Archive for September, 2009

149 days, 09h, 19m

30, Sep 2009

I signed up for the Gasparilla Marathon tonight. Glad I got it out of the way, now I have a better sense of purpose when I set out for a run. I noticed the start time is 6am on Feb 28th. That’s so early. It should take about an hour to get to Tampa from my parents home in St. Pete, so that means being out of the house by 4am which is pretty insane.

This will be the 10th and final year for the Gasparilla Marathon:

“Citing the strain the event places on city services and resources, Gasparilla Distance Classic Association race director Susan Harmeling said Sunday the marathon will cease to be part of the race weekend beginning in 2011.”
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/mar/22/gasparilla-marathon-last-legs/

More details on the race can be found here: http://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=1436100228

And here are some things I found interesting in the comments section:

PRO
- Right time of year and early start.
- Easy parking close to the convention and the start/finish line.
- Very flat.
- Plenty of fluids and gels throughout the course.
- small enough to be manageable, but large enough to feel like a real race.

CON
- Heavy congestion for the first mile and at various points where the marathon and half marathon merge.
- Some complaints about wind coming off of the bay.
- The route loops at points.
- Spectators are sparse for most of the course.
- The bridges are very narrow and cause bottlenecks.

Jason

Training Odds and Ends

29, Sep 2009

Just a few thoughts I had on the train ride home last night…
- I’m excited to start marathon training and although I don’t officially “start” until Oct 1st I’ve finally gotten back into a good workout routine for the first time in 6 weeks.
- I will kick off marathon training by registering for the Feb [...]

California Ultrarunners Found

24, Sep 2009

This is a pretty wild story I’ve been following. Here’s the recap from The Orange County Register, thank god they made it out alive…

Ultrarunner tells Register she was prepared to die
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/runners-diaz-armenta-2577640-natera-trail

By GREG HARDESTY, KIMBERLY EDDS and SALVADOR HERNANDEZ
The Orange County Register

CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST – After three days in the rugged Cleveland National Forest, veteran ultrarunner Maria “Gina” Natera-Armenta said she was prepared to die after becoming separated from her running partner and becoming stuck in a steep, rocky area with no way out – and no food or water in temperatures that soared past 100.

In an exclusive interview with The Orange County Register in her hospital room Wednesday afternoon, Natera-Armenta detailed her ordeal, which began around 7 a.m. Sunday morning during a routine mountain run with her brother-in-law, and ended when she was spotted from the air by searchers Wednesday afternoon.

Her sometime running partner, Fidel Diaz, 53, was found early Wednesday morning, wandering around the Lazy W Ranch looking for her – shaken and dazed, but coherent and not suffering any serious injuries.

But it wasn’t until hours later that Natera-Armenta showed up – after a helicopter spotted her in a remote, rocky section by a waterfall, where steep slopes prevented her from climbing out.

More than a dozen of her trail-running friends had joined search-and-rescue teams scouring the mountains for her – never giving up hope they would find a runner known for her tenacious, never-die spirit.

The sound of a sheriff’s helicopter hovering above her about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday compelled the desperately weak Natera-Armenta out from under some large boulders she had been using to shield herself from the heat and the sun.

Severely dehydrated, she had her last sip of water at 2 p.m. Sunday – and her last bit of food, a piece of peanut-butter sandwich, at 4 p.m. that day.

Natera-Armenta, 36, waved her arms as the blades of the chopper roared (continued here)….

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/runners-diaz-armenta-2577640-natera-trail

5:10 Treadmill Mile

23, Sep 2009

My lunchtime run today made the 50 day/5-minute mile goal seem pretty attainable. I recognize that a treadmill mile and a track mile are far from the same thing, but my legs and lungs definitely felt ok at an 5:10 pace (11.6mph). One of the main reasons the treadmill mile is so much easier is because you don’t have to worry about pacing yourself, it’s auto-pilot. There are of course a host of other reasons: the treadmill belt “pulls” your feet, there’s no wind resistance and no turns.

Here’s what the world’s fastest mile looks like. Suprisingly, the record was set in 1999 and remains to this day…

50-Days to Break a 5-minute Mile

21, Sep 2009

50 Days… that’s how much time I’m giving myself to try to break a 5 minute mile. My first day in the process began on Sunday. After a 20 minute warm-up jog, I ran a 5:35 mile at the East River track. That’s about 10-15 seconds faster than I thought I’d be capable of at this point in time, which I’m pretty happy about.

