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Post by dudesky1000 on Jun 25, 2015 23:18:30 GMT -5
QUEENS 10K RACE REPORT: Running Through the Devil's Breath40 or bust. That was the name of the game. I woke up feeling pretty good--not too parched for water, not too groggy. My brother felt quite well. And after all the fuss about the imminent rain, there turned out to be no rain after all, thanks to NYRR's wise decision to delay the race from 8am to 9am. But it wasn't the rain we should have been worried about. I had my half bagel, a little water, and we set sail in our car to Citi Field (thank goodness we drove instead of taking that ill-fated 7 train!). 40 was on my mind. 40 40 40. We landed quite early and took a slow stroll to the start. We took our time, having fun in the start village, posing for a few photos, chatting with other runners, soaking in father's day with our mom. It felt really good to wear such a low bib number. It wasn't my first time wearing one under 1000, but it was the first time I'd gotten to wear one at this big of a race. It didn't feel as heavy as I thought it would, though it brought me a lot of confidence! I dropped my brother off at his corral (in the 3,000's) and made my way to the start. There I was, wearing my goofy hat with its ridiculously long brim, standing beside the serious and the super serious. I was a t-shirt in sleeves in a sea of singlets and bare skin. And as the gun went off, the front lines forged ahead with fury. The pace of those around me seemed pretty close to my goal, so, while I figured I'd best avoid getting trampled anyhow, I worked myself into my goal pace of 6:25 without delay. Mile 1 was a cinch. 40 is in the bag, I thought. 6:34Mile 2, not so much. 6:23The air was as heavy and humid as the devil's breath, and while my legs still felt fresh and springy, my lungs were having trouble keeping up. It felt as though the Earth had become an outdoor sauna. The roads were polka-dotted with puddles, traffic cones and craters large enough to trip up even the most cautious. In more narrow parts of the course, we were like a stampede leaping over obstacles while evading one another mid-air. (Props to NYRR for making this course as safe and as tidy as possible considering the weather in the hours before the race) By the time I got to the halfway mark, 5K, I realized that I my aggressive strategy had backfired. I was doing okay on time, but I had no gears left to switch up. No room for a final mile kick. This wasn't going to be a game of catch-up, and this wasn't going to be tactical--this was going to me clinging onto this pace for dear life. And so it began. Mile 4 was the beginning of the highly anticipated out-and-back, which continues to around mile 5.5 before turning into the final stretch with the Unisphere. To show just how far ahead the leaders were...they came speeding through the end of the out-and-back just as I was entering. For a moment I thought, "wow, I can see the leaders... am I that close to the front?", but the turn-around was so much further than I remembered. No matter how hard I craned my neck, I couldn't see the turn-around point for the life of me. The suspense was killing me. Literally!When I finally did reach the turnaround point, I felt like I lost my ability to tell time and do math. My legs still felt alright, but I was redlining again. Maybe if I just hang in there a little longer...I'll get a second wind. Then, to much luck, I spotted Josh coming toward me from the other end of the out-and-back! And he looked to be in great shape. We exchanged a positive glance and I felt a little boost of strength. This was the encouragement I needed! I gathered myself for a 6:27 in Mile 5. That little boost didn't last long. A slight uphill leading up to the Unisphere that I had completely forgotten about punched the wind out of me. Then sun came out of hiding. I was running out of time and I knew it--about 3 minutes to go and still a bit of ground to cover. Lungs heaving, form diminishing, I did my best to throw my body through the thick, hot air. As I approached the Unisphere, I looked down at my watch in dread because it became clear to me; sub-40 wasn't going to happen today. If I had the energy to let out a frustrated cry, I might have. I don't like to miss a goal. I don't like it one bit. But then I remembered, I was approaching the Unisphere! And not all hope was lost: sub-41, still an improvement over last year's time, was still within reach. As a runner it's always good to leave yourself room for satisfaction, even in the face of a minor defeat such as this. Still, to make this new goal, I would have to make the most of every precious remaining second. So I sucked a lot of air, kicked extra hard, and made my way to the final stretch. It was absolutely down to the wire, but I managed to cross the finish in 40:57. Well, at least I got 40 on the clock. And just barely! It took everything I had left. My brother fared similarly. After gathering myself, I joined Mom at the finish line and eagerly awaited his arrival. He seemed to be on track for 45 when I had last seen him, but time was running out quickly. He had never run in these kinds of conditions before and when I saw his position on the live tracker, I could see that the second half had been rough for him. 45 was not happening either. As time continued to elapse, without him in sight, I began to worry that he was suffering badly out there. 46 minutes went by. 47 minutes went by... and then his personal best time, 47:29 minutes went by, and then 48, 49. Mom and I were starting to get worried! Well--I was floored when I looked at this live tracker to see that he had already crossed the finish line...quite some time ago actually! Somehow we missed him. Turns out he held on tight and toughed it out, finishing in 47:53. Not a personal best over his Spring Meltdown time, but still, quite a good run under the brutal conditions. It didn't matter that we hadn't met our ambitious goals...our effort was worth some ice cream! Official Results:Evan
