Not as many as my very first race, the JPM Corporate Challenge, but so far a lot bigger than in the previous few months. Despite the size it was very well organized and I found my start corral rather soon. I like to be early so I get to stand in the front row - might as well run with the best. When I signed up for the race I put myself into the 8:30 minutes per mile pace group which I based on my training at the point where I was able to run those distances comfortably. That was a mistake, though, because I had to zig-zag around a lot of people to find my spot. Up until the very last couple miles I kept overtaking other runners (while being overtaking by others as well, of course). The organizers claim that the course (which brought us up and down the Grand Concourse) was supposed to be flat but, my oh my, flat is relative. Going those few hills up on the first five miles is easy but doing the same on the last five? Killer.

Chugging along
Picture by MarathonFoto

Anyway, I finished the race in 694th position (out of 6,555) total and 93rd out of 579 in my age group. Well within my top 20% goal I want to keep for all my races. Some of these runners are truly amazing. The fastest male runner was able to finish the course in just a bit more than 50 minutes. That's a constant pace of 5 minutes per mile over the duration of almost an hour. This is crazy. Within my running team, the New York Flyers, I placed 2nd in my age group and 10th in total (out of 58 runners who affiliated themselves with the club). My net time was 1:13:59 and my average pace was 7:24 minutes/mile, a lot better than the predicted 8:30. The good thing is that from now on I will be automatically put into the right pace group for all NYRR races, no more second guessing.

Now to the bad things... my left IT band has started to bother me again on the outside of the knee. I am going to take good care of it over the next two weeks and see where we are for the Staten Island Half-Marathon. I have not registered for that race, yet, so I may really just take the month off and go back to the training and race plan I talked about in my last entry. Or, I could just run it and then take a few weeks off? The words of an addict, I know...

Change of plans

Not my ankle
Picture from FXRX

It finally happened. I injured my ankle and I don't think I should be running for a few weeks. What happened in the past was that I just randomly did things like normal runs, long runs, speed work, strength training without any real plan. In between I participated in races. I am not sure if I can just blame my non-existing training plan on my injury (I know I got injured when I did a few too many sprints around the soccer field) but I thought I should give it a try and make the whole thing a bit more predictable and with real goals in mind. The Bronx 10 Mile on Sunday is out, unfortunately. I will get my shirt and my bib, so at least I have the souvenirs without actually running. I may just go up there and show my support to the other runners at least.

What's next then? I kind of felt horrible about the whole thing (running seems to be an addiction for me) but on the way to work I figured out a plan that I can live with. I am planning on taking the entire October off from running and focus on strength training only while my ankle heals. I will follow some of the work-out plans on the Internet to strengthen my core and whatever else while I will religiously use the bicycle to stay active as well. Most injured runners swear on swimming but I am not real a fan of the pool and I'd rather go to the gym (now this is something I never imagined me saying). By the end of October (depending on my ankle, of course) or start of November, I will start a training program towards a 10k race in December, which will be my first one then. After that I will pick up a half-marathon training program in order to really prepare me for a long-distance race in the spring (around March, I would guess). In between I will keep racing anything between 5k and 5 miles or so as part of the training.

This whole thing, of course, puts a stop on a guaranteed entry into the 2014 NYC Marathon but I will still aim towards running a marathon in the fall of next year. If I don't get in through the lottery there will be others that are easier to get in (and they cheaper in the first place), like the Yonkers Marathon or the Philadelphia Marathon.

A truck on fire wrecks havoc to a race

It's a go! Start of the 5k.

For Labor Day I decided to run a 10k in my backyard. It was my second 10k and I was eager to improve my time. Unfortunately, it did not work out. It was a very humid day and I thought to myself that it was probably a much better day to run a 5k instead of a 10k, especially that the 5k was scheduled just before the 10k. Nevertheless the gun went off and the race was a go. The route pretty much makes you go around the island almost twice. When the Queensboro Bridge was back in my view I noticed black smoke coming from the lower roadway and when I got closer I saw fire. That was the second fire on the same bridge and roadway in three weeks. Since I heard small explosions I wondered if race management would stop or reroute the race but by the time I was at the bridge I was waved through to run the predetermined route and that was that. I reached the finish line in 44:24 minutes which is equivalent to an average pace of 7:10 minutes per mile, just a slightly bit slower than last week. During the award ceremony, though, we were told that only the top three finishers of men and women would get an award because there was no correct time to be had for everybody else. The reason was that just moments after I passed the bridge the rest of the runners were rerouted to a much shorter route which, of course, invalidated the finishing times because nobody knew who ran what distance exactly. NYCRUNS did the decent thing and offered all runners a discount to the next 5k/10k on Roosevelt Island in December (which, unfortunately, I will not attend because I want to run a NYRR 15k the day after instead).

