A Weekend of Running & Volunteering (Long!)

On Saturday, I had a mission. Armed with a pack of shot bloks, a water bottle, and some cash, I went with Rachel into Central Park to do my first 16 mile run. Previously, the longest run I had done was a half marathon, so I was a little nervous going into this.

We decided to do two full six mile loops of the park and then the four mile inner loop to finish it off. 

The entire first loop felt pretty good. We had to keep reminding ourselves not to go too fast, and would occasionally back off when we saw the Garmin go below 10 minute miles. After the first mile, we realized that my garmin was somehow a bit behind Rachel's in terms of distance. By the end, I was over a tenth of a mile behind. Oh well! We had a quick bathroom break at the boathouse between miles 5 & 6, refueled, then kept going. 

The second loop felt good for most of it. Harlem Hill didn't feel easy, but the rest of the loop felt ok. My legs were starting to get tired towards the end. We stopped twice, once for a few seconds to refill our water bottles, then once to use the restroom and refuel. 

As we got into the four mile loop, my legs started to protest loudly. They were tired, and were clearly letting me know it. It was physically and mentally difficult for me to finish, but I managed, and at the end, Rachel stood by our park exit and humored me while I ran the extra tenth of a mile to get 16.00 exactly on my garmin. 

I averaged the pace I wanted for the run, so I was very happy about that. My legs were initially very sore, but as the day continued, they gradually began to feel better. I thought that the strategy of fueling every 5-6 miles worked very well, and I had enough water with me the entire time. When I hear people discuss how they don't fuel for runs over 10 miles, I wonder how they do it and not feel like crap.

The next morning, I went to NYRR headquarters as a volunteer for bib / t-shirt pickup. I had planned on sitting indoors and having an easy, comfortable "+1" experience, but that was not to be. Apparently they needed more people at t-shirt pickup in the park, so another volunteer and myself were sent by Janet Cupo to the park with a couple of NYRR employees. A short cab ride later, we were drinking coffee and setting up the t-shirts in the park.

The bright side was that I got to see a few friends before their race, and they were wearing football uniforms. It was chilly out, but it wasn't too bad. The following were the most common phrases I uttered during the next one hour time period:

"Sorry, we're out of smalls" (Soon to be expanded to "Sorry, we only have large and extra large")

"Number pick-up is at NYRR Headquarters" (the later it got, the harder it was for people to accept)

"I need your shirt tag. The one attached to the bib"

"No, we are not selling the t-shirts"

People: It clearly states on the NYRR website that bib pickup is at NYRR headquarters. While I feel bad that you have to find this out close to the last minute, it clearly stated on the website that number pickup was not going to take place in the park. Always double check!!!!!!

I usually get a t-shirt for volunteering, but when they ran out of mediums I didn't even bother taking one. The medium would have been huge on me as it was. 

We were let go shortly after the race started, and after taking much longer to get home than planned, I went on a recovery run. Too bad my legs weren't able to stick to recovery pace. Bad Dahlia!!! (It's like my legs were asking to be sore all day). I did warn them about the 5 flights of stairs they would have to climb to get to my friend's apartment....

Summary	32:51.0	3.38	9:41
1	10:31.4	1.00	10:31
2	9:28.4	1.00	9:28
3	9:23.9	1.00	9:24
4	3:27.7	0.38	8:47

Overall, I had a nice weekend of running, bridesmaids dress shopping, superbowl watching, and almost finishing up a major project. Completing my first 16 mile run gave me a lot of confidence, and I felt that in total, it was a good week of training. Only 1 month and 12 days until the NYC Half! More importantly, less than 9 months left until NYCM!!!!

Well, it's official!

"Dashing" Through the Snow: The Manhattan Half RR

Originally, when I signed up for this race, I didn't intend to break my Cape Cod PR (1:54), but I wanted to complete it in under two hours. Since the first half of the course was identical to the course of my March goal half (the NYC Half), I figured it would be a good practice run.

Then reality came crashing down in the form of an impending snowstorm. Since one of our borough halves was cancelled by a hurricane in August, I figured that either the race would be cancelled, downgraded to a fun run, or moved to the next day. When it wasn't moved to the next day (Sunday) by Friday, I was secretly hoping it would be cancelled so that I could sleep in.

The race had been sold out for some time, so when I picked up my bib the night before, it didn't surprise me that I was moved back from the green 3xxx corral. I asked them what the status of the race was, and they said that a decision would be made by 5am in order to give those coming from further away enough time to react.

