Posts Tagged ‘running’

Overwhelmingly Detailed Gasparilla Marathon Weekend Recap (Part II)

3, Mar 2010

Before I went to bed, I set the alarm clock for 4am. In order to be on time for a 6am race located almost an hour away, I figured that might be cutting it kind of close, but on the same token, I also couldn’t fathom waking up at an hour with the digit ‘3′ in front of it. So 4am it was.

I slept remarkably well considering I’m not used to going to bed at 8:30pm. Didn’t really have any pre-race anxiety, and although I woke up briefly a couple times, all I did was glance at the clock and go right back to sleep. Finally at about 3:20am, I woke up and was feeling anxious enough that going back to sleep wasn’t an option. I laid there for 20 minutes soaking up my last few moments of rest before engaging in my pre-race rituals.

Since everything was neatly laid out from the night before, I didn’t have to waste much bandwidth in getting out the door. I chugged a 36oz Gatorade while popping an assortment of vitamins and ibuprofen, chasing them down with bites from a dry blueberry bagel. The Gatorade went down quickly and it would be the last thing I drank prior to the race, which was still 2hrs away. No over-hydration like I’ve done in past marathons (I thought)… In both NYC marathons I’ve been forced to stop and pee against the wall of the Verrazano bridge immediately after completing the 1st mile. Of course I ended up stopping to pee mid-race anyway, and in keeping with tradition, found a nice overpass to urinate on.

But I digress. After finishing my food/beverage/vitamin intake, I took a hot shower. As I’ve mentioned before, the pre-long run hot shower is my ace in the hole. Wakes me up, warms up the muscles. I dried off and tried on my race clothes, which at this point had been downgraded to just a long sleeve tech shirt and running shorts (down from a tank top, 2 long sleeves, a pair of Asics tights and a pair of shorts). I had to remind myself, even though Florida has experienced a particularly cold winter, it’s still Florida, so why was I even considering dressing like it was nyc. Then I went outside to check out the temps and confirmed my choice in garb. Then it was out the door and off to Tampa…

J

When Training Time is Scarce…

15, Jun 2009

It’s been a few days since I ran, and it’s been a few days since I posted. After spending the last 4 days in Jamaica, I can’t say its good to be back, but it will be nice to back to a semi-regular routine. I say semi-regular because it’s become progressively harder to carve out time to run and strength train as work demands, an upcoming wedding and family/friend obligations crank into full gear.

NYC East River Run

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ny/new%20york/634124511962571375

I channeled my scheduling frustrations into today’s run. I figured if time is getting more and more scarce, it only makes sense to pack more quality into my workouts. I did a 6.67 mile tempo run from the Financial District up the FDR and to about 14th street. The first half I ran 7:03 splits, then on the way back I decided to fight the jet-lag and RedStripe induced sluggishness by picking up the pace to 6:36.

It felt great to push myself since the only running I did since Wednesday’s Corporate Challenge was a single 25 minute jog around the resort in Jamaica. The big trick will be to figure out how to schedule a long run one day this week, since I can’t guarantee that there will be time over the weekend. I’ll post a follow-up to the NYC Chase Corporate Challenge in tomorrow’s post.

J

Training Recap, LA Marathon

26, May 2009

It 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.

5-25-run

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 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

East River Track

28, Mar 2009

Had a great workout today, second time running outdoors this year thanks to the half decent weather. Lauren and I jogged from the Financial District up to East River Park which is about 2.5 Miles one way. There’s an awesome track located right off of the FDR at about East 6th street…


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