1 6:33.6 2 6:23.0 3 6:35.3 4 6:34.9 5 6:26.9 6 6:37.3 .2 1:46.0 Official Time: 40:57 Place: 151st out of 8,673 Josh
Official Time: 47:53 Place: 935th out of 8,673 Drenched, but No SweatFirst, most obvious takeaway: I raced far too aggressively. I wanted to believe that I could keep up with the frontrunners and hold onto my goal pace for the distance, but I quickly learned that I'm not capable of that quite yet. My biggest takeaway from this race is that I've got a lot of work to do if I want to get faster--not just my maximum velocity but over longer distances as well. Physically, I'm fit. I'm light on my feet and my form is as solid as ever. I've got the competitive fire in my belly and my tactics have improved with experience. That's taken me pretty far--further than I could imagine. But I'm not a strong runner. Light and smooth like glass I may be, but without the firepower of a cannon. And if I want to continue improving my race times, I need to teach my legs how to churn out sub-6 minute miles--otherwise, I'll never improve over shorter distances, and my Half and Full Marathon progression will slow to a grinding halt. I'll have to take the tools I've got--the good old quads, hips and hammies, and strengthen them into formidable racing instruments. Of course, I can't be too disappointed with myself; yeah, it was humid as heck, and sure, if it hadn't been so humid, I might have been able to erase those elusive 57 seconds, but on the other hand, it could have rained and a lack of humidity could have pressured me to start even faster. It's water under the bridge now--same goes for my brother who was understandably disappointed in his performance. The answer to his problem is to simply train with some semblance of consistency, and considering he did even this well with no kind of training, is pretty impressive and shows that he has great potential going forward. My challenge is to figure out how to make each of those 7,200 strides just a bit easier. For that, I'm excited to get to work. And there's plenty to still be happy about! What better way to celebrate the day dedicated to our father than us two brothers running our first 10K together? It's also the first time I've landed in the top 150 (just barely made the cut!) in a Five Borough Series race-- that's over 100 spots up from last year and with just as big a field of almost 9,000! EDIT: Never mind, I just got bumped out of the top 150. I guess results are still pouring in after the subway mishap. I started out at 146th and am currently pegged down to 151st! Mileage is going up--no holding back anymore. I've got a good period of time to go slow, easy, and log more miles. I'm going to be hitting the gym and making that one workout per week even more speed-oriented. And when next year comes...we're going to see what's going on. Until next time!
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Post by dudesky1000 on Jul 1, 2015 9:24:55 GMT -5
Saying it right now. Next race (where there will be photographers)...
...The Wreath Runner Cometh!
My personal tribute to our new favorite Sasuke competitor.
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Post by dudesky1000 on Jul 12, 2015 21:56:39 GMT -5
START OF 2015 MARATHON TRAINING SEASON - THE TRUE TEST OF DISCIPLINE
It begins tomorrow.
That's right! My 16-week Marathon Training Program kicks off tomorrow--the ultimate measurement of discipline this year. Will I be able to follow through with it until the marathon? Will my body be able to withstand the prescribed mileage and workouts as it has failed to do in years past? Will I be able to wrangle myself in, and keep work-outs for work-out days? Will I do something really really stupid and throw discipline out the window entirely?!
The long road to November 1st starts of with a moderate week. Let's have a look see, shall we?
Monday- 5 Mile Regular Run Tuesday- OFF Wednesday- 5 Mile Regular Run Thursday- 4 Mile Regular Run 'As You Feel' Friday- Flex Day (4 Miles / Cross-Train / OFF) Saturday- 10 Mile Long Run Sunday- OFF
Seems like pretty smooth sailing this week. Depending how I feel, I may make Wednesday a slightly more difficult day because I've had a good week's worth of rest this last week. One other note is that I'll be tacking strides onto as many regular runs as I can.
Wish me luck!
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Post by Madze on Jul 13, 2015 3:28:41 GMT -5
Awesome dude, good luck and train hard
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Post by dudesky1000 on Jul 20, 2015 14:50:45 GMT -5
Awesome dude, good luck and train hard Thank you! Week 1 was mostly a success, though I had to take Thursday off due to work (I ended up working an 18-hour day!!!) and I was too exhausted to do the long run on Saturday. No biggie though, because I did still manage to have a GREAT tempo run on Wednesday and a wicked leg day workout at the gym on Friday. All in all, not a lot of mileage, but quality stuff and I got to add two more feathers to my resume (Gotham and a feature called The Seagull). Week 2 is going to see me upping the mileage of course, and though I will be working on Wednesday this time (when I'd normally be doing my interval workout), I'm going to shift things around a little bit by making TOMORROW an additional long run (10 miles), Wednesday will obviously be off, Thursday will be the interval workout, and Friday I'll put in another leg day and a short jog. Saturday, I may have to miss my long run again due to a dentist's appointment, but rest assured that if that happens, I'll be getting it done on Sunday. Week 3 is going to be a recovery week for me due to a job that just kind of miraculously fell into my lap. It's a paying AD gig for a commercial with a client...only the second time I've been paid to Assistant Direct a non-union commercial, so I had to take it. Week 4, I'll be going hard again as we settle into the August heat and the long runs begin to really ramp up big time. Stay tuned!
