Posts from — February 2010

This weekend was the first double long of the year.  That is I ran long on both Saturday and Sunday.  I am starting off small at first, with just 25 and then 10 miles respectively.  I figured it is time to start compounding the mileage and get used to running on tired legs.  From what I’ve read about training for ultra marathons, it is better to do two large back to back runs, than one single very long run over a given weekend.  I supposed I’ll eventually get up to regularly doing 30 miles, plus 20 miles on a weekend.

The first run was part of the NYRR Haiti 4 Mile run in Central Park.  The run was a virtual repeat of the run I did only two weeks previously.  I basically ran the same route to Central Park, raced the same course and ran the same way home with few variations.  I guess I am getting stronger as it really felt like I did nothing.  I saw @bklynrunner during the 4 mile race and she remarked how I looked like I wasn’t even exerting myself.  Well, in truth I wasn’t.  I run so slow these days that I am strictly back of the pack when it comes to racing.  I don’t like the back of the pack feeling.  It makes me think that no one is behind me and that I am going to be the last one to finish the race.  It’s a disconcerting feeling and one that I will have to get used to if I keep doing 9 mile warm-ups before I begin a race.

After the race, I headed for the West Side Highway for my trip south to the Brooklyn Bridge.  For some reason I developed some gut cramps along the way and realized I would need to find a bathroom.  I don’t discuss this much on my blog or with other non-runners, but running can be a very icky sport at times.  You have everything from snot rockets (I’m an expert at that), blisters, chafing, nipple bleeding (from chafing), gas (farting), vomiting and other GI problems.  I seem to only suffer from the occasional GI distress and today it seemed to bother me.  Fortunately, Chelsea Piers along the West Side has a very conveniently located bathroom that I was able to duck into.  It was warm and clean and I spent a relieving few minutes in it clearing myself out.  Usually I just have gas, but every now and again, I have more that I need to get out. 

That business put aside, I got back to the task of running home.  As I was running, I ran into fellow ultra runner extraordinaire Bob F.  I’ve run into him several times over the course of the years while running long.  We don’t live next to each other, but when you start to cover long distances, you will eventually find yourselves on the same trail.  It was good to chat with him for a while and he was kind enough to let me take a swig of some HEED from his water bottle.  We talked about some upcoming races including the Camsuett 50K in a few weeks which we are both doing.

After we parted ways, I didn’t stop again until I got to the Brooklyn Bridge.  At the foot of the bridge is the usual hot dog vendor that @aristorat and I usually buy water.  I stopped to say hello and bought a bottle of water.  I was surprised at how thirsty I was, as before I knew it the bottle of water was gone.  I need to start carrying a water pack with me.  Being dehydrated is not a good thing.  I took my obligatory picture on the bridge and then didn’t stop again until I reached Park Slope.

In Park Slope, I stopped by the race packet pickup for the next day’s Cherry Tree 10 Mile race in Prospect Park.  Someone I know from the Prospect Park Track Club was handing out the packets and we shot the breeze for a little while.  I debated the merits of running a little longer to make the day’s run a full marathon, but I didn’t feel like extending my distance while carrying the race packet around.  So I just exited the store and ran home.  As was the run 2 weeks previously, my distance was a nice 25 miles.  After getting home, I showered, had some lunch and then took a nap.

The next day I slept as late as I could before waking up to run the Cherry Tree.  The race didn’t start until 10am, so I got to sleep a little late, especially with the race starting right by my house in Prospect Park.  I knew I wouldn’t set any land speed records for it and just felt determined to get it over with.  My right shin was hurting a bit and I feared that this would only get worse as the day went on.

I ran for a good part of the race with a group of women training for a marathon with Team in Training.  It was interesting to hear the running point of view from new runners, especially those that are first beginning their training.  Inevitably the conversation got around to what I was training for and how many marathons I did.  I never know how to answer these questions.  Sometime I think to just say that yes I am training for my first marathon.  I all too often get weird reactions from people, especially newbies, when I tell them the distances I’ve run or the training I recently did.  I think the next time, I’ll just say that I am doing my first marathon and ask them for advice.

Not much else is left to say about the Cherry Tree.  I came, I ran, I conquered.  I finished strong and then met up with my friends for some libations at a local pub.  I couldn’t stay long as my children were waiting for me to come home and bring lunch.  I was hungry by the time I got home and ate 3 slices from the pizza pie that I brought home.  I took a short nap after lunch and then spent the remainder of the day with my children.

