2013 Urban Environmental Challenge: XC 10K

I had no intentions of signing up for anything else between Coogan's 5K and the Brooklyn HM, especially not for a difficult trail run, but when running buddy Leiba told me that she was doing the 10K up at Van Cortlandt, I reluctantly signed up. Even as we were choosing our orange, color coordinated outfits, I was a bit nervous, but figured that it would be nice to have a change of scenery. We even managed to match the race shirt, albeit by accident. 

Getting to the race was pretty easy. I didn't have to wait too long for either the bus or the 1 train, and I got there in plenty of time to pick up my bib, check my bag, and stretch. It was a bit chilly waiting for the start, and I could have sworn that I felt a couple of rain drops, but thankfully it didn't actually rain (even though my Garmin thinks it did).

Leiba & I walked to the start, which was across a field from where the finish/baggage check was. We had planned on running together, but with the understanding that if she wanted to race it, she could take off. My only goals were not aggravating my hamstring and not further injuring myself, although with my road PR of just under 51 minutes, I was hoping that finishing under an hour would be possible. 

There was no electronic timing for this race, and the start was indicated by a line drawn in the dirt. We lined up towards the middle, and after a couple of speeches about how great the park was, we were off. Leiba took off soon after we started, and within the first mile, I had completely lost sight of her. 

At the sight of the first hill, I immediately realized how woefully unprepared I was for this race, even more so than when I had ran Van Cortlandt Park almost two years ago. My mileage was lower, plus I was out of practice running on the Central Park hills, let alone on these trails. After the first mile, I knew that finishing under an hour wasn't likely to happen, and things just got slower from there (as per my awful splits on the left).

 The uphills weren't the only reason I was going slower than I wanted to. As hard as they were, I was terrified of running fast on the downhills since I was really afraid of injuring myself further, so I probably took those a little slower than I could have. I also ended up walking one of the tougher hills later on because my legs were pretty close to going on strike at that point. 

This was my first time using the Garmin in a long time, and although the trail itself was fun, it was hard and I felt discouraged. I spent most of the next couple of miles wondering why I signed up for this. It didn't help that I fell down twice and got a big bruise on my leg from banging it into a rock as I fell. By the time I hit the 5K marker just under 33 minutes in, I regretted signing up, and was horrified about the idea of running yet another 5K. I also realized after passing the one water table I saw when I wasn't thirsty that it was probably the only water station, and that I would be doing the entire distance without drinking once. Great.


However, slowly but surely in the second half, I started to enjoy myself a little more, and appreciate the beauty of the trails. The course marshals were good at lifting everyone's spirts, and saying how great everyone looked, even if they were lying through their teeth. One of the course marshals was a friend of mine, and she got a picture of me from the later part of the race, looking as awkward happy as always despite being a little miserable. 

There was a girl in purple who I chatted with for some of the time, and towards the end, I made it my secret goal to beat her to the finish line. She was ahead of me in the last couple of miles because I had to tie my shoe, but I caught up with her towards the end. After we stopped talking, we were on the final part of the race, which was a flat track, and I took the opportunity to speed up and have something resembling a finishing kick. I thought I had a shot at finishing in under 1:05 in the end, but alas that wasn't meant to be. 

I was more annoyed with myself than anything else, but I was happy for Leiba as she finished in 57 minutes and change. The race was scored old school style in that our tabs were taken off our bibs as we crossed the finish line. Leiba was told that she was 7th place female, so she had a good chance of getting an AG award. So we went over to the results table to check whether AG awards were being given out. After looking at the yellow tags indicating the female entrants, a strange, unheard of thought occured to me.....could I have possibly won an AG award??????

After some initial confusion where Leiba was placed in the wrong age bracket, and after realizing that the AG awards started after the first place female and male, the impossible happened - I was officially 3rd place in the 20-29 year old age category on what was possibly my worst 10K performance to date. Leiba ended up with 2nd place in our AG, and to my surprise, there was no female our age who finished in the 8 minute gap between us.  It was a bittersweet moment because although I wasn't proud of my performance, it had been a goal of mine to win an AG award and that moment had finally come. Being honored in an awards ceremony was a nice experience. 

Leiba and I showing off our orange pride.
I even re-laced my sneakers for this. 