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Post by Madze on Jul 20, 2015 15:08:55 GMT -5
Awesome dude, good luck and train hard Thank you! Week 1 was mostly a success, though I had to take Thursday off due to work (I ended up working an 18-hour day!!!) and I was too exhausted to do the long run on Saturday. No biggie though, because I did still manage to have a GREAT tempo run on Wednesday and a wicked leg day workout at the gym on Friday. All in all, not a lot of mileage, but quality stuff and I got to add two more feathers to my resume (Gotham and a feature called The Seagull). Week 2 is going to see me upping the mileage of course, and though I will be working on Wednesday this time (when I'd normally be doing my interval workout), I'm going to shift things around a little bit by making TOMORROW an additional long run (10 miles), Wednesday will obviously be off, Thursday will be the interval workout, and Friday I'll put in another leg day and a short jog. Saturday, I may have to miss my long run again due to a dentist's appointment, but rest assured that if that happens, I'll be getting it done on Sunday. Week 3 is going to be a recovery week for me due to a job that just kind of miraculously fell into my lap. It's a paying AD gig for a commercial with a client...only the second time I've been paid to Assistant Direct a non-union commercial, so I had to take it. Week 4, I'll be going hard again as we settle into the August heat and the long runs begin to really ramp up big time. Stay tuned! It is going to get hot in August. Good luck dude and i think that a very important thing is that you will want to keep yourself hydrated cuz as u said, August is right around the corner and it will be hard with the new and long marathons. Keep um coming bro!
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arsenette
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Post by arsenette on Jul 20, 2015 20:19:28 GMT -5
Dude it's hot and muggy as all hell outside. Be careful and stay hydrated. This humidity is baaaaaaad this year...
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Post by dudesky1000 on Jul 27, 2015 8:04:32 GMT -5
Quick update!
Week 2 was excellent! I successfully upped my mileage to 32 miles for the week without a sniff of injury or burnout...and they were ALL quality runs. Here's the breakdown:
Monday- Nice, easy early morning 4 miler. Tuesday- 10 Mile Long Run to make up for the missed one on Saturday. Very nice run for a long one in the middle of the week! Wednesday- OFF, because I was working on Gotham again. Thursday- Intervals! Which I rarely ever get to do. 1.5 mile warmup followed by 6x800 meters, starting at 6:52 pace and speeding up by 2 seconds every lap. 1.5 mile cool down. Friday- OFF Saturday- 11.5 Long Run in Central Park, the first half on the dirt, the second half the full loop with Harlem Hills and all!
As I said Week 3 is going to be a recovery week due to this job I'm doing--going to work in a couple of hours! But things are going well and I feel pretty good. Looking forward to the August heat and waking up early to enjoy the nice sunrise runs.
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Post by Madze on Jul 28, 2015 9:05:19 GMT -5
Quick update! Week 2 was excellent! I successfully upped my mileage to 32 miles for the week without a sniff of injury or burnout...and they were ALL quality runs. Here's the breakdown: Monday- Nice, easy early morning 4 miler. Tuesday- 10 Mile Long Run to make up for the missed one on Saturday. Very nice run for a long one in the middle of the week! Wednesday- OFF, because I was working on Gotham again. Thursday- Intervals! Which I rarely ever get to do. 1.5 mile warmup followed by 6x800 meters, starting at 6:52 pace and speeding up by 2 seconds every lap. 1.5 mile cool down. Friday- OFF Saturday- 11.5 Long Run in Central Park, the first half on the dirt, the second half the full loop with Harlem Hills and all! As I said Week 3 is going to be a recovery week due to this job I'm doing--going to work in a couple of hours! But things are going well and I feel pretty good. Looking forward to the August heat and waking up early to enjoy the nice sunrise runs. Oh yeah, the nice sunrise runs are the best dude!!Hooe you enjoy them (in like 3 days...). Oh yeah, how are those marathons coming lately? Any updates?
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Post by arsenette on Jul 28, 2015 9:05:40 GMT -5
Humidity suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks.. I hope you are doing well..
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Post by dudesky1000 on Aug 15, 2015 13:03:43 GMT -5
I suppose it's about time for a training update! Sorry it took so long! One truly exciting thing happened (I'll get to that in just a minute), but otherwise it has been pretty standard stuff.
Now that I've gone through weeks 3, 4 and now 5, let's get this breakdown going!
WEEK 3 Monday- 5 Mile Regular Run (41:48) Tuesday- OFF Wednesday- OFF Thursday- OFF (I was working all these days!) Friday- 5 Mile Regular Run (41:30) Saturday- 9 Mile Long Run (1:19:00) Sunday- OFF
Comments: A really high-paying job fell into my lap this week, so it worked out quite perfectly that I had been planning on making this week a recovery week, as did my Virtual Trainer. The mileage was low (under my 20 per week minimum for this year) but it was a welcome rest from the previous week which was over 30 miles.