After having pizza for dinner, I had an early night and set my alarm for 6am. When I woke up, I looked at NYRR and realized that they had downgraded the race to a fun run, meaning that not only wouldn't we be scored, but that there wouldn't be timing mats along the course.

I was supposed to meet some friends at the race, but since they lived further away, they understandably decided not to come in. After considering my options for a few minutes, I knew that I would regret not going, so I got dressed and left my apartment. Here are some pictures as I walked into the park.

Since it was a fun run, the usual corral system was not in effect, so everyone just lined up randomly at the start line. In hindsight, I probably should have used the bathroom before the race started, but oh well. It started to get very chilly waiting around for the race to start, so I was almost relieved when the race started right on schedule at 8am.

I decided early on to go at my easy pace, but I underestimated how difficult that would feel. I never ran in snow before, and each step took far more effort than I could have imagined. As I finished Cat Hill for the first time, I saw a couple of dog walkers yelling at a poor course volunteer because she was preventing them from crossing in the middle of a race. As if being a course marshal for this race wasn't difficult enough. Despite feeling like a turtle and seeing lots of people pass me, I managed to average a 10:15 pace over the first three miles, which is the slower end of my easy pace per McMillan.

Then I faced Harlem Hill, which is one of the toughest hills of the park. Although I run this hill almost daily, and have done it in under 9mm, this time around, I felt like the hill would never end. It felt like it went on forever, so when I realized I finished that mile in close to 11 minutes, I wasn't really too surprised.

Also, by that point, my bladder was ready to kill me, and although I tried avoiding stopping at a place with a long line, just before the mile 5 marker, I gave up and waited in line for about 5-6 minutes, knowing that it was an un-scored fun run anyways. I felt much better after that, and to my relief, I still wasn't dead last after the wait. At the next water station, I had to grab a cup of water and hold it for the next quarter mile as I realized my shot bloks were much harder to chew than they should have been.

As we passed the start line for our second loop, one of the course marshals yelled "who's on the second loop?" and I raised my hand, and he said, "good, you're almost near mile 12!" and then I immediately corrected him, saying I was at the beginning of the second loop. Too bad.

After going around the bottom of the park again, I just finished mile 7 when I saw Mary Wittenberg, CEO of NYRR, standing there and encouraging people to cut the course short by turning onto the transverse towards the finish instead of completing the second loop. I was afraid that they would force us to cut the race short, but thankfully, we were allowed to continue. (Unfortunately, I found out later that after a certain point, they started breaking down the aid stations in the northern end of the park, effectively cutting the race short for people). Even if people did decide that 7 miles (or 3, or however many miles they ran) were enough, they still deserved a ton of respect for coming out in that weather. 

I caught a spark of defiance fueled energy and sped up slightly, only to be faced with Cat Hill for the second time. I immediately regretted not stopping at mile 7, but I was far too stubborn to admit it, so I kept going. Conditions had gotten worse, the course was emptier, and it felt much harder to keep going. I couldn't even imagine how the volunteers must have felt at this point.

The mile after Cat Hill was relatively flat, and I ended up having my first mile that was under 10 minutes. I enjoyed the downhill going into Harlem Hill, but the second attempt at Harlem Hill during mile 11 felt even worse than the first one (but was somehow slightly faster).

After doing the rolling hills of the West side for the second time, I knew that all of the hard hills were out of the way, and I felt much better. I had less than a couple of miles to go, so I sped up, wanting to finish strong. After passing some of the course volunteers for a third time ("You again!" I said to one of the more cheerful ones) I finished my last two full miles in 9:42 and 9:24. I sped up even further thinking that I could beat 2:15 on my watch, but my garmin time ended up being 2:15:03 (and with the long wait for the bathroom, my official time really would have been 2:20:xx)

After crossing the finish, I see a Brightroom photographer standing right there, so I walked up to him and posed. He took my picture, and told me that he recognized me from the New Year's Eve run. My parents liked the photo so much that I bought a digital version for them - a first for me. The picture on the left of that is me hanging around in the t-shirt that I earned the right to wear (along with the couple of thousand other crazy people).

When I first looked at my garmin splits below, I thought I had a huge negative split, but when I added everything up I realized that I only ran the second half faster by about a minute. Although this would have probably been my worst official time in a half, I felt proud of myself for getting out there and not giving up. I felt extremely emotional, and almost cried out of relief that I was finally done.

I also want to thank all of the volunteers who stayed out there for as long as they did. It really meant a lot to all of the runners, and we couldn't have had this race without you guys! 