First finisher of 5k race

My next race will be a simple 5k on Coney Island and two weeks later I will tackle longer distances. First off a 10 miler in the Bronx and a week later two half-marathons on the following two Sundays. I am not quite sure how I will prepare for it but I will make it work somehow. I am still suffering a little bit from the week I ran around 40 miles so I had to reduce my mileage by quite a bit and had to take two weeks off here and there. I am thinking of starting out with a single loop around the island in the morning followed by some speed work around the soccer field behind the apartment building I live in. Then ramp it up to a mix of single and double rounds with a long run across the Queensboro Bridge and then up or down Manhattan up to 10 miles on Sunday, concluding with a relaxed 6 mile group run on Mondays. Tuesdays and Wednesdays have always been my rest days. I am planning on running the 10 miler with a 8 minutes/mile pace. That will determine my fitness for the two 13.1 miles races. Stay tuned.

First 10k race

It was a beautiful for a nice run

Yesterday I ran my very first 10k. I now have some data that I can use to figure out my progress. And progress it was indeed. We ran along Shore Road Park down in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and in the organizers' words (paraphrased) "we ran 3.1 miles this way, turned 180 degrees, and ran another 3.1 miles back." The route brought us to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (the bridge that connects Staten Island with Brooklyn), underneath it, and another half mile beyond it. I like landmarks like that because it shows you a) how short a mile can be by looking back and seeing how far the bridge is behind you already, and b) how long a mile can be by looking at the bridge in front of you wondering if you can make it there. I did make it back to the bridge, under it, and back to the finish line in 44:02 minutes, a pace of 7:06 minutes/mile, on 13th place (out of 122 finishers total), and 2nd in my age group of 40-49 (out of 17 finishers in that category). And again, no, no awards were given to anybody but the first finishers in each age group and the top three of the race. One day I will snatch
one up, one day. When I looked at the splits in Endomondo I also realized that I ran my best 5k in the first half of the race with a pace of 6:55 minutes/mile with a total of 21:26 minutes. That's a 20 seconds improvement over my last 5k. I think I can be proud of that achievement, too. My 10k finishing goal to cross the finish line under 45 minutes is already done. Next run I'll try a 6:45 pace for a finish time of under 42 minutes.

The Verrazano Bridge is about 3 miles away

When I came back home I published my results on the NY Flyers' web site and noticed that the guy in red shirt, who kept running in front of me all the time and was just a lot better at keeping a constant pace, was a fellow Flyer and he placed first in my age group. I then checked his racing history and he has been doing this for at least 12 years now and his first 10k times back in 2001 were around 55-57 minutes. That gives me hope that within the next 10 years I will finish first somehow somewhere. Another guy also in a red shirt (which you can actually see in the picture above - he's got PPTC written on his shirt, Prospect Park Track Club) placed third and was 45 seconds behind me.

I always hear that you usually run a lot faster than usual when you run a race. This is very true. It seems that a little bit of competition and probably a bit of the need to show off makes your legs go faster. Also see my more recent post why I always want to finish in the top 20%.

How did I train for this race? To be honest, I did not. After the 16 miles the previous Sunday and another 6 miles the day after my left knee was in pain. I did run 40 miles over 5 days that week and the golden rule is never to run more than 10% than the previous week(? month?) but, of course, I hardly heed such rules. Maybe I should. Anyway, I took the rest of the week off. Literally. I didn't run, I didn't ride the bike, nothing but walking. The first time I ran again after five days of rest was when I got out of the subway station in Brooklyn and ran the half mile to the start line for warm-up. While my knee still felt it could use another week of rest I noticed that the pain disappeared as soon as I started running. That's the way I like it.