WEEK 4 Monday- OFF Tuesday- OFF Wednesday- 5 Mile Regular Run (42:00) Thursday- Intervals (1.5 Mile Warmup, 6x800m starting at 3:26 and increasing pace by 2 seconds every interval, 1.5 Mile Cooldown) Friday- OFF Saturday- 13.5 Mile Long Run (1:45:30) Sunday- OFF
Comments: It might seem strange that I took Monday off and still did not run on Tuesday... but, I actually spent those days getting NEW SHOES! That's right! I have upgraded to the Brooks Ghost 8, the latest update to the Ghost series. Since the Ghost 6 (the first pair of running shoes that I ever bought myself) I've stuck with their line for both training and racing. It's my favorite shoe by far, and even though I'm really sad to be hanging up the Ghost 7's that took me through an unbelievable string of races and unthinkable PR's, they definitely had lost their bounce and it was really time for a new pair. The Ghost 8's feel fantastic and it's the perfect time for me to break into new shoes as I get closer to the Marathon.
As for the running itself, what I missed in quantity at the start of the week, I made up in quality in the tail end. I kicked an excellent set of intervals on Thursday and, though I was still pretty fatigued from that on Saturday morning, I got my miles in and earned my Sunday off. A good lead in to a busy Week 5.
WEEK 5 Monday- 5 Mile Regular Run 'As You Feel' (45:13) Tuesday- OFF Wednesday- 5 Mile Easy Run (44:00) Thursday- Intervals (1.5 Mile Warmup, 6x800m: my splits were 3:20, 3:18, 3:14, 3:10, 3:08 and 2:55(!). 1.5 Mile Cooldown) Friday- OFF Saturday- 16.3 Mile Long Run (2:16:50) Sunday- I think I'm going to take the day OFF!
Comments: Very good week in terms of racking up the mileage and still feeling good. It feels like I finally got all the training components to fit into one week: 2 easy runs, a quality workout and a long long run. Let's see if I can keep it up!
...Just as I say that, I realize that I'll actually be away on a trip next weekend, so I'll be doing everything I can to pack the miles into the beginning of next week and take advantage of the mini 'vacation' to recover. When I get back, it'll be time for the next race... the Henry Isola Cross Country 4 Miler!
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Post by dudesky1000 on Aug 29, 2015 20:36:48 GMT -5
Henry Isola Cross Country (4M) Pre-Race Thoughts
After a long hiatus between races, here we are again! This was the last race I registered for this year, mostly out of curiosity because I've never done a Cross Country race, and also because I want to keep the competitive fire going. Also because the entry fee was super cheap and my brother wanted in on it too. I figured, I'm between long runs anyway, so why not use the weekend for a 4-mile race to see where I'm at and wake up the speed-oriented muscles from a few weeks of mostly easy running.
There are a few interesting things I've been looking forward to at this race: Van Cortlandt Park, which I've never run in, a late start to the race in the heat of the day (11:30am!), and the reduced field size (the cutoff for this race is 400 entrants).
This will be only our second 4-Mile race, under VASTLY different conditions from the Al Gordon Classic (in freezing 10°F February) and we're both aiming for PR's. At this distance, like the 10k, I've realized that certain benchmarks such as 40 minutes or 25 minutes are actually extremely difficult to break through unless your current PR is only seconds behind them. My Al Gordon time was 25:38, which is a 6:25/mile average, whereas a sub-25 minute time would require at least a 6:15/mile pace. That 10 seconds is actually really difficult to make up, so I'm not aiming for anything other than a PR. My brother's Al Gordon time was 30:36--he's close enough to 30 so I hope he can break that benchmark!
As for race strategy--I have absolutely no idea what this course will look like, which is very exciting! I went out a bit too aggressively in Queens, so I think I'll take it easy for the first mile, but who knows what the first mile even looks like. What I HAVE heard, however, is that this course is quite hilly, which is both a good and a bad thing. It's great because attacking the downhills allow me to make up for some serious time, but bad because that means I'll have to run UPHILL to get there.
One last fun note is that because there will be so few people at this race (past years have been around 200).... there might actually be an opportunity for me to snag my first Age Group Award!
Wish us luck, and stay tuned for the race report!