Now that I'm done writing this race report, it's time for me to get moving and do my long run. Thankfully this time, the 13 miles will not be in the snow. 

My Year so Far

First, I have to apologize for a lack of updates. I've been incredibly busy so far, but when I realized that I have a race tomorrow, it also occurred to me that I have to write a double race report before beginning to process tomorrow's race.

To start off the New Year, I ran a 4 mile fun run with some friends.

It was my friend Zahava's first NYRR race, and after taking it easy for the first three miles, we sped up to complete an under 9 minute last mile. I think that someday I will get her to join the cult. Hmmm....

The next weekend, I did the Joe Kleinerman 10K, which used to take place in December. Honestly, I wasn't even going to sign up for this race, but peer pressure can be a tough thing to resist (thanks Rachel!)  She wanted me to pace her, and I happily agreed.

You can read her account here - although we did not get her "A" goal of under 55 minutes, she earned a new 10K PR, and I'm very proud of her for it. She was on pace for the first three miles though, and considering she was just recovering from a marathon induced injury, the signs are very promising for not only a sub-55 minute 10k, but a sub-2 hour half as well.

As usual, I got some "flattering" pictures from Brightroom, that is if you think napping, pissed off, and tired are attractive. 

Training for the New York City Half is going well, but I have been slacking off slightly on quality for various reasons. I had shin pains and I was under the weather this week, but hopefully next week I'll be back on target completely. At least I'm hitting my target mileage at any rate - I have lots of firsts to look forward to, such as my first 15 and 16 mile runs.

Next up: The Manhattan Half, assuming it's not cancelled due to the impending snow storm. We'll see what happens.

2011 in Review: A Great Year of Running

It has been an amazing year for me in terms of running. First, here are some statistics that I kept track of on excel over this past year, followed by goals for 2012:

2011 Stats / 2012 Goals
Total Miles Run: 1389.85 / 1500
Average Miles Per Month: 115.82 / 125
Average Miles Per Week: 26.62 / 28.85
Average Miles Per Day: 3.81 / 4.10


Apparently I could run from NYC to Lincoln, NE with a few miles to spare. Either that, or I could run to the southern tip of Florida with almost 100 miles to spare.


Also, here are my PRs as of today, along with my 2012 goals:

2011 PR / 2012 Goal
1 Mile:     7:04 / 6:59
5K:          27:27 / 23:59
4 Miles:   32:44 / 31:59
5 Miles:   43:40 / 41:59
10K:       54:27 / 52:xx
15K:       1:19:54 / 1:17:xx
HM:        1:54:27 / 1:49:xx
Marathon: NA / 4:29:xx

I don't know how realistic some of these goals are, but any improvements made will be a good things. I know that as a newer runner, improvements would come very quickly, but I know that eventually, it will take much more work to see even any improvements at all.

But numbers don't tell the whole story. The other day, while my mom and I were running, she asked me what I liked most about running, I realized that it wasn't just about the PRs and the numerical data, no matter how much I enjoy analyzing it on excel.

I find that running has done the following for me
- keeps me healthy and in shape
- gave me a whole new circle of friends
- gives me goals to aim for
- has given me the means to accomplish what I never thought I could do.

I have also learned a few critical lessons that will help me when it comes time for marathon training
- Listen to my body
- Don't try and increase quality workouts and mileage at the same time
- Running is part of my life, but don't let it be my entire life. There must be balance

I also have other, non running related personal goals that I hope to achieve, and this includes being more aware of what I'm eating and making sure I make healthier choices. Losing weight would be nice, but being healthy is even more important. It is also a goal of mine to incorporate more cross training (1-2x per week) and strength training (2x per week) into my life.

Thanks to everyone who supported me throughout this year, and I look forward to another great year of running, starting off with the Emerald Nuts 4 mile run to bring in the New Year.

The Ted Corbitt 15K: A Surprise PR to end the racing season

Short Version

Distance: 15K (about 9.3 miles)

Previous PR: 1:23:21
Time: 1:19:54 (8:36mm) - New PR

Overall Place: 1551/4287

Gender Place: 471/2247

Age Place: 134/611

Long Version

The last several weeks of running had gone pretty well for me. After taking a cut back week following the Cape Cod Half, I kept to my goal of running at least 30 miles per week, and even managed to get in just over 37 miles last week. Other than the Race to Deliver last month, I didn't race, and just focused on maintaining my base around my busy schedule. 