I suppose most reasonable people will say that it is possible to have too much of a good thing.  Recently, I’ve been having too much of a good thing, which is no good at all.  When you indulge yourself in excess things start to break down, whether it is spiritually, mentally or physically.  This breakdown is not necessarily limited to you.  As you engage in whatever this good thing is, often times it involves other people.  They can be affected by your pursuit, especially if they share in it.  This good thing could turn into something painful and isn’t pain a warning that you are reaching a critical limit?

The key is moderation.  Moderation keeps you wanting more.  It brings you back to the table saying you haven’t had your fill and excited for your next serving.  When you engorge yourself all the time, things start to get uncomfortable.  When you find yourself in that situation it is time to back off, whether you want to or not.  You just have to pay attention to the signs.

I’ve been running very well lately.  I am spiritually and mentally strong.  I suppose I am getting stronger physically, but signs are appearing that I am beginning to do too much.  My shins are aching again and sometimes when I run it just feels jarring.  I need to back off before this becomes injury.  It’s just so hard to do when the running brings such solace.

The winter has been treating me well so far.  I haven’t minded it at all.  I am not ready for it to leave, but perhaps this is too much of a good thing as well.  It’s been icy and snowy at times and with the amount of mileage I am putting in, it is only a matter of time before I slip, fall and possibly hurt myself.  I’ve always liked being out in the harshest of conditions, but perhaps it would be better if the temperature warmed up and I could start running again in shorts and t-shirt.

 It’s been a week since a winter storm dump a foot or so of snow in NYC.  On the day of the storm, I was a trooper and went into work.  The office was dead quiet and I was able to leave around 1:30pm.  I was very happy for this; as I was able to get home in time to do a run before the sun set.  I met my friend @aristorat around 3pm and we headed out for a 3 loop run of Prospect Park during the blizzard.  People were amazed that we were out there running.  To me, it felt like a perfectly natural thing to do.  It was tough going at times, but definitely one of the more enjoyable runs.  The only problem I had while running was gaining traction.  However, this had more to do with the fact that I wrapped duct tape around my sneakers in order to keep my feet warm.  The tape on the bottom of the sneaker caused me to slip all over the place.  I won’t make that mistake again.

Last Thursday, I had almost taken off from working out.  I was a little tired from the day before, but I was reminded that the road to the Vermont 100 miler is long, lonely and tiring.  I went out by myself in the frigid night air and ran a solitary 6 miles.  I took off Friday and then from Saturday – Tuesday have ran 7, 11, 8 and 7 miles.  Nothing big this past weekend, but it was time I backed off after running marathon distance on three Sundays in a row.

Tonight I will most likely take off.  I will probably meet a friend to have a serious conversation about the future.  I need to make up my mind about what I want and how to get it.  I am not a complete person right now and I need to make myself whole.  Maybe, I’ll come to some decisions and develop an action plan.

I still need to decide what to do this weekend.  I already know I am running the Cherry Tree 10 Mile in Prospect Park on Sunday.  I am debating on running to Central Park on Saturday to do the 4 Mile Haiti run.  If I run to CP, do the race and back home I’ll have 25 miles on Saturday.  I am thinking that it is time for me to start doing double longs on the weekends.  My goal is to get up to 30/20 miles for a Sat/Sun by April and increasing those distances as May approaches.  VT100 here I come.

My long runs sometimes make me think about the disconnected memories you have when remembering a dream.  You can remember fragments of the dream, but sometimes it is hard to put all together.  This is especially true when I embark on a long run by myself.  I am alone in the big city passing through neighborhood after neighborhood, past throngs of people but the only interaction you have is with yourself.  You tend to daydream a lot.  I guess it is no wonder why a solitary long run feels more like a dream when looking back upon it.  I remember fragments of the run; a street scene, the sound of my breath and the changing landscape.  All of it blends together as time passes and the run and dream eventually come to a close.  I should use a voice recorder to remember things about the run that I want to point out later on.

I got a late start for this run – a 9 mile sprint to Central Park for the Gridiron Classic 4 Miler, followed by a 10 mile run home along the West Side.  I had intended to leave around 7am, but somehow overslept.  I didn’t get much sleep the night before and when I finally fell asleep deeply it was already 5am.  My alarm clock woke me up around 5:30, but I turned it off and didn’t wake up again until 6:30.  I move slowly in the morning and I didn’t get outdoors to start the run until 7:25.  I had to make 9 miles to Central Park from my home in Brooklyn for the start of the 9am race.  This was doable, but I had to hustle and didn’t have time to take any pictures while I ran.  I made it to the start of the race in 1 hour, 40 minutes with 1 minute to spare.  Fortunately, they were running a little late to start the race.