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Post by dudesky1000 on Sept 7, 2015 2:25:18 GMT -5
HENRY ISOLA XC 4M RACE REPORT: Peaks and ValleysIt was a hot day. A REALLY hot day. My brother and I arrived in Van Cortlandt Park for the very first time around 10:30am, right in the peak of the morning. Our skin boiled just standing in the sunlight! This was going to be an interesting day. This was a race like no other for us; there was no bib pickup prior to race day, there would only be one corral at the start line, and...roads? Where we were running, we weren't going to need any roads! This was a cross country race! Our very first, no less. And it would be a true adventure, up and down the peaks and valleys of Van Cortlandt Park, uncharted territory! This time, bibs were assigned in alphabetical order; I was 486, and my brother was 487. The commute up to the park was a nice, long ride on the 1 train. It's actually a pretty cool ride if you know a little bit about New York City's geography. The 1 line takes you to the deepest points underground and the highest points above sea level in Manhattan. In fact, my former favorite subway station (before the MTA tore it down and turned it into an ugly construction site) used to be along the way! But enough about all that--let's get to the race! This was by far the smallest field of competitors we had seen at any race. NYRR caps the registration for this one at 300 runners--to give you an idea of how difficult this was, only 256 people out of about 300 finished...a 4 mile race mind you! When we lined up at the ad-hoc start line (drawn in the dirt path by a race official with his shoe), for the very first time, I was at the very front lines. On the official photo album, you can actually see that I was in the front row of runners as the gun went off--a truly exhilarating feeling! Among us were people of all shapes and sizes-- including a few other youngsters in my age group who looked really competitive. Some were friendly, others kept to themselves. This was going to be interesting. We were the 'rebels' who were choosing this race over the previous day's France Run 8K (a much bigger race in Central Park with prize money). There was no prize money here; this was for glory! The race official fired the gun and we were off! About 30 people sprinted ahead of me straight away. My brother trailed right behind me as we wished each other luck and separated. We raced through 'the flats', a dirt path and a grass field leading us inside of the park, and distance quickly increased between the front runners. It was incredible to watch the top 5 guys in the distance as they trailed behind a race official on a bike (this is a standard practice for road races). It didn't even look like they were going fast, it just looked like they were gliding in slow-motion and covering A LOT of ground at once. I looked down at my watch and we were really cooking--we were going at a 6:15/mile pace! Not exactly knowing what was ahead of me, I toned it down a little bit and told myself I'd catch up to them all later--I wouldn't want to burn out like I did in Queens again. Good thing I toned it down! We were immediately greeted by a gauntlet of hills, each steeper than the last. It was simply brutal. The toughest, steepest hills I've ever seen in a race. And the soft, dirt path didn't give us a whole lot of traction either, making the uphills a slow, slippery crawl to the top, and the downhills precarious and difficult to glide down. The worst part was knowing that I'd have to do this AGAIN! Finally, after scrambling down the last hill like a cartoon character, red in the face, we came back to the flats. My summer training was paying off--the proof was in right in front of me (and soon behind me!). Those who I recognized from the start of the race ahead of me were drawing nearer and nearer. I was breathing hard, but I wasn't hurting. My competition, however, appeared to be struggling. The leaders were far from my reach, but as we began the Final Lap, I maintained a steady pace and passed a handful of my rivals, including a few in my age group who I really didn't expect to be passing. One racer I kept trading places with was a guy in his 50's--extremely fast guy for his age! The hills were even worse the second time around, but I seemed to be taking less of a beating than the rest of the pack. Eventually, I got to a place where there was nobody in sight in the trails ahead of me, and there was nobody close behind me. I finally pulled away from the guy in his 50's, and then I passed a 20-year old kid who told me at the start line that he was aiming for a 24-minute time (I'd later befriend him). By now, something unusual but expected happened--time expired for me to set a PR. If you've been following my race results for the past few years, you'd know that one of the things I am most proud of is my track record of setting a PR in every race. Until today, I managed to set a personal best time in every single race I've done. This of course was only my second 4-Mile race, making it my first attempt to PR at the distance, but given the unexpected difficulty of the course and the brutal conditions, I didn't despair when I saw the time pass on my watch. I was so distracted by the new sensation of competing against others that the thought didn't stick around too long. I didn't really have any energy to think about anything--just go go go! With the finish line in sight, I finally shifted into high gear and kicked as hard as I could. It was around noon, the hottest time of the day, and by now I was redlining. This was a unique moment as well because now, I was not only competing for a higher place, but trying my hardest not to let any of my competition catch me from behind. The female winner (an incredibly speedy 15 year-old) finished just a few seconds ahead of me, and while I gained ground on the guy ahead of me, I couldn't make anymore passes. No matter--I was far ahead of the next guy, and I knew I had done well to hang tough. A tame battle cry is all I could muster, but I had finished. That was TOUGH! My splits: 1- 6:28 2- 7:08 (HILLS ) 3- 6:57 4- 6:16 Official Time: 26:51 Place: 16th out of 257 I was zapped! But then came the sweetest part--a race official at the finish line told me to continue to the awards table. There, I was handed my very first Silver Medal for taking 2nd place in my age group of 20-24! It came as a complete shock and delight to me-- I earned a medal? In my age group??? And I was only one place from winning my age group? Going into the race, I knew that the field would be small and that if there were any race where I had a good chance of taking an age group award, it would be this one--but I didn't really think I'd actually do it! Especially after seeing some of the others in my age group at the start line, who looked like they were way more serious and in way better shape than me. And, to take silver? Meaning I was just one place from winning my age group? I still can't believe it! I let the race official drape the medal around my neck and victoriously hobbled my way back to the finish line to cheer for my brother. My brother's goal coming into this race was to break 30 minutes--and boy, did he have me on the edge of my seat! As the clock ticked closer and closer to his goal, I could faintly see him in the distance. For him to have broken 30 minutes would have meant a PR for him by over 30 seconds on a much tougher course. I thought he had it in him, and apparently so did he; he came darting toward the finish with just seconds left! And, hilariously, it seemed as though he crossed the finish line at exactly 30 minutes flat, making for a very suspenseful and uncertain day of waiting for the official results, LOL. I thought I was zapped when I finished, but he was totally wrecked. People, if you learn anything from this race report, it should be that YOU MUST TRAIN for these events if you plan on giving it your all! My brother did an incredible job with very minimal training, but he was completely wasted afterward. As close as you can get to fainting without actually fainting. It was epic to see, though. It's awesome to see someone put that kind of effort on, leaving nothing on the road. Well... as it turns out... much to our hilarity... he finished in exactly 30:00 JoshOfficial Time: 30:00 Place: 43rd out of 257 Ultimately, this was a challenging but successful race for both of us. For me, I got my first taste of runner-to-runner competition, remained resilient throughout the most challenging course yet, won my first age group award and placed 16th overall, an awesome result that I'm proud of despite not setting a PR. For my brother, he set himself a brand new PR, ended his summer on a high note after being a bit disappointed with his performance in the Queens 10K, essentially matched his goal of 30 minutes which will see his seeding improve, and felt like he was able to give it his very best, which is always a great feeling to come away from a race with. We both enjoyed the race very much, appreciated the smaller, more low-key organization, and barring a lack of multiple water stations on the course (my only major complaint about the race itself), we're excited to take another shot at this one next year. Until next time!
