Archive for April, 2009

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Some Thoughts on Quarter Mile Intervals

30, Apr 2009

What a busy week so far. With my birthday festivities on Tuesday and a “recovery day” on Wednesday, I haven’t even had a chance to post thoughts on my workout from Monday. Monday’s training was the first time I’ve run quarter mile splits since I committed to doing intervals as part of my program. Over the past few months, I’ve spent some time working on full mile and half mile splits, but never 400’s.

Since I ran after completing my fitness assessment, I was a little spent before I even started. I guess 18 steeply uphill minutes of VO2 testing on the treadmill will do that to you. But I found the quarter mile splits were actually a lot of fun, as far as ‘fun’ goes in running anyway. Its a short enough distance where you have the chance to really run all out, and as you approach the final stretch of each interval, you can feel fatigue beginning to set in. But before it does, the split is over and you have a quick minute to walk it off and recover…

If You Live in New York and Have Time Warner Cable…

29, Apr 2009

…there are plenty of great running tv shows coming up in the next few weeks. If you don’t live in NY and have TWC, check your local listings.

Universal Sports – www.universalsports.com

Universal Sports

Tune in or set your DVR to watch UniSport’s program called Running on channel 162. They will be profiling the April 5th Rotterdam Marathon recently won by Duncan Kibet of Kenya in a speedy 2:04:27, within 30 seconds of world record time.

  • 4/29 – 9:00pm
  • 4/30 – 2:00pm
  • 5/2 – 10:00pm

…And the April 26th London Marathon recently won by Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya in an equally impressive 2:05:10, a new course record.

  • 4/30 – 10:00pm
  • 5/3 – 4:00pm

…And they’ll also be replaying April 20th Boston Marathon featuring Americans Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher each placing 3rd after a duo of Kenyans/Ethiopians.

  • 5/1 – 10:00pm

Upcoming long distance events featured on Universal Sports are as follows…

  • 5/25 – 11:30am (EST) – Los Angeles Marathon (live)
  • 5/30 – 8:00am (EST) – Stockholm Marathon
  • 6/26 – TBD – Rio Marathon

YES Network – www.yesnetwork.com

Turns out the YES Network (channel 53 and 753) also has a program called Running which is localized to the NY racing scene. Featuring racing highlights, area race schedules, equipment / training tips and new places to run, this program is the ultimate guide to running in NYC.

  • 4/30 – 7:30am
  • 5/2 – 11:30pm

Showtime NEXT – www.shownext.com

Universal Sports – Marathon Notes Summary

29, Apr 2009

This week in Universal Sport’s marathon update, the experts tackle a tough question: Which spring marathon has more prestige, Boston or London? And guess what… it’s NOT Boston!

Boston 2009

  • Won by Deriba Merga, 4th in Beijing
  • Winning time of 2:08:42
  • Finish line at Copley Square
  • Historic course but has rolling hills + headwinds
  • A far distance to travel for international champs
  • “Boston is where 2nd tier guys go to win big money” — Duncan Larkin

London 2009

  • Won by Sammy Wanjiru, gold medalist
  • Winning time of 2:05:10, a course record
  • Finish line at Buckingham Palace
  • Speedy course, 2 minutes faster than Boston
  • Geographically desirable for African talent
  • Huge “appearance fees” = better competitors

And a few more notes from the world of marathoning…

Monday’s Fitness Assessment

29, Apr 2009

On Monday after work, Lauren set me up for a fitness assessment with her trainer.

The assessment consisted of…

  • Resting Heart Rate
  • Body Composition
  • VO2 Max Test (actually, I believe it was a sub-VO2 test)
  • Push-ups to Failure
  • Sit Ups in 1 Min
  • Superman Plank 1 Min

Here’s what I learned…

Resting Heart Rate

Resting heart rate is a key measurement of cardiovascular fitness. In simple terms, the lower your resting heart rate, the more athletically conditioned your heart is. A lower resting heart rate means your heart is more efficient at delivering blood/oxygen throughout your circulatory system.

