Thank You NYRR

What a nice surprise today (on my birthday of all days) to get a package from NYRR in recognition for completing 2014’s 5-boro  series (actually 6 races, Manhattan Half, NYC Half, Brooklyn Half, Queens 10K, Bronx 10 miles and Staten Island Half).

Thanks NYRR! Unfortunately I’ll miss out next year as I didn’t get into the Queens 10K.

Back to Training

OK, you know you’re doing real training when you start to take notice of your watch, run splits, intervals, fartleks (tee hee) and you actually feel beaten up after a run.

I have signed up for the New York Road Runner’s Virtual Training Program for the NYC Marathon, stating in July. I’ll post a review closer to the date, but the aim now is to ramp up from 20 miles per week to the 40+ miles per week the training plan will lay out, increasing my mileage by about 10% per week until mid-July.

This evening I did two splits at around 5k pace (just a little under) for 2x 0.5 miles with a 1 mile warmup and half mile cool down. Pretty basic stuff, but it was hard maintaining the 8 mins/mile even though a few months ago I ran a 5K at 7:36/mile pace. It’s amazing how quickly you wilt under the heat in NYC.

So, today – two splits at a little over 8mins/mile. Temperature was 75 degrees F and humid.

Hats off to Under Armor

I got two new running hats, quite different styles today. One is reflective for those evening runs, although I probably won’t need much help with the light during the summer. The other is black, or more precisely, “Cold Black” which apparently doesn’t get hot in the sun. We’ll see!

Day glow green and ‘Cold Black’ sports hats from Under Armor.

Congratulations, You’ve Won Second Prize in a Beauty Contest

So yesterday, having been convinced by a friend to run a fairly obscure 10K, I turned up in Bay Ridge in southern Brooklyn, and in 80+ degrees and 15 – 20 mph winds, ran The Tavern Cup 10K.

Heat aside, I haven’t been running regularly since I completed the Brooklyn Half back in mid-May so I wasn’t hugely confident. I rocked home in a mediocre-busting 57:52, which makes it my slowest 10K ever, a full 2 mins slower than my PR.

But, you know what they say about silver linings. Apparently I came second in my division  (males between 40 and 49)… no really… and, what’s more, I got a mini-trophy to prove it!

My first ever running trophy,,,

OK, I can’t brag too much… a quick glance at the sub-200 strong field, I saw there were about 7 guys in my age range. I also got handily beaten 2 guys in their 50’s and a woman in her 60’s. Even so, this has given me a huge confidence boost, because I showed up, I raced in some pretty wretched conditions, and I tried my damnedest, dammit.

Even better than my trophy was getting a pint glass at the end (instead of a medal), nice touch!

OK, I’ll take a pint glass, thank you!

Two weeks since the marathon, time to get running.

13 Days to Go

This year I have run all 6 of the 5 Boro races… 4 half marathons, a 10k and a 10 mile run. Two of those were during my marathon training, but it’s th every last race (The Staten Island Half) where I showed the most improvement. After crawling over the line in just under 2 hours in March for the NYC half (I started way too quickly, and practically came to a stop in the last half mile), I missed the 2 hour mark for the Brooklyn Half my 11 seconds.

For Staten Island though, I came in almost 4 minutes under the 2 hour mark, having lost 3 minutes on mile 4 for an unscheduled pitstop. This was my first chance to see my training really come in to play, and at 18 seconds per mile quicker than my previous PR, it’s was a real lift. Not only that, but I completed another 9 miles after the race for a total of 22 – but THAT hurt.

13 days to do. It’s a flex day today, but I’m taking the day off.