We both won mini carrot cakes, but I ended up giving mine away to my coworkers because I can't stand raisins. Getting home should have been as easy as getting there, but to our horror, we got to the train station just to be told that the 1 train wasn't running at all. Since I didn't know anything about the bus lines in the Bronx, the two of us walked a mile and a half to get to the Woodlawn train station, which was the first stop on the 4 train line, using my IPhone map to make sure that we were going in the right direction. That was an interesting adventure. 

So although things didn't go as well as I hoped they would, I ended up being grateful to Leiba for convincing me to go up there. I hope that when I'm back in peak shape, I'll be able to eventually finish a trail 10K up there in under an hour. Perhaps next year? Only time will tell. 

Hill Training 101: The Coogan's 5K RR

Short Version

Distance: 5K

5K PR: 23:55 @ 7:55mm average pace

Time: 28:52 @ 9:19 average pace 

AG Rating: 51.28%

AG Placement: 266 / 573

Gender Placement:1054 / 2890 

Overall Placement: 3057 / 5825

Long Version

Special Note

For those of you who don't already know, I did this race not only as a stepping stone in my recovery process, but to honor Jen G., a running friend of mine who has battled cancer courageously over the years, and who has been an inspiration to me while I've been recovering from my hamstring issues. She's also the reason I was wearing as much orange as possible. 

Behold, the power of orange!

Pre-Race

Packet Pickup: I picked up my number and cotton t-shirt two days before the race, and although I am not a fan of the cotton t-shirt, this one didn't look as if it would substitute as a nightgown. I was surprised that I was placed in the third corral since that usually doesn't happen, but since I was starting with one of my running friends, Nicole, it didn't really make a difference this time around, especially since there was no way I was running at my bib pace. 

Another cotton t-shirt. Hooray.

Race Gear: Last time I did this race, I dressed too warmly for it. This time, it would feel like 21 degrees at the start, and I knew that I wasn't really racing it. I also wanted my top layer to be orange in honor of my friend Jenny. I ended up wearing a grey tech shirt under my orange shirt, my orange socks and headband, and my comfy Sugoi tech pants, and it ended up working quite nicely. I forgot to charge my Garmin, so I didn't end up taking a watch to the race. Luckily, Nicole graciously sent me her splits.

Transportation: The crosstown bus took forever to come. In addition, both train lines I could take to Washington Heights were either not running far enough, or going express, so I had to take two trains to get up there, and barely made it in time for a group photo.

NYPH Running Club: I found out a couple of days before that my work had a running club, and that they were doing a pre-race group photo at Columbia Medical Center, which was near the race start. I met a lot of nice people there, and my colleague gave me a nice red team tech shirt. 

I look awkward in 99.9% of my photos. This one is no exception. 

Baggage Check: For the first time in memory, there was a line to get into the baggage check area. Nicole speculated that it was because it got set up late. We got lucky that we went when we did, because as we walked towards the corrals, the line had already become much larger. 

Waiting for the Start: I started in the fifth corral with Nicole, and eventually, it got pretty crowded. I was surprised to see young kids with bibs that would place them in the faster corrals. It just seemed like that was a disaster just waiting to happen. After a very poorly sung national anthem, the horn went off, but it took me at least a couple of minutes to even get moving, much less to get to the start line. Waiting around in the cold wasn't fun. 

The Race

The course was an out and back that looped around at Fort Tryon park, so we got to see both the front and the back of the pack at different points of the races. The front of the pack zoomed by us before the end of mile one partially due to their head start, and they made their extremely fast pace look so easy. 

The first mile started off fairly easy. I felt like I was going extremely slowly, but at the same time, it felt a little difficult because I wasn't completely warmed up. I got very nervous as Nicole and I approached the first hill, but it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. While I initially wanted to be ignorant of my pace, not knowing was slowly driving me insane. At some point, I asked Nicole how fast we were going and she said 9:45, but ultimately, we finished the first mile in 9:35. 

The second mile had both the prettiest views and the toughest hills. It was nice running into the park, and the views of the river were also very nice. However, the hill at the turnaround point was very steep, and very long. However, I got through it, and even managed to spot a couple of friends after passing the turn-around point. Although it didn't feel that way, we must have sped up since we finished the second mile in 9:25. 