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Post by dudesky1000 on Sept 9, 2015 20:42:03 GMT -5
I almost forgot--I made it onto a couple of photos in the race's official photo album!
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Post by arsenette on Sept 9, 2015 20:58:22 GMT -5
Been laxing like crazy in other thread. Thanks so much for the totally awesome photos and detailed reports! When I get time to breathe I'll sit down and read them all. ♥
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Post by dudesky1000 on Sept 22, 2015 13:35:08 GMT -5
Three weeks and two 20-mile runs later, training has been awfully slow and almost is at a screeching halt. Right now I'm in preproduction for my senior thesis film, which plans to shoot in a little more than 2 weeks from now, and this Sunday is the Bronx 10-Mile. I'll have a pre-race blog up sometime this week!
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Post by arsenette on Sept 22, 2015 20:49:19 GMT -5
Just call it a rest period
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Post by dudesky1000 on Sept 25, 2015 1:24:27 GMT -5
NYRR Five Borough Series: Bronx 10-Mile Pre-Race ThoughtsThe temperatures are cooling down, the sun is rising later, and the distance is getting longer--that's right, we're officially in the Fall and this weekend is the penultimate race to the Year of Discipline: The Bronx 10-Mile, my final stop along NYRR's 5-Borough series this year! My first thought is... what's up with the logo this year? ...Is it supposed to be like...a ten dollar bill or something??? LOL This was one of my favorite races last year, and it's one that I've been looking forward to all summer. The distance is quirky--challenging, yet fun. There's something about this race that just puts me at ease--the only nervous energy I have going into it is excitement! The 10-Mile distance isn't quite as daunting as the Half Marathon or the 10K. The Half Marathon is always a monstrous challenge, and until I fail to set a PR, I'll always be facing a lot of pressure to improve. The 10K and 4 Mile distances are short but they're painful and intense. For some reason, this 10-Mile distance doesn't intimidate me. Perhaps it's because I know I'm not committing to those last 3.1 miles, or because I know I won't be going fast enough to feel that speed-induced pain. Plus...who really takes the 10-Mile distance seriously anyway? This is the only 10-Miler of the year, and it's not nearly as popular as its longer and shorter cousins. It's like the fun run of NYRR's 5-Borough Series. The year starts off with 3 challenging Half Marathons, then the extremely tough 10K in the summer, and then... there's this weird race! And then the one in Staten Island that for all intents and purposes doesn't exist (to me yet, at least). I think the other thing that has me more excited than worried is that this race is held under the most ideal conditions you can come by: late September makes for a nice cool morning (perfect running temperatures). The course is also pretty easy; 5 flat miles out, 5 flat miles back! My goal is to set a PR, and if I'm feeling really good, I'll try to get under 1:07. My time last year was 1:07:59 (basically a 1:08) so to do so would be a one-minute improvement, which is pretty darn difficult at this distance. I don't really think sub-1:05 is currently within my reach (that would be a sub-6:30/mile average pace). As for my strategy, I'm going to go back to what helped me break through at the NYC Half and start conservatively--I'm going to wait for my second wind, and then I'll go all out. This is still long enough of a race that I can get away with a conservative start, so I'm going to take full advantage of it. My brother is also running this race, and, believe it or not, this will be his LONGEST run to date! He hasn't even run a 10 in training yet, so this race will take him into completely new territory. His training has still been pretty sparse, but he has done some quality long runs leading up to the race, so he's going into it feeling quite good. Meanwhile...I'm still preparing for my film, so I'll have plenty to keep myself distracted until race day. Wish us luck!
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arsenette
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Rambling Rican
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Post by arsenette on Sept 25, 2015 4:04:10 GMT -5
Hey I like the logo. To me it looks like 1 of 2 things. 1) stained glass or 2) cobblestone. Both artisan pieces made by hand. I'm not much of a green fan but this color green (the deep one) is very pretty. I didn't see a 10 dollar bill until you brought it to my attention. I guess because there was nothing along the edges that I didn't see it? Either way, having to come up with logos every year has to be difficult. I actually like it. ♥
Giggles.. Good luck for you and your brother (brave.. brave man..)