The bad news is that I had planned to also sprint an 800M and a 400M as a time trial. As I rounded the halfway point for my first lap of the 800M, I knew there was no gas in my tank to post a good time. So rather than struggle through the 2nd lap, I decided to make that my final lap of speedwork and finished the 400M in 1:20.

On the upside, my ankle was bothering me less than usual. But the jog home was rough, so although I put in about 6 miles total, I was more or less struggling the whole time. I biked for about 4hrs on Saturday, so maybe my legs were just tired… and of course I’m under-trained from honeymooning, and coming back sick.

My plan for getting back into training mode will be primarily weight training and indoor swimming/cycling while I try to rehab my ankle in preparation for the heavy marathon training mileage I’m about to take on. Now that I ran a 5:35 mile outdoors, I’m also curious about how quickly I could run the distance on a treadmill. I’d guess 5:20, but maybe I’ll give it a try on Wednesday to see how that goes.

J

Best of “Runner’s World Quotes of the Day”

18, Sep 2009

As I’ve mentioned before, it’s always hard to stay motivated. One thing that helps is that I get the Runner’s World newsletters: http://www.runnersworld.com/newsletter/0,7127,,00.html

One of the newsletters is a daily running quote in my inbox. Here are seven quotes that kind of spoke to me in the last month…

It’s the road signs, ‘Beware of lions.’
– Kip Lagat, Kenyan distance runner, during the Sydney Olympics, explaining why his country produces so many great runners

The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.
 -Sir Roger Bannister, First athlete to run the mile in less than four minutes

Always take the long term view and train and race smart, with a bit of caution.
 – Bill Rodgers

I often lose motivation, but it’s something I accept as normal.
 – Bill Rodgers, Olympic marathoner

Frustration is the first step towards improvement. I have no incentive to improve if I’m content with what I can do and if I’m completely satisfied with my pace, distance, and form as a runner. It’s only when I face frustration and use it to fuel my dedication that I feel myself moving forwards.
 – John “The Penguin” Bingham

Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it’s all about.
 – Patti Sue Plumer, U.S. Olympian

I run with my head, my heart and my guts, because physically, I don’t think I’ve got a great deal of talent or ability. I started at the bottom and worked up.
– Steve Jones, former marathon world record holder

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

NYCin310 State of the Union

14, Sep 2009

Hard to believe but it’s been over a month since the nyc half marathon. That was also pretty much the last time in the past month that I took running seriously. I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing, I probably could use a break. It just seems a little strange after all the work I put in during the first half of the year.

I got in some great runs during the honeymoon, averaging a 4 or 5 miler at least every other day. I really enjoyed carving out my running routes in a completely scenic foreign terrain. The cities of the French Riviera are stunning, which made the runs much less like work and more about enjoying the views.

Immediately following our honeymoon, I was struck with a week’s worth of chills, aches, sweats and various other unpleasantries that have kept me completely sidelined for the last 7 days. On the upside, I feel like it’s a chance for my muscles and joints to completely recover so at least the time off is productive in that sense.

But I can’t wait to get excited about running again. To get myself into good enough shape where I can start setting PRs and generally raising the bar. The next big goal is still pretty far off in the distance (Feb 28th Gasparilla Marathon), so I need some short term goals to work towards.

One of them will be setting some short distance PR’s at the track. I’d like to figure out what my best track times are for the 400M, 800M, 1 Mile and 2 Mile times are. Another one would be completing a triathlon (although we’re technically exiting triathlon season). Plus I have yet to run an up-to-date half marathon PR, which I’d like to do before Gasparilla.

And of course Gasparilla, which will be a pretty steep challenge in and of itself. I’d like to run a 3hr 25min Marathon which is about 15 minutes faster than my current PR. But there’s a lot of good reasons I think I can step up to the plate.

  • I shaved about 20 minutes off my time from 2007 to 2008.
  • Training through the winter might be easier than summer, not as hot and better for long runs
  • And not as ‘busy’ except for the holidays, which are still 50 days before the race.
  • We have a full gym in the building, including treadmill. Training has never been so convenient

Hard to believe but it’s been over a month since the nyc half marathon. That was also pretty much the last time in the past month that I took running seriously. I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing, I probably could use a break. It just seems a little strange after all the work I put in during the first half of the year.

I got in some great runs during the honeymoon, averaging a 4 or 5 miler at least every other day. I really enjoyed carving out my running routes in a completely scenic foreign terrain. The cities of the French Riviera are stunning, which made the runs much less like work and more about enjoying the views.

