ING New York City Marathon Tune-Up 18M

Marathon Tune Up List by Name: freed Distance:  18 miles, 29 kilometers Date/Time:  September 23, 2012, 7:00 AM Location:  Central Park, NYC Weather:  56 degrees, 72% humidity, 16 mph, fair Click any blue heading to sort the list.   AG = Age Graded.

Last Name

First Name

Sex/ Age

Bib

Team

City

State

Country

Overall Place

Gender Place

Age Place

Net Time

Pace per Mile

Freedman

David

M38

3273

TCON

New York

NY

USA

1528

1095

260

2:43:31

09:05

It was a bit of a shock to the system how cold it was at the start. The sun not yet up and a bit of a breeze, it was definitely a good reminder of what Staten Island will be like Nov 4th.

This was my first 18 mile run. While it was supposed to be a 12 mile recovery week, I thought it better to take advantage of an organized race, with drinks etc available and a crowd to drag me along. I also felt like 3 loops of the park is a pretty tough course, and I have heard many people (including Mary Wittenberg, CEO of NYRR yesterday) say if you can do this, you'll finish the marathon

The first mile was predictably slow, 9.30, but then I settled into quite a steady pace. The usual problems of stiff muscles early wore off, and though I had the continual nagging of my achilles, it didn't get any worse.

It was pretty amazing to be overtaken by the eventual winner at my mile 8 (his mile 14!) and by the time I had done 2 loops (of 3) I saw the winning woman come in. These guys are awesome.

Anyway, eventually I found myself coming into the last mile, which is pretty flat, and felt strong enough to put in my quickest mile of the race, 8.30.

To finish in 9.05 pace, ahead of my marathon goal, on a tough course, felt good. I even managed to walk the 92Y Street Festival the rest of the day!

This morning, I feel pretty good, aside from the achilles ache, but that is manageable.

This week is 4m tomorrow, 9m Thursday, 5 mile Friday and 20 miles on Sunday, this time with NY Flyers, the first of their Three Bridges Runs. Anyone want to join me?!?!?

Cool Runnings, jet lag (again) and home...

It certainly made a change to spend a few days running in the relative cold as opposed to sweating. It is amazing how much easier it is when you don't have to worry so much about breathing or hydration.

So having done my long run Thursday, I actually skipped the Friday 4 miler, a rarity for me. My Sunday 8 miler turned into 9, with my wife joining me for the first half - much better than running alone. With only a small incline and a relatively flat 2 mile loop, the miles went by easy and a 9 minute pace was effortless.

After eating our way through Rosh Hashanah, Debbie and I did a 5 mile run Wednesday before heading to the airport. Driving rain and freezing cold was compounded by a bus splashing us from head to toe! Freezing cold AND soaking wet. Nice.

So the usual first night home involved me being wide awake from 3.30. Eventually I went out at 5am and did a nice 8 miles in the park, 9 min pace and all is well again.

Another 5 tomorrow, then the ING New York City Marathon Tune-Up 18M in Central Park Sunday. Another new long distance for me.....

16 miles - now I can enjoy my jetlag in peace!

As I mentioned in my last post, Debbie suggested it may be a good idea to do my long run early this week rather than doing it jet lagged once in the UK. Working as I do on the usual assumption that she is right, I woke up (or rather got out of bed - I was awake for hours following a series of crazy dreams) at 4.45am this morning for a 16 miler.

The good news was it was cool. The bad news I was very tired (and probably still recovering from weekend run). It still amazes me how busy Central Park is at 5am!

Anyway, I always intended to run this slowly (which is Hal Higdon's prescription for long runs) so I set off looking at 9.30 pace. I did the top loop (Harlem Hill) and the middle loop (Cat Hill) before returning home having completed 8 miles to switch out my drinks. In truth, it was actually pretty nice, as long as I didn't think about doing it again.

And then I did it again, reversing the order. 2 hrs 29 mins, 9.19 pace and felt pretty good afterwards. A good stretch, an ice bath (my first!) and lots of food and water. Feeling pretty good now and stoked about only having short runs to do for a good few days!!!

NYRR Bronx 10-Mile, then 5 more home

I felt pretty under the weather all week following my trip to Montreal. 3 miles in the humidity on Wednesday was like torture and I cut Thursday from 7 to 5 miles as my throat was still sore and I was still tire. Friday, I decided to skip the 4 miles completely.