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Post by dudesky1000 on Oct 13, 2015 10:40:19 GMT -5
BRONX 10-MILE RACE REPORT: A Truly Grand (Con)courseCool conditions? Check. Fresh legs? Double Check. ...Training? Uhhhhh... ...6 hours of sleep? Uhhhhh.... Discipline??? Hahaha-- LET'S GO! (The short version of my lead-up to this race). Here we were again, on a beautiful morning in late September. Did I have enough sleep? Nope. Was I really trained for this? Nope. Was I excited about this race? YOU BET! The Bronx 10-Mile was an instant favorite of mine after last year, and this time, I wasn't just running it alone; my brother would be joining me for his longest run ever! Let me explain myself with a little bit of an update first: my training really, REALLY fell off in the last month due to my upcoming film shoot--which has since utterly collapsed (but that's a whole other story). Because I was working on my pre-production and trying to keep up with my other classes around the clock, I had very little spare time even to run. My 'training' this summer has mostly consisted of long runs on Saturdays, and, well, this year I did even fewer of them than ever (only two 20-milers, quite a while ago). So I wasn't exactly beaming with confidence going into this race--more like, I was excited for a distraction from my tedious film work. The night before the race, I was up later than I would have liked, writing e-mails and trying to make negotiations. So I didn't get very much sleep either! That being said, the morning was gorgeous. The most perfect conditions that you could ever hope to have for a race. I told my brother that he was in for a treat--for a guy who's first races were an almost sub-zero winter day to a humid-as-heck summer morning, this was a whole different story. For once, we didn't have to worry about layering up or dressing down--we could just be comfortable! It's a shock as to why there aren't many more races like this at this time of year. It's really too bad the Marathon comes in early November when it starts to become unpleasant in the morning. I wish it could be during this time of year! I decided to wear my marathon singlet for this race, and lo and behold, on our way to the Bronx somebody came up to me, showed me his phone, and asked if I was the guy in the image. Well, as it turns out, what I was looking at was none other than a draft of a marketing plan...me on a NYC Marathon advertisement! He told me I would be "everywhere" within a few weeks, and--he was right! These past few weeks, I seem to have taken NYC by storm. My face is on buses, on billboards, in subway stations and on train cars. I guess...that means I'm famous??? Anyway, back to the race-- We arrived with just a few minutes before the corral breakdown and we got straight to business. I walked Josh to his corral and I entered mine. NYRR has a new system with their corrals; tiers of racers are no longer organized by bib color (the top tier used to be blue, the next highest was red, the next was yellow, then green, then orange, etc.), NOW they are organized by letter. The corrals are now broken up a little more rigidly, based on your best pace at a NYRR race in the last year after it has been calculated in an algorithm to give you a projected finishing time for the distance you're running. For one of their average races (not the big ones like NYC Half and Brooklyn Half), I think it works kind of like this: 'A' double digits (10-99, 1-9 doesn't exist): Elite and sub-elite, anyone from 4:00-5:59/mile pace 'A' triple digits (100-999): Local competitive, anyone from 6:00-6:59/mile pace (that's me!) 'B' (1000-1999): Casual-competitive, anyone from 7:00-7:59/mile pace 'C' (2000's): Anyone from 8:00-8:59 'D' (3000's): Anyone from 9:xx 'E' (4000's): Anyone from 10:xx And so on! For larger races with greater fields and a larger middle-pack, the paces become more spread out of course. For example, in this race, I was still given the bib A 897 (because there just aren't that many of us who run sub-7), but my brother, who is solidly in the 7-8 minute range was in the D corral. ~~~ANYWAY, now that that makes sense, BACK TO THE RACE~~~~ The gun sent us off with a bang and DJ Kool Herc once again brought the tunes from his turntable. The start was extremely important to me--I didn't want this to be another Queens 10K. However, I still had a pretty tough time to beat, so while I let others start out aggressively, I drafted off of them from behind. It's a technique that allows the runner ahead of you to reduce your wind resistance by acting as a windshield. I don't use it too frequently but I thought it might be a nice strategy in the beginning. Turns out, it was a very effective strategy and I was able to get my first mile in under 7 minutes, at a cool 6:54. As I've said before, the Bronx 10-Mile course is fairly smooth without any significant hills to speak of. It's a nice, easy ride in ideal conditions, so even though I usually have a hard time starting at a pace like that, I definitely had a lot going for me. And I could see that many others were benefitting as well--in fact, there were A LOT of fast people! There must have easily been 4 or 5 hundred people ahead of me after the first couple of miles. It was like this race became more popular overnight--and I'm not surprised! Anyway, I decided to keep it cool and relaxed and not try to do anything crazy with my speed, logging Mile 2 in 6:53. Then, it was like a golden beam of light hit me. Suddenly, I felt something I hadn't really felt in a race in a while--THE SECOND WIND! I almost forgot what it felt like to actually get a second wind!!! Ever since I broke 1:30 in the half, I did away with my strategy of starting slow and catching up, and I have (mostly) paid for it, even if I continued to set PR's, they were more painful than necessary! Here, finally, I had been patient, and I was being rewarded for it. I felt great. I felt light on my feet again. I felt FAST. And so I began to kick harder and glide more--and, what do you know, I was able to log the next two miles at 6:36 and 6:34... COMFORTABLY. We exited Grand Concourse and began our run around the park. On the other lane of the road was the way back, and I had been in just the right place at the right time to see the motorcade lead the frontrunners as they sprinted ahead in the other direction, looking really strong. Taking a page from them, I felt another surge and let loose--only less than 10K to go--and logged the next two miles, some of my fastest