I signed up for the Ted Corbitt 15K a few months ago because I wanted to break my 15K PR of 1:23:21, which was set in March. NYRR only offers two 15Ks per year, and I had enjoyed the Colon Cancer Challenge, which had a similar course (but a different start/end point). I figured that since my HM best pace was an 8:45, I should be able to crush my previous 15K PR of 1:23:21 (8:57 pace) pretty easily.

However, this past week I ran into a major roadblock. I started getting the sniffles on Monday, and by Tuesday it developed into a full blown cold. I ran on Tuesday and Wednesday, but it wasn't pretty, and on Thursday I had to take a USRD. I made up the mileage Friday, but all throughout the week, I had a hard time keeping up my easy pace, so I started to worry about whether I'd even feel well enough to participate in the race, much less do well.

However, after taking Theraflu for a couple of nights, and drinking a couple of glasses of wine at my office party, I woke up reluctantly yesterday morning feeling a bit tired, but decent overall. After getting ready, I walked about a mile to baggage check, and met up with a couple of friends, as well as a new running friend, before heading to the corrals with them.

My race bib

I had considered starting back a corral if I didn't feel well, but in the end I started in my usual corral with my friend Abbey. It was chilly standing around, but after the national anthem, the race started right on time, and I quickly warmed up. 


The course consisted of a four mile loop and a five mile loop. The only difference between the two loops was that the five mile loop took us all the way to the bottom of the park, while the four mile loop cut the bottom part out. As a result, I faced two sets of hills twice during the course of the race. 


We got off to a slow start, but after the first mile it was easier to speed up. The west side rolling hills (set #1) took place during mile one and continued into mile two. After finishing the first mile at close to 9 minutes (my garmin always hit the mile marker earlier), I sped up to finish a mostly downhill mile two about 15 seconds faster. The one thing that bothered me was some guy who ran past me was loudly complaining about how he had to pass all of the "slow pokes". Thanks for that remark, random rude guy.


Mile three had Cat Hill (set #2) so I slowed back down a little, but I still felt good after finishing the hill. My pace was still well under my PR pace of 8:57, so after doing mile four in about 8:30, I felt confident that I was at least going to get a PR unless I fell apart in the second half of the race.

We were briefly slowed down at the start of the second loop since the transverse was split into a finishing lane, and a lane for those doing their second lap, but my pace wasn't too affected by that. I was in the middle of the second round of the west side hills when I approached the mile five marker and I realized that I hit it at almost exactly my five mile PR of 43:40.

I couldn't really eat much before the race, so I had a shot blok before starting, and I would take two more along the course before water stops. I got water a third time simply because I was really thirsty and I figured that it wouldn't affect my time too much.

I don't remember much about miles six and seven, other than the fact that I was thinking that once I did Cat Hill for the second time, the rest of the race would be easy to deal with. But then I hit the mile seven marker and then I realized something very interesting that would change the tone of the race for me...

I hit the mile seven marker at almost exactly 1:01. After doing some quick math in my head, I realized that if I completed the last 2.3 miles in under 19 minutes, I would not only PR, but I would get a sub 1:20 time. I asked myself the following: would you be as happy with your time if you didn't push it and get a sub-1:20, or would you be wondering whether taking that one extra water stop was a bad idea? Being the type-A person that I was, the answer was pretty clear.

At that point, I sped up as I started mile eight, but I knew that keeping a fast pace would be tough now that Cat Hill was coming up again. The last two miles would be very tough for me, but I just refused to slow down for any reason. I knew that it would be very close, but after completing Cat Hill I was able to speed up slightly and my last full mile ended up being my fastest. As I took the final turn towards the finish, I knew that I was going to make it, and when I crossed, my garmin said 1:19:56

Someone clearly did not do a good job of
running the tangents 

My official time ended up being 1:19:54 (8:36 pace). Considering I wasn't even hoping to PR the day before, this was the best outcome I could have hoped for.

I met up with my friends and we went to Starbucks to celebrate our great race times and drink lattes (and show off our nice race shirts, which for once wasn't white).

 When I got home, I realized that based on my HM best time on a flatter course, McMillan predicted a time of 1:19:42 - on a hillier course, I was off by only 12 seconds.

Overall, this was a great way to end my 2011 racing season, and I look forward to seeing what 2012 will bring.

Race to Deliver #2: A New 4 Mile PR & Free Broadway Tickets!

Short Version

Distance: 4 Miles

Time: 32:44 (8:11mm) - New PR and NYRR bib time

Overall Place: 1212/4501

Gender Place: 294/2384

Age Place: 96/625

Long Version

This past Sunday was the Race to Deliver, a 4 mile race that takes place in Central Park. It is put on by God's Love We Deliver, an organization that delivers meals to those who are unable to shop or cook for themselves.