The average resting heart rate for males is about 70, for females it’s 75. My resting heart rate is 49 which is pretty good. Lance Armstrong’s is about 32. At the very low end, I think there’s some Tour de France cyclist from Spain who only has to breathe once a month… his heart ticks at 28 bpm. When your heart gets over-conditioned there’s actually a disease called athletic heart syndrome. Its probably the only disease that you’d actually want to have a doctor diagnose you with since it just means you’re in ridiculously good shape, and there’s no apparent downside.

Here are my personal heart rate training zones, so you can see how it works. If you want to know the math behind calculating it yourself, let me know…

RESTING HEART RATE 49
AGE 28
HEART RATE ZONES
60% 134.8
65% 141.95
70% 149.1
75% 156.25
80% 163.4
85% 170.55
90% 177.7
95% 184.85

Body Composition

When we discuss body composition, usually what we really mean is body fat percentage. Obviously carrying excess weight in the form of body fat isn’t going to make running any easier, so for a runner it’s usually good to have minimal body fat to a certain point. If your body dips below 4% however, this starts to become a disadvantage. At sub-4% body fat, I think your body basically starts eating itself because its hungry. We don’t want that happening.

Ideal body fat percentage is largely dependent on age and sex. I came in at a lean 5.7%. Here’s what the chart looks like for both men and women…

BODY FAT PERCENTAGE for MEN
AGE LEAN IDEAL AVERAGE OVERFAT
20 – 29 3 – 9 9 – 16 16 – 22 > 22
MEN 30 – 39 5 – 12 12 – 20 20 – 25 > 25
40 – 49 7 – 15 15 – 22 22 – 28 > 28
50 – 59 9 – 19 19 – 25 25 – 30 > 30
60 – 69 11 – 20 21 – 26 26 – 31 > 31

BODY FAT PERCENTAGE for WOMEN
AGE LEAN IDEAL AVERAGE OVERFAT
20 – 29 12 – 18 18 – 24 24 – 31 > 31
WOMEN 30 – 39 13 – 20 20 – 26 26 – 33 > 33
40 – 49 15 – 22 22 – 28 28 – 35 > 35
50 – 59 16 – 26 26 – 30 30 – 37 > 37
60 – 69 18 – 26 27 – 32 33 – 38 > 38

VO2 Test…

Weekend Training Log

27, Apr 2009

Had a good mix of training and recovery this weekend…

Upper Body Strength – I spent some time at the gym on Saturday taking care of the upper body basics, which I’ve been neglecting lately in favor of more running/cycling. I tried to hit the all major muscle groups in the least amount of time by incorporating plenty of dips and pull-ups.

Rowing Machine – I decided to finally branch out a little in the non-running cardio dept and do some rowing. Put simply, the rowing machine sucks. For the first couple minutes it seems too easy, even at the highest tension. Then the next couple minutes get real boring real quick. Then all the sudden after 5-6 minutes I suddenly get exhausted and decide to quit. Lauren has confirmed having a similar experience with the machine which is why she recommended I do the rowing in sets, with some other sort of exercise in between. I concur, but still can’t imagine getting too into it.

Lower Body Strength – I also made Lauren promise to take me through a lower body strength routine since I haven’t exactly been practicing what I preach when it comes to squats, lunges, etc. She made me do 4 x 10 barbell squats w/ 80lbs and 4 x 10 step-ups on each leg, holding 30lb dumbbells. This was just about enough to make me sore the next day, but not crippled. Which is a good thing since I biked about 40 miles on Sunday.

Outdoor Biking – If you’re a runner and you aren’t doing a long bike ride twice a month…

Flora London Marathon Wrap Up

26, Apr 2009

Great race in London today, with the men’s field breaking a course record, and plenty of olympic medalers in the men’s and women’s top 3. Here’s some video…

Here’s the top 10 finishers in the men’s and women’s…

NYC Races – May June July August

25, Apr 2009

Here’s a calendar for upcoming races in May, June, July and August throughout the 5 boroughs, Westchester and Long Island…