ever in a race, 6:23 and 6:11! Of course, just when I began to feel like I was becoming someone greater than myself, gravity weighed me right back down to earth (literally) and things suddenly got a little bit heavier and a bit harder. Mile 7 was no walk in the park...well, technically, it was around the park but that's beside the point. I could sense that I was losing a little bit of steam, and there was still plenty of time to completely collapse--so I dialed back the pace a little bit. As it was, I was just very nearly on pace to go sub-1:05, but once I began to feel like I was getting close to redlining, I accepted that it was just a dangerous mirage. Still, I passed many others at this point and there were fewer and fewer of us. Mile 7 was 6:35. As we rounded back to Grand Concourse, I benefitted from a little downhill slope, and it was just enough to give me back the speed I needed without exerting too much energy. I also felt a little bit better after toning it down for the last few minutes, which allowed me to pick things up a little bit again. There's not much else to say about this mile, other than it's generally the toughest in the race because there's still a little bit of distance to go, and if you haven't strategized well, it can take the wind out of your sails. Thankfully, I played my cards right, and I was only increasing in speed at this point. Mile 8 in 6:22. At this point, with just two miles to go and a bit of effort left in the tank, I smiled and realized that a PR was almost certain. Barring a sudden injury or fainting, I knew I could maintain a sub-7, even if I began to break down. A new, enticing thought burned into my mind--maybe it WOULD be possible to break 1:05! Could I pick up the pace even more??? I would have to really step it up and run the last two miles in at least 6:05. Mile 9 was a tough 6:15. Now it was going to be a real challenge. But at the same time, I was striking into serious personal record territory. I was gaining on my new time goal, but it meant that I would have to do something I have never done before: run a sub-6 minute mile in a race. Was this to be the day? Would I be able to gather some kind of magical inner strength and coast my way to a glorious finish?! I tried, but it wasn't to be the day. Still, I sprinted as hard as I could to the finish line, and finished with a great 6:11 mile. It was the fastest I had run in a long time, and I felt incredible. Like the Manhattan Half every year, I came a few seconds short of a major milestone, but, wow, I hadn't even thought it possible going in. I smashed last year's time and finished in 1:05:16. Almost a three-minute improvement. My brother, who was unbelievably running 10 miles for his first time ever in this race, also had a strong showing. His goal was just to finish feeling good, but I thought he'd probably finish between 1:20-1:30. He once again surprised me--and himself! By finishing in 1:18:58. For someone who had never even run as long as 10 miles before, that's very impressive! Major props to him on a strong finish to close out a great first year of racing. Official ResultsEvan
1 6:54.4 2 6:52.9 3 6:35.6 4 6:33.6 5 6:22.5 6 6:11.4 7 6:35.0 8 6:22.1 9 6:15.2 10 6:11.0 .08 :24.7 Official Time: 1:05:16 Place: 228th out of 9,358 JoshOfficial Time: 1:18:58 Place: 1,813th out of 9,358 Overall, this race lived up to both of our high hopes--it was by far the most enjoyable and best organized of the four that we did together this year and we're both very excited to return to it next year. There's something I can't quite put my finger on that I love about this race--maybe it is because I do not have to face the pressure that I usually put on myself in the Half Marathons or the Marathon (which is now up next ). The vibe is so relaxed and fun, the course is easy, the weather is beautiful at this time of year, and I feel like the 10-mile distance plays into my strengths. And major kudos to my brother who braved the distance for the first time and absolutely crushed it. He's so motivated and emboldened now that he's already signed up for his first half--The Manhattan Half in January. Yes, he might be certifiably crazy. One thing that I only realized after the race was that I actually managed to go sub-40 for the 10K (which was one of my time goals for the year) in the final 10K of this race. I don't know if that really 'counts', but WOOHOO! I did it! ...Sort of. I guess it reveals something about me as a runner that I couldn't manage to do it in an actual 10K race, but I could do it after 3+ miles of warmup. Some things just don't change...I'm still a slower starter! But yay, I managed to run a 39:17 10K in 2015. The field this year was overall more competitive than last year...actually it was A LOT more competitive. Despite an almost 3-minute PR, I placed 228th, just two spots higher than last year. My time last year would have netted me 398th place--and believe it or not, there were actually MORE finishers last year than this year! Those are some pretty interesting numbers. That being said, places don't mean as much to me as time (at least until I'm actually competing for anything other than personal improvement) and I am extremely pleased with my result, considering I didn't go in with the most ideal training or in my best shape of the year (or so I thought?). I think that it's important that I don't let this one get to my head too much, and I have to remember that after a year of (somewhat) disciplined training, improvement such as this is to be expected. On the other hand, it continues to blow my mind that I keep improving and that I seem to keep coming closer to the front of the pack as a non-athlete with an autoimmune disease. It's a different feeling from the time that I was once just happy to be out there, defending my bib number, but it's still a great feeling nonetheless. For a guy who has had a tumultuous personal life, it's nice to see that I can still be rewarded for my hard work, even if it's for something as trivial as this. But I love running, and I love competing. And I am hungry for even greater results--eventually, I want to go sub-6. I want a coveted double-digit bib number. I know I'll never be placing at the top, but I want to place near it. But, for the time being, I have the marathon to look forward to and it's time to switch caps from competitive-mode to survival-mode. As I enter these last weeks of training...wish me luck! See you on the other side
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