Distance:  10 miles, 16.1 kilometers
Date/Time:  September 9, 2012, 8:00 AM
Location:  Bronx, NYC
Weather:  63 degrees, 81% humidity, 6MPH, Fair

Last Name

First Name

Sex/ Age

Bib

Team

City

State

Country

Overall Place

Gender Place

Age Place

Net Time

Pace/ Mile

AG Time

AG Gender Place

AG %

Freedman

David

M38

4604

TCON

New York

NY

USA

2763

2010

415

1:30:01

09:00

1:27:13

2178

50.89 %

Seems like the rest did me good. The race started in pretty good conditions, 63 and bright. It was nice to get out of Central Park for an NYRR race and there was definitely a different vibe.

I had to be careful not to go off too quickly. Having a best 4 mile time of 7.59 pace, I was with runners much quicker than I wanted to go. Even then, I had to bear in mind that the 10 mile race was only 2/3rds of my race distance!

So I let a lot of people overtake me at the beginning. I think this was a pretty good thing to have the discipline that I may need on race day. I started pretty steady and once I got through the usual tightness in the legs, around 4 miles, it was actually a pretty easy run. Fairly flat, the odd slope, nothing too troubling, and a good atmosphere. Also got some good practice with the drinks. At some drink stations, I stopped to drink and others ran whilst drinking through a 'spout'. Either way, nothing really slowed me down. At the end, I felt pretty good and managed to pick up my medal and keep running through the finish area, which was good as I didn't fancy stopping and restarting.

I was pleased to see I wasn't the only one running back to Manhattan. I had been really worried about running on my own after the help of a crowd, so to spot a group in front of me running almost the same pace was amazing. I could follow them and get dragged home!

Down the bottom of Grand Concourse we joined the Marathon route, over Madison Ave Bridge to Fifth Ave. It was actually pretty good for the next 2 miles. Then I hit what I knew would be the toughest bit, from 110th down to 90th St, which is uphill, just enough to hurt. Still, I managed to maintain pace before heading off home.

I finished the 15 miles in 2 hr 14 min 34 sec, 8 min 58 pace. I was surprised to go so well after the last week. I kept all miles within a range of 8.45 to 9.07 so pretty steady pacing.

So next week, 16 miles. Considering running it on Thursday instead of Sunday so I can do it jet-lag free before going to UK.....will let you know!

10 miles - Easy, 3 miles - Exhausted

Sunday was a recovery run. 10 miles. Weather was great and I felt refreshed. I started again going across to the West Side, down the river and across Central Park West. I then hit the marathon route, up First Avenue. It is long and straight and flat. So the key is not to look to the horizon, it goes on forever. Then, it is actually a really nice run - and will be better with thousands cheering! Then went across 110th St and back down 5th Ave to 90th St for more marathon route practice. 1 hr 30, 9 min pace and pretty relaxed.

Then add in a late night Sunday (brother's wedding), a trip to Montreal for the day with a late return Tuesday and an extremely humid morning today. Throw in a sore throat for good measure, and even a 3 miler this morning was rough. I just can't take the humidity and was so tired. Still, chalk it up to being one of those days and move on to the next 7 miles tomorrow.....

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Another Sunday, another 13.1

6 months ago, as I prepared to run the NYC Half, I was really unsure as to whether I could do it. I had some achilles problems and had never run over 10 miles. It wasn't getting easier and I was sure race day would be tough.

Six months on, and I have run 13.1 miles on back to back weekends!

There were many differences between this week and last. Last week, with NYRR, was in the park, with a group to drag you along, no need to worry about hydration etc. This week, I ran alone on a completely different course and carrying all my own drinks. And it was in the low 70's compared to low 60's. This week was always going to be harder. Plus, I felt pretty exhausted on Saturday, unsure if I could even get up to do the run. But stubbornness prevailed!

I left home about 6.15am and headed across the park to the Westside - I desperately needed a break from the Central Park Loop! Over to Riverside Drive and onto the Hudson River Greenway. It was serenely quiet!

I continued down the West Side to 45th Street, before heading all the way across town. This was tougher than I thought, as it is gradually uphill. Past my office on 45th & 3rd and over to the East River. I got onto the East River Esplanade at 60th Street, which is nice and flat - until 10 miles in you have to climb stairs at 82nd St!!! After that was good though (despite a bit of hip pain, and the bridge over the FDR at 120th). I went across to 5th Ave, following the marathon route, down to 94th St. Everyone says this is a tough part of the race, 22 miles in and slightly uphill. It definitely it, so I am pleased I have run it, to get a feel for it, though I am hoping the sight of my family at 94th St will drive me up there!

Overall, I finished in about 2hr 1 min, 9:10 or so pace. Not bad, for the second in 2 weeks and not feeling 100% etc.

Anyway, an 'easy' recovery week this week. I had to miss my cross training (again) today but will do 3m Wed/7m Thurs/4m Fri and 10m Sunday. A stroll in the park as they say!