DATE RACE DISTANCE LOCATION
Sat, May 02 Hall of Fame 10K/5K Runs & 2M Walk 10K run, 5K run Bronx
Sat, May 02 Long Island Marathon – 5K Run 5K run, kids run Long Island
Sat, May 02 Revlon Run/Walk for Women 5K run, 5K walk Manhattan
Sun, May 03 Long Island Marathon, Half Marathon 26.2M, 13.1M, 10K Long Island
Sat, May 09 Long Island Greenbelt Trail 50K Run 50K trail run Plainview
Sat, May 09 Miles for Moms 4M run, 4M walk Manhattan
Sat, May 09 Spring Couples Relay Triathlon Manhattan
Sat, May 09 Urban Dare Manhattan Adventure Race Manhattan
Sun, May 10 Mother’s Day 4M, Health Walk, and K 4M run, 4M walk Manhattan
Sun, May 10 Carl Hart Mothers Day Duathlon Duathlon Islip
Sun, May 10 Elizabeth McNamee Memorial Run 5K run, 1M run West Islip
Sun, May 10 Mother’s Day 5K Run/2M Walk 5K run, 2M walk Yorktown
Fri, May 15 Myomed Ragnar Relay – Manhattan 175M relay Bronx
Sat, May 16 Brooke Jackman Run for Literacy 5K run, 5K walk Oyster Bay
Sat, May 16 EnduraSport Manhattan Triathlon Triathlon Manhattan
Sat, May 16 Healthy Kidney 10K 10K run Manhattan
Sat, May 16 The Melissa Fund 5K Sun Run 5K run, 5K walk Manhattan
Sun, May 17 Grace Day School 5K Run for Reading 5K run, 5K walk Wantagh
Sun, May 17 NYPD Memorial 5K Run 5K run Manhattan
Sun, May 17 Queens Biathlon Duathlon Queens
Sun, May 17 Forest Park Classic 4 Mile Run 4M run Woodhaven
Thu, May 21 VCTC Summer 5K Cross-Country Series 5K run Manhattan
Sat, May 23 Bayville 5K Run 5K run Bayville
Sat, May 23 Runday 5K 5K run Hicksville
Sat, May 23 Run for Children’s Rights 5K run, 5K walk Manhattan
Sun, May 24 City Managers Trophy Run 10M run Long Beach
Sun, May 24 Liberty to Liberty America’s Memori Triathlon Manhattan
Sat, May 30 NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix: Broo 13.1M run Brooklyn
Sat, May 30 Judi Shesh Memorial 5K Run/Walk 5K run, 5K walk Bay Shore

June, July and August after the jump!

NY Marathon – Pacing Spreadsheet in Excel

25, Apr 2009

If you’re running the NY Marathon and are an excel geek (like me) and you obsess over your mile splits (like me) then you’ll love this spreadsheet.

marathon-spreadsheet

I found it on one of the Runner’s World forums about a year ago, but I don’t think it’s available there anymore so here you go (the spreadsheet is for the ‘08 NY Marathon, but I doubt much has changed): nyc_marathon_pacing__info1

The spreadsheet has tabs that allow you to…

  • Create a mile split wrist band
  • View an elevation profile of the NY Marathon
  • Study the grades of the steepest hills
  • Estimate your corral’s start time based on Bib Color / Number
  • Pinpoint your location at different times, for your spectators
  • Cross referrence your location with different subway stops
  • There are also some valuable maps and entry information.

Thanks for reading, make sure to bookmark my site and come back often. Feel free to email me at Jason@nycin310.com. You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NYCin310.

J

Friday Hill Work

24, Apr 2009

Did some quick hill work at lunch time today, starting off with a slow first mile at a 2% incline and progressing to a 6:30 pace at a 4% grade by the 3rd mile. Finished off with 1000M at 6:00 pace and then the treadmill mysteriously shut down. Not sure why it did, but I think it was the ghost of Prefontaine telling me not to over do it.

I’m feeling the early onset of some shin splints so I’ll do my best to avoid running on both Saturday and Sunday. Wouldn’t mind getting in a few hours of outdoor biking on one of those days.

Then on Monday there’s my fitness assessment, where I finally get my VO2 reading. After the assessment I’d like to head over to the East 6th track for 12 x 400M speed work.

J

Attention New York Runner/Bloggers

24, Apr 2009

Pigtails Flying is hosting a runner/blogger meet-up at a NYC bar. If you run in NY and blog about it, she’d love to have you join us. All you have to do is go to her blog and ask for the evite in her comments section, here: http://tinyurl.com/NYRunBlogMeet

Bookmark her blog and visit often: http://pigtailsflying.wordpress.com/

J


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