At that point, I knew that we were both capable of a sub-30 finish, which was a relief. While I didn't intend on speeding up too much, it happened naturally since most of the third mile was downhill. I got ahead of Nicole mid-way through the third mile, but she didn't end up finishing far behind me. While I was tempted to sprint to the finish after the third mile marker, I knew that it wouldn't save me much time overall, so I managed to overcome that temptation. 

Midway through the third mile.
Nicole is the green runner at the back left of the photo
Photo credit: NYC Running Source

I crossed the finish line, and didn't end up waiting for Nicole too long. After the official results came out, I did the math and figured that my average pace over the last 1.1 miles was 8:59. My official time was 28:52, which was a 9:19 average pace. 


Although Nicole and I ran together in the past, it was the first time we did a race together, and since I was really nervous going into it, I was really grateful that we did this one together. We ended up going to Starbucks afterwards to celebrate my return to running. 

Post-Race Analysis

My Performance: I am both happy and extremely irritated with my results. On the positive side, this was the first time I ran over two miles since mid-January, and I did one of the hilliest courses I could come across in NYC. I also was able to average what had previously been my easy pace, so that was an indication that I hadn't lost as much fitness as I feared I would. In addition, I had a negative split, which is very rare for me. 

Nicole's Garmin Splits. My third mile is different but
the overall trend is still the same.

However, a part of me is annoyed that this race will be on my NYRR record since it doesn't reflect what I am capable of as a runner. While objectively it's a decent time, the pace per mile is almost ten seconds slower than I ran an eighteen miler at last year. While I know that my fitness will come back, it's still frustrating to feel that I have lost some of what I worked really hard for over the past two years. 

Race Organization: Overall, I think that NYRR did a good job putting this race on. However, I just think that all of their races have gotten too crowded, and it ultimately detracts from the overall running experience. 

What's Next: I am starting a very conservative training plan for the Brooklyn Half this coming week. A low mileage plan with no speedwork may not get me a PR, but it will ensure that I will be building back my endurance safely. I also hope that I will be able to register for my first marathon (attempt #3) soon, as it's already March and there is still no information out there. Stay tuned for the next update!

Look Who's (Finally) Running Again!

Confession Time: I technically wasn't cleared to run when I first got onto the treadmill this past Saturday.....

However, I had a good reason for trying it out again. As I finished my 30 minute workout on the eliptical, I realized that I was scheduled to run a 5K the next weekend. Although my PT was tentatively on board with this, I didn't want to run for the very first time at a race. 

Therefore, I designed an experiment-of-one for myself. If I wasn't able to run a mile without pain, then the 5K would be completely out of the question. I set the treadmill to a much slower pace than I normally ran, then proceeded to nervously run on it. Before I knew it, I was done with my mile, and felt like I could have kept going, but instead, I exercised restraint and stopped. 

Two days later, I hit the two mile mark on the treadmill and felt just as good. Remember when I said that I was too young to fly by myself? Apparently, I look suspiciously young to be at a gym at seven in the morning. When I was doing my hamstring stretches, one of the trainers felt like he had to ask me how old I was, and when I asked him to guess, he said 15/16. A small part of me was offended, but I was more amused than anything else. 

When I went to my PT on Tuesday, I explained what happened, and why I decided to try running again. I expected him to be annoyed with me, but to my pleasant surprise, he wasn't, and even stated that my hamstring was still getting better. He even agreed to watch me run for a few minutes to see whether there's an underlying mechanical issue that could have caused the hamstring problem. 

I ran another two miles this morning, and if I am able to get through one more run pain free, I think I'll be as ready as I possibly can be for the 5K this weekend. Finally, here is a sneak peek at what spectators will see when I'm running this weekend. 

Injury Update & Taking a Chance

It's been one month and one day since my last run - not that I'm keeping track or anything - but thankfully, things have been looking up. 

Although I miss running a lot, not training for a marathon has given me time to focus more on other things that matter to me, such as my music. I signed up for a chamber music program through work, and I recently sent in an audition tape to play in an orchestra through the same music initiative. The orchestra is probably a long shot considering that the flute is probably the most popular instrument out there, but never say never. 