The race itself was completely uneventful.  Actually for me to say that I was racing is a malapropism.  I am by no stretch of the imagination racing.  I am merely trotting along, getting another qualifier to enter the 2011 NYC Marathon.  I haven’t “raced” in years now.  It’s all about training to complete the Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run.  Eventually, I would like to race an event again, but for now, it’s all about how far I can go.  I crossed the finish line with a lot of out of breath and tired back of the packers.  Runners looked around and congratulated each other on finishing the race and a job well done.  Their day was done after a brief 4 miles, but mine was merely half way over and I needed to get moving again before I cooled off too much.  Everyone around me was heading for the warmth of their warm-up clothes and the comfort of their homes.  I had cold pavement to pound on my run back into Brooklyn.

I left Central Park at Columbus Circle and ran down 8^th Avenue for a while.  I wanted to find a Starbucks so I could go inside for a bathroom break.  Starbucks’ are conveniently located over the entire city and I never have any trouble darting into one to use the bathroom.  Perhaps one day, I’ll actually buy something when I go in.  I hate coffee though and as long as the water from the bathroom faucet is free the chances of this happening are slim.

After my pit stop, I meandered over to the West Side Highway and the greenway along the water.  This was the 3^rd Sunday in a row in which I ran on it.  When I got there, I saw that the Hudson River along this point was frozen towards the shore.  I stopped to get a picture since it is not an everyday occurrence.  I methodically made my way south, feeling satisfied as the building of the World Financial Center and Battery Park City loomed closer.  I was please with my progress.  Since I had left CP, I had a slight fear that I would want to bail out of the run and grab a taxi.  It was why I stayed on 8^th Avenue for while – the subway was nearby.  However once on the Wild West it would be a cold walk back to the subway or a warm taxi to bail me out should my body have forced me to come to a stop.

No matter though, I made it down the West Side to Battery Park City and then cross town to the Brooklyn Bridge.  There were plenty of tourists out, despite the cold weather on the bridge.  And why shouldn’t there have been?  It was a beautiful crisp and clear winter day.  I snapped a picture of myself mid-span and then took a couple of photo’s for tourists who were trying to do the old arm’s length camera shot.  Occasionally, I like being that classic friendly New Yorker.  

To exit the bridge I took the pedestrian steps that lead towards Whitman Park.  It’s much more pleasant than running the entire length of the Brooklyn Bridge entrance and offers a bit of solitude; especially when you make your way through a deserted Cadman Plaza.  I quietly ran through past the court houses and then back onto the streets for the final two legs home up to Prospect Park.  The climb up park slope rolled off quickly and felt good.  I decided to go into PP to finish off my run.  As I mentioned previously I like running in both parks on the same day.  I somehow timed my exit from PP to give me exactly 25 running miles on the day.  I contemplated going marathon distance, but I had enough and another 1.2 miles wasn’t going to buy me much more fitness.

I showered, ate and napped for the rest of the afternoon.  Later in the day I walked about 1.5 miles to a friend’s house to watch Super Bowl 44.  So I guess I did move my body marathon distance for the day.  This 25 mile run has made for 3 big weekends in a row.  I’ll probably back off this coming weekend and start picking it up again the following.  So far I am feeling good.

Photo’s for this run can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklynbeast/sets/72157623365883552/

On Sunday, January 31 about 30 runners set out for a run around the circumference of Manhattan Island, in celebration of the life of Ted Corbett, one of the pioneers of ultra-running.  I won’t provide details or Ted’s life here, suffice it to say there is plenty of information about him out on the Internet and anyone who is interested in knowing about him can easily look him up online.  However, the run around Manhattan Island sounded like a lot of fun and I wanted to join in the festivities.

I travelled up to East 97^th Street and West End Avenue with my friend @aristorat to meet all of the other runners at Dave’s house.  Dave was the official organizer of the event and said a few brief words about Ted.  He explained how Ted would regularly do the run we are about to do as a normal training run and would often run the loop twice in one day.  We all marveled at the resilience of the man who was a true legend in ultrarunning.  Dave also went on to introduce a member of a local Korean Running Club who was getting ready for a run across the United States for a charity.  I can’t remember which, but if I do, I’ll come back here and post the information.

After a few group photos at the start we all headed out to Riverside Drive for the run up to the northern most part of Manhattan.  A steady wind was blowing against us and the temperature was around 15 degrees.  No one seemed to mind it though as we were all properly dressed.  My face did sting for the first few minutes while my skin got acclimated to the cold.

