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Archive for May, 2009
Runner’s Bio – Think Fast, Move Faster
30, May 2009One of the marketing guys over at http://thinkfastmovefaster.com/ got in touch with me a while ago, asking for some information so that I could be a “featured athlete” on their site. I finally got around to answering the questions, here’s what I’m submitting…
Jason NYCin310
Sport: Distance Running
Current City: New York, NY
Date of Birth: April 28, 1981
Hometown: St. Petersburg, FL
Biography: I’ve had an on and off relationship with running for as long as I can remember. I grew up watching my parents participate at local races, and before I even hit middle school, I was hooked on the sport. In the 7th grade I joined the cross country and track teams and excelled at both.
Early in my high-school years, priorities shifted and running moved down the list. I still ran a little in my spare time, but I raced inconsistently, aside from the annual Turkey Trot 5k. By the time college was winding down, I found a renewed interest in the sport and started going out for a few miles 2 or 3 times a week.
Then I moved into New York City. Running provided a healthy opportunity for me to explore my new neighborhood and beyond. With this newfound enthusiasm, I began training for my first half marathon which I ran in Oct 2006, with the full distance in my sights for Nov 2007. After running the NY Marathon again in 2008, my goals started getting a little more ambitious.
I’m currently setting new personal records in all of my shorter distance races, while working on getting my marathon time down to 3hrs 10min. I want to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and like many runners, I blog about my progress at www.nycin310.com.
What sparked your interest? What interests me about running, is the fact that I’ve always been pretty good at it, even without really training. Once I learned how to apply myself for better results, my interest level took off…
A Mid-Run Motivational Strategy
28, May 2009Wednesday after work I set out to do four sets of 1 mile repeats on the treadmill. After warming up with a 7 or 8 minute jog, I began my first repeat at a 10.5 mph pace, about a 5:42 mile. I really hoped that I would feel comfortable at that pace, enough to even push it up a notch in the later part of the mile.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that 5:42 is pretty much my mile threshold and that there would be no speeding up beyond that point. I felt strong enough to hold my 10.5 mph pace for the second repeat, but by the middle of the third split I knew my miles were numbered and that the 4th was just going to be awful if I even attempted it.
So I took a quick break and negotiated with myself, mid-session.
I think this is something every runner has found themself doing at one point. You’re in the middle of a pretty hard training run; a weekend long-run, a fast tempo, or like in my case some intense repeats. You take a step back and make a deal with your body. If it will just allow you to get through most of the remaining work at hand, you’ll reciprocate by cutting the session a little bit early. Doesn’t that sound fair?
Anyway, I don’t know for sure that anyone else does this, but I do it all the time. Sometimes it feels great to stop a little early and know that you still did a good job. Usually though, by the time I finish most of the “hard work” I have enough left over to get through the last 10% anyway, so its more of a mind game than anything else. Long story short…
That’s how I finished my run on Wednedsay night. I compromised by agreeing to run my 4th mile as 2 seperate half-mile splits. And by the time I was done, I even had enough gas in the tank to do a third and final half mile.
J
Chase Corporate Challenge, Training Thoughts
27, May 2009We’re only two short weeks away from the 3.5 mile Chase Corporate Challenge in central park. That means it’s time for me to start thinking strategically about how I’d like to run the race. Time-wise I’d like to break 21 minutes (sub-6 splits), which I don’t think is too aggressive considering my 5k splits from March were 5:49. I’d like to think I’m a little faster now than I was then.
There are 122 men and 9 women who broke 21 minutes in last year’s Corporate Challenge, so that means there are at least 130 people that should start the race ahead of me. Since this is largely an amateur event (not being a running snob, its just true) I’m quite sure there will be plenty of runners who don’t know their starting position. But hopefully not too much bobbing and weaving at the start of the race. The full results from the 2008 Corporate Challenge in central park can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/NYCin310-JP-2008
I traced the race’s course map on www.mapmyrun.com. Fortunately the course avoids my absolute least favorite hill in the park (north-west corner). However, the first ¾ of a mile are basically uphill, followed by a good solid mile of downhill. Then mile 2 begins a short ¼ mile ascent, but the remainder of the race is pretty much flat or downhill which rocks.
Now that I’m back on a regular training schedule, I’m thinking about the big picture and the smaller picture simultaneously…
Training Recap, LA Marathon
26, May 2009It feels great to be back on a training schedule. I ran an easy 4.5 miler on Friday, a moderate 8 mile long-run on Saturday, biked for 2.5 hours on Sunday and did a fast 6 mile tempo on Monday. It’s the most consecutive days of outdoor running I’ve done since training for last year’s NY Marathon. Somehow my joints and muscles, which normally give me trouble, are feeling great. Goes to show how a little time off can improve your outlook.
Yesterday, Lauren and I started off from John St gym on the corner of Gold St and ran alongside the FDR into the East River Park. Modeled along the same lines as the battle-of-the-sexes “challenge” in Monday’s LA Marathon, we wagered bragging rights over who could complete their run first. This “challenge” was for me to run a 5 mile tempo in the time it took Lauren to do 4 miles. Same course, I would just tack on another half mile before turning around. I must have bit off more than I could chew, Lauren seemed to have finished with plenty of time to spare and cashed in her bragging rights a few times since.