Meanwhile, I've been going to physical therapy twice a week, and according to my PT, I am almost at the point of being able to do agility exercises. I'm not exactly sure what this entails but I do know that once I can do these, I can get into a run-walk program. While I hope to start running again in time to do a 5K I signed up for at the beginning of March, it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't. After all, I have a new goal to work towards. 

Two years ago, I did my first half marathon in Brooklyn. After two years in a row of doing this race, I did not think that I would want to do it again. However, once I found out that registration was approaching, I reconsidered my options. Wouldn't it be amazing if my first half marathon would also be my redemption race? 

I was a little worried about signing up since I hadn't started running again yet, but after consulting a few running friends that I trusted, I decided to go for it. I would have loved to wait until next month to decide, but considering the race sold out in seven hours, that wasn't exactly an option. 

If I'm running by mid-March, I will have about two months to get some training in. While I know that I will definitely not PR, just finishing a half marathon will be a huge turning point both physically and mentally for me. Perhaps maybe I will be able to get to the starting line of a marathon after all. 

Adjusting Goals for February & Beyond

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has been supportive of me over the last couple of weeks, whether it was through giving advice, or through being nice enough to listen to my whining ramblings. 

Clearly, January was not the month I had hoped for in terms of running. Had I been able to follow my marathon plan the entire month, I would have ran approximately 200 miles. Instead, I ran only 95 miles or so. 

Yesterday, on the two week anniversary of my last run, I decided to see an orthopedist before beginning physical therapy to make sure that I was being diagnosed correctly. The good news is that the hamstring is not torn. The bad news is that it's still strained, and that it still hurts almost all of the time. According to the doctor, the average person takes about 3-4 weeks to recover once PT starts. 

So what does this mean for the DC Marathon? 

Well, it's already been 2 weeks since I ran, and since I won't even start Physical Therapy until about 3 weeks in, and once recovery time is factored in, it could be 6-8 weeks total without running. The worst case scenario is that by the time I could start running, I would already have to start tapering for DC, and in the best case scenario, I would have maybe a week or two to put any quality work in. 

My ability to finish a marathon is not in question at this point. I'm sure if I went out there in March, and was able to run without pain, I'm sure that I would get it done. The real issues are whether I would be able to safely build up to the distance & whether I would be able to perform to the best of my ability. 

For me, unfortunately, the answer to both questions is no. I don't want to do too much too soon and risk injuring myself even further. I also want my first marathon effort to be something that I'll be proud of, and in order to do that, I need to get to the start line feeling confident in my training, something which won't happen if I only complete 3.5/12 weeks of my training cycle. 

My goal for February 2013 has changed - it is simply to recover from this injury. I now have a physical therapy prescription for 2 times per week for 8 weeks with the caveat that if things don't start getting better by the end of week 4, I should contact my orthopedist again for a follow up visit.  

While I am heartbroken & angry at this turn of events, I am now more determined than ever to do an amazing job at the marathon when I am finally able to make the start line in November 2013. 

Unplanned Detour

It feels like the road to running my first marathon has been rockier than it should have been so far, and yesterday, I found out some news that only adds another road block to the journey.

I knew that something was wrong when I got sudden hamstring pain during my MLR last week, but I figured that it would only be temporary. I cut it short, and hoped for the best, but despite taking a few days off and partially being in denial, it didn't get any better, so when I got home from Florida, I knew that I had to face reality and see a physical therapist. Thanks to my friend Leiba, I was able to get a consultation at her PT's office, and after a brief evaluation, I was told that I have a hamstring sprain and that running through the pain would only make things worse.

I don't know exactly what caused it, but according to the PT I had my initial consultation with, my hips weren't flexible enough, which caused my hamstrings to have to overcompensate to make up for it. I plan on getting physical therapy at the Hospital for Special Surgery since they take my insurance and are probably one of the best places out there.

 ....no, I'm not saying that just because I'm an former employee and my current employer is an affiliate 

Anyway, I'll find out if the HSS PT gives the same diagnosis or not, but regardless of the exact issue, running is out of the question for the foreseeable future. 

What does this mean in terms of doing the DC marathon? Well, I only have two months left, and unfortunately, I don't know how fast I'll recover. At this point, however, I don't see how doing the marathon will be a possibility unless I recover fairly quickly. I mean, yes, if I'm able to run after a few weeks off, it's doable, but I don't know if I want to travel to DC knowing that I wouldn't be trained as well as I should be. Maybe I'm better off just recovering completely, then focusing on building back up towards NYCM. 