This was my very first race last year, and it was an entirely different experience this time around. Last year, I had no previous races with NYRR, so I had to estimate my pace per mile when I signed up. Mom & I estimated about 11mm and we were placed in the last corral. I was excited and terrified at the same time - I had no idea what to expect in a race, and a part of me worried that I wouldn't be able to finish. However, with some good pace setting from my mom, we ended up finishing the course in 42:59 at a 10:44 pace. 

A lot has changed over the last year, even if the race shirt stayed almost exactly the same. Before this race, my best 4 mile time was a 33:33, and my NYRR bib time was 8:23, so because of that I was in the fourth coral, which is a 3xxx green bib. This time, I had a definite time goal, which was finishing in under 33 minutes, or 8:15mm. My reach goal was under 32 minutes but I knew that it was a very long shot. 

Sister Act the musical was a co-sponsor of the race this year, and so the first 500 people to pick up their race packets would receive nun-habits, and if they wore their nun habits at any point of the race (and walked up to a table), they would get two tickets to the show. Since my friend got to pick up early, she picked up my stuff and so I was able to do this. Note: I didn't race in the costume, and I literally just threw on the main part of the costume, walked up to the table, and the person let me sign up. So no costume pictures this time. 

I ran a warm-up mile, and then met up with my friend in the corral. As we were waiting for the race to start, my mother's friend ran by, but she was too far away for me to call out to her. Although I had been looking forward to this race, for some reason, I wasn't in the mood to race. I literally woke up and I thought, "ugh, another Central Park 4 mile race?" (This was a clear sign that I did too many races this year). In addition, the race started over 5 minutes late, and I was getting a little annoyed. It wasn't until I crossed the start line did the adrenaline come back, and I instantly remembered why I was out there. 

The race started out a bit slow since the people in front of me were a bit slower than I thought they would be. It didn't help that some people were barely jogging 100 meters into the race, but it didn't take long for me to get into a rhythm. (The picture on the left is me just passing the first start line. I'm the one in the grey t-shirt)

The first mile included Cat Hill, which is one of the larger hills in Central Park, but since it was at the beginning, it didn't feel that difficult. The mile marker ended up being a little short, but according to my Garmin I finished mile 1 at 8:04

Going into this race, I realized that I always tended to slow down on mile 2 of this course because it was flatter, and mentally, I was giving myself a break, so this time, I focused on trying to gain some time before the very hilly mile 3. Thankfully, it worked, and I finished mile 2 in 7:51 (but as usual, the garmin hit a mile shortly before the actual mile marker showed up).

Although I was on track for a sub-32 minute finish at this point, I knew that the three successive rolling hills on the West Side would make this very difficult to maintain. No matter how many times I do these hills (almost every day), running them easy is a different experience than racing them, especially when the first two miles are done at about an 8 minute pace. I fought as hard as possible not to slow down, and was pleasantly surprised to see a 8:12 on my garmin (the mile marker came after the garmin though so my pace was probably closer to 8:2x).

I wanted to speed up for mile 4, and although my garmin was off, I think I did a little bit. I did the last part at a faster pace, even if it wasn't reflected in mile 4 (you can see my splits here). Most of the last mile is downhill, so slowly but surely, my legs started to move faster. I started to speed up even further as I was turning around the last bend because I looked at my watch and started to worry that I wouldn't get in under 33 minutes. Thankfully, I made my goal - my garmin said 32:47 but my official time was 32:44 (8:11mm) - this is the first time I've reached BQ pace in a race - too bad it's only a 4 miler though. I was very happy with my time - to me, it was a reflection of my training for the Cape Cod Half. I would eventually like a sub-32, but hopefully it will happen next year.

My friend Abbey was within my sights for most of the race, but she finished ahead of me at exactly 32:00. After we reunited, we found her daughter, Kayleigh with the babysitter, and we set off towards the kids races. All of the races had the same finish line, but the start lines were in different spots depending on how old the kids were. The older the kids, the further back the start line. They originally planned on having the 3 & 4 year old girls run together, but they ended up splitting them. I got a picture of the adorable mother-daughter pair after the race (and also immediately decided that when I have kids, I plan on entering them into the kids races too)

How adorable is this?

Overall, it was a fun day, and I look forward to receiving the free tickets to sister act! There are more pictures to see, so if you are interested, feel free to look here. As always, thanks for reading!