If You Aren’t Watching the LA Marathon…
25, May 2009…why aren’t you? It starts in less than a half hour, 7:20am Pacific and 10:20am EST. The LA Marathon is broadcast live on Channel 162, Universal Sports (which I can no longer access on Time Warner Cable for some reason) and on their website: http://tinyurl.com/NYCin310-LA
This race is all about the Kenyan men and Eastern European women. Here’s what you need to know, according to Universal Sports:
http://tinyurl.com/NYCin310-LA-Contenders
| Top Men | Age | Country | PR | PR Location |
| Laban Kipkemboi | 31 | Kenya | 2:08:38 | Seoul, 2007 |
| Paul Kosgei | 31 | Kenya | 2:09:15 | Paris, 2008 |
| Julius Kibet | 27 | Kenya | 2:10:14 | Frankfurt, 2008 |
| Benjamin Limo | 34 | Kenya | 2:12:46 | Amsterdam, 2008 |
| Wesley Korir | 26 | Kenya | 2:13:53 | Chicago, 2008 |
—–
| Top Women | Age | Country | PR | PR Location |
| Nuta Olaru | 38 | Romania | 2:24:33 | Chicago, 2004 |
| Lyubov Morgunova | 38 | Russia | 2:25:12 | Rotterdam, 2008 |
| Tatyana Petrova | 26 | Russia | 2:25:53 | Dubai, 2009 |
| Silvia Skvortsova | 34 | Russia | 2:27:07 | London, 2002 |
| Amane Gobena | 26 | Ethiopia | 2:32:06 | Houston, 2009 |
Like many marathons these days, there’s an extra “challenge bonus” which promises to make the race an interesting one. The elite women will get about a 17 minute head start over the men. The first finisher, male or female, is the recipient of over $150,000 in cash and prizes.
The top male finisher will likely cross the line at about 2:10 which means the top female would need to come in under 2:27 to win the big prize.
Good luck to everyone about to run the LA Marathon!
J
Whoa, 1:23 Half Requires Serious Training
23, May 2009First things first, some of the Healthy Kidney 10k pictures from Brightroom are up on their site. http://www.brightroom.com/view_event.asp?EVENTID=47214. Here are mine. So far, the only thing I’ve been able to deduce from viewing various race photos, is that I was in excruciating pain throughout the entire race…
I ran about 8 miles this morning, with the middle four at a quicker pace (just under 7min pace) and the bookends at around 9 min. By 11am, it was just plain hot out, probably mid-70’s but it felt hotter because of the sun, which made for less than favorable conditions. Still, a good run while I’m getting back into the swing of things.
I just did a little research into what it would take to pull off a NY Marathon qualifying half on Aug 16th (13.1 miles in 1hr 23min)…
Race Recovery Lessons and the Next Goal
22, May 2009I finally got back out on the road today for 4 and a half miles along the East River. With all the tempo runs, interval sessions and long distance runs been I’ve been doing it was great to be out on a run with no real pace or distance in mind other than to run until I felt like turning around and then run back.
Aside from a quick trip to the gym on Tuesday morning, I didn’t train at all between Sunday and Thursday which is a few days longer than I wanted to wait. Next time I race a 10k, I want to be able to recover more quickly and probably taper a few days less as well. I also acknowledge that this was an especially busy week for me so the extra days off couldn’t have come at a better time…
Recovering from Under-training
20, May 2009Want to know what my running has been like since the Healthy Kidney 10k on Saturday? Non-existent.
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday my legs were just torn up from the race. Completely sore with no relief in sight. The massage I got on Sunday kind of helped… for all of 20 minutes afterwards. On Tuesday morning I hit the gym bright and early for some strength training and 20 minutes of biking. I would have liked to have gotten a run in on Wednesday, but in the process of recovering from a really fast 10k, I’m also locked into what may be the absolute busiest week of my life.
I did a day-trip to San Diego on Wednesday. Maybe I’ll get home on Thursday morning, go back to sleep for a few hours and then wake up and go for an easy run before I’m back to work. I’m a little paranoid that between the taper process and my lack of running this week, some of the fitness I’ve worked hard for could begin to fade. Two weeks is generally the point at which that starts happening…
- In: Coach's Corner| Miscellaneous| Runner's High
- Tags: goal setting, recovery, retraining, undertraining
Fun With Google Analytics – Race Photos
19, May 2009
After the home page, my photo section is the second most visited page on my site. I guess that means people are interested, so I posted some more pictures, check it…
http://www.nycin310.com/?page_id=2
J
Healthy Kidney 10K – Some Photos
18, May 2009Here’s a brief photo series from the 2009 Healthy Kidney 10k…
- Me and my rocket fuel
- Tola finishing
- Tola being congratulated
- Tola being interviewed
- Me hobbling towards chip removal
- and celebrating victory w/ fiance and future father-in-law
Click Here: http://www.nycin310.com/?p=565
J
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