The run north to the George Washington Bridge is basically flat, with some small hills to get around construction along the Hudson River Greenway.  I stopped under the GWB to get a picture of the Little Red Lighthouse.  I would have liked to take more pictures along the way, but unfortunately, the group wasn’t waiting around for the picture takers and I didn’t want to lose the group.  Also, it was a little too cold to be without gloves on for long.  Every time I tried to take a picture, my hands would completely freeze and become very uncomfortable.

Once past the GWB we continued north up past Fort Tyron Park and the Cloisters.  We didn’t go in there, but one day I should return and perhaps run through that park.  There are some good hills inside it.  We continued north until we got to the northern most part of Manhattan.  I’ve never been here before and you could hardly believe you were on the same island that calls itself the Big Apple.  It was very rural and the trestle bridge crossing from the northern tip of Manhattan into the Bronx looked like something you would see out on a bayou.    We headed east for another couple of miles and made our first stop at a place called Twin Donuts.  This was around the 8 mile mark.  I had a cup of hot chocolate, mostly to warm up my hands and to give myself some cheap calories.  I felt like the quick sugar rush from some simple carbohydrates.  I did have some Hammer Gel at this point for some more consistent fueling and I think the combination worked out nicely.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to hug the water as we made our way around the northern end of Manhattan and began to turn our way south.  It was a lot of street running for the next 8 miles, some of it was on the NYC Marathon course.  At some point an old time and fantastic ultra runner named Bob Vogel and I got separated from the lead pack.  I’ve run with Bob in several races in the past and he is very good company to run with.  He was an encyclopedia of knowledge regarding various landmarks in NYC, pointing out various Museums that are must sees, to the hotel that Castro stayed at in Harlem when he was here to speak to the UN all those years ago.  It was easy keeping company with him and the fact that we were at least 10 minutes behind the lead pack did not bother me at all.

Eventually we caught up with the group at a bagel store on York Avenue and 86^th Street.  We caught the tail end of the rest stop, but I was able to get some water and ate a Snickers bar I carried with me along with some Hammer Gel.  I wasn’t really hungry during the run, which I took as a good sign that I was running efficiently and using my energy stores appropriately.  Once we left the bagel store, we started to make our way south and east towards the river.  It felt good to get off the city streets and hug the island as was the intention of this run.  Hopefully, one day NYC will complete the greenway completely around Manhattan.

The East River Greenway ends at around 53^rd Street until it picks up again at around 34^th Street.  Once we got back on it at 34^th Street, I started running with @aristorat and we began a steady tempo pace down the east side.  We ran this way past the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges and finally took a rest break just south of the Brooklyn Bridge to wait for the main pack to catch up with us.  It really felt good to be able to pick up the pace for several miles after you have already gone marathon distance.   The pack caught up to us within a few minutes and then we headed on to the next official rest stop at the South Street Ferry Terminal.  At each of our stops the cameras of the various runners came out and we recruited various tourists and NYC citizens to take pictures of our group.  Most of them couldn’t believe we were running around the island of Manhattan.  Stories were told to each other of doing ultra runs in Central Park with the participants being thought of as NYC wiseasses, when they responded they were doing a 50 mile run in the park.  Most people can’t believe the distances that ultra runners do regularly.

After we left the ferry terminal, we were on our final leg home up the West Side Highway Greenway and back to 97^th Street.  It was here that I had a couple of Forest Gump moments.  I was running out in front of the pack, on a long and straight stretch of road, with the sun setting on the horizon.  I kept reflecting pack to the scene in the movie where Forest is running and all of his followers were trailing behind him.  It was an odd, yet very good feeling.  Once I got up into Riverside Park, I was kind of ready for the run to be over.  I was very hungry and thirsty by now, but didn’t want to stop to eat and drink.  I only had a couple of miles left, but I was going to get in a bad state quickly if I didn’t, so I had a gel and the last few ounces of water that I carried with me.  It gave me enough of a boost to run through the 70’s, 80’s and in what felt like no time, out of the park, onto the streets and then a quick right onto 97^th Street to the finish.

All totaled about half the group finished the run, which I am told is the largest finishing group for this unofficial event ever.  I was really glad that I was a part of it and happy to have learned a new running route around Manhattan.  I think the next time I do it, I will extend the route from home.  This should give me a nice route of 45 miles.  Perfect distance for training for the Vermont 100 Miler this summer.