Immediately following our honeymoon, I was struck with a week’s worth of chills, aches, sweats and various other unpleasantries that have kept me completely sidelined for the last 7 days. On the upside, I feel like it’s a chance for my muscles and joints to completely recover so at least the time off is productive in that sense.

But I can’t wait to get excited about running again. To get myself into good enough shape where I can start setting PRs and generally raising the bar. The next big goal is still pretty far off in the distance (Feb 28th Gasparilla Marathon), so I need some short term goals to work towards.

One of them will be setting some short distance PR’s at the track. I’d like to figure out what my best track times are for the 400M, 800M, 1 Mile and 2 Mile times are. Another one would be completing a triathlon (although we’re technically exiting triathlon season). Plus I have yet to run an up-to-date half marathon PR, which I’d like to do before Gasparilla.

And of course Gasparilla, which will be a pretty steep challenge in and of itself. I’d like to run a 3hr 25min Marathon which is about 15 minutes faster than my current PR. But there’s a lot of good reasons I think I can step up to the plate.

  • I shaved about 20 minutes off my time from 2007 to 2008.
  • Training through the winter might be easier than summer, not as hot and better for long runs
  • And not as ‘busy’ except for the holidays, which are still 50 days before the race.
  • We have a full gym in the building, including treadmill. Training has never been so convenient
  • There are no hills in Florida and the Feb 28th weather will be perfect

So that’s my state of the runner’s union for right now. Maybe one of the first things to do will be register for the marathon so that I’m fully committed.

J
J

NYC Half Marathon Pics

11, Sep 2009

Here are Lauren’s pictures from the NYC Half Marathon… all the greats, Tadese, Ryan, Paula and Jason. Also, my brightroom pics.

[gallery link="file" columns="2"]

9, Sep 2009

“In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed 361 research studies done by the epidemiology program office and found no evidence that stretching before or after exercise prevents injury or muscle soreness.”

I’ve always hated stretching, I’m sure most people will agree. But it’s so deeply embedded in the running mythology that I’ve had a hard time turning my back on it. So before every run, for the last 4 years, I’ve devoted 10 minutes pre and post workout to a stretching routine. That’s all about to change.

I’ve read enough evidence lately to be convinced that stretching is a superfluous activity, one that could potentially even increase the chance of injury. So for the last couple weeks, I’ve been neglecting my stretching duties and as of right now, I’m happy to report I’m no worse for it. I like the idea of just putting your clothes on and walking out the door. That’s not to say that a “warm up” jog isn’t useful, I believe it is. Just not the stretching part.

Not suprisingly, its hard to find information that supports the notion of not stretching. I’ve dug up a few articles…

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=4919&PageNum=1

http://www.thepeanutmill.com/common/news/news_results.asp?task=Features&id=11827&storeID=FE41C8C970104091B8F2F7AD8963CFF3

http://vsatrackclub.org/articles/stolley_not_stretching.pdf

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a906187888

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

Today’s Indoor Triathlon Session

7, Sep 2009

I’m finally making some progress on the swimming front. About a month ago when I started, 100 Meters had me completely out of breath. Today I was able to swim consecutively for about 400M. This is thanks, no doubt, to the fact that I just spent the last 2 weeks at the beach, honeymooning in the South of France where I was able to enjoy a mid-afternoon swim each day. Unfortunately, today’s swim was in the basement of my apartment and not in St. Tropez… in a 60ft pool, which meant 11 laps back and forth.

20 Pine - The Collection at 20 Pine Street in Financial District

The 400M of swimming took me just under 11 minutes, which is probably not very quick. My swimming technique is less than perfect I’m sure. But I’m working on it, and plan to watch a few more lessons from the “Total Immersion DVD” in the next few days (thanks again @dnorton).

After I swam, I decided to see what it would be like to go through the motions of a triathlon. I quickly got into some dry clothes and got onto the stationary bike, located in the gym directly above our pool for 20k of cycling. I was cautious about the biking, not quite sure of what it would be like to both swim and bike before running a 5k. I completed the distance in about 39 minutes. Then I ran a 22:30 5k.

20 Pine - The Collection at 20 Pine Street in Financial District

I have to say, the whole process was pretty comfortable. I feel like if I practice swimming a little more, I could put up a halfway decent time in a sprint tri or even complete an olympic with a little more work. The big problem is that I’ve gotten myself interested in triathloning at precisely the wrong time, since the season is rapidly coming to a close. If I can’t figure out a way to compete anytime soon, at least it’s a good way to stay in shape while I allow my right ankle’s tendonitis to subside.
J


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