I've had aches and pains before, but this is the first time that I've had something this bad, and quite frankly, it sucks. Not being able to run is very depressing, and knowing that my training cycle time is slowly dwindling away makes me feel sad and useless. I mean, cross training is fun, but biking and swimming just are not the same. 

I'm hoping for the best, but mentally, I'm preparing myself for the possibility that NYCM 2013 may be my first marathon after all. 

The NYCRuns 10 Mile Race Report

Short Version

Distance: 10 Miles

Previous PR: N/A

Time: 1:22:32 @ 8:15mm average pace

AG Rating: 60.2%

AG Placement: 15/74

Gender Placement: 47/241 

Overall Placement: 155/451 

Long Version

It's hard to believe, but I am already finished with 3/12 weeks of my marathon training program. It's amazing how time passes when you're having so much fun! 

This past week was the first time my mileage crept back into the forties since my last marathon training cycle - just over 43 total for the week - and thankfully, this week went pretty well. I haven't been perfect about following the schedule exactly, but I have gotten in the workouts as planned. 

Yesterday, I had a marathon pace workout which entailed that I run 16 miles total, including 10 miles at marathon pace. In the past, I haven't been great about being fast enough on these runs, so when I saw that NYCRuns was hosting a 10 mile race, I knew that this would be a great opportunity for me. I registered with the understanding that I would not be treating this as an actual race. 

On Saturday, I went to packet pickup, and was pleased to see that instead of another race shirt, I got a cool duffel bag along with my bib. I didn't think of it at the time, but on a funny note, my bib number was 420. I'll give you a moment to get it. I had planned on taking a rest day, but ended up moving Friday's 8 mile run to that morning since it was raining really hard, and I don't do rain unless I absolutely have to. I just hoped that it wouldn't negatively affect me too much on Sunday. 

I wake up early Sunday morning, and after coordinating my outfit and getting ready, I head out with my water bottle to do my pre-race mileage. I kind of made up my route as I went along, and ended up with a 5.5 mile run by the time I got to the race staging area. Close enough. I ended up sticking nicely within my easy pace range. 

I met up with Leiba and also said hi to James, who was volunteering at the event. We pretty much stuck together during the last race, so despite her claim that I would finish way ahead of her, I figured that the same thing would happen this time. I hadn't planned on wearing my arm warmers, but I was so chilly waiting around for the start that I kept them on. I just hoped that I wouldn't regret this decision later on. 

We line up not too far from the front, and after a short delay, we were off. I wanted to go out at a pace that wasn't easy, but felt like something I could sustain for a long period of time. The pace felt good, but I shortly realized that I was going much faster than marathon pace. Last time I checked, 8:08 =/= 8:42. Whoops. I wanted to slow down, but I was in a groove, and just couldn't bring myself to do it. 

I passed Leiba at some point, but I knew that she probably wasn't far behind me. I also kept seeing this girl with a blue skirt, and figured that she was also in our AG. The three of us would end up going back and forth for almost the entire race. 

Three peas in a pod. Leiba is in the pink. 

The first lap felt really easy, and although I planned on fueling at the halfway point, I felt that I didn't need it, so I held off until a mile or two later. My splits up to that point weren't extremely even, but overall they were fairly stable. 

Sometime during mile 6, Leiba passed me, but she wasn't too far ahead. Her pink shirt made it easy to keep tabs on her. The girl in the blue skirt wasn't far behind her. However, at the mile 7 mark, Leiba decided to speed up and try and race the last 5K. I considered trying to keep up, but I already knew that I was going inappropriately fast for an MP workout. The fact that I suddenly got a searing pain on my left shoulder/neck for no reason didn't help matters. 

Since my legs and breathing were still very good, I did my best to be able to at least see where Leiba was, but it got tougher as she pulled further ahead. Still, the only mile that felt even slightly difficult was the second to last mile, which consisted of the West Side hills for the second time. It was the only mile where I went slower than 8:17.

Still, I sped up, and ran as fast as I could towards the finish. I remember looking up at some point and seeing Leiba cross the finish line. I ended up coming in exactly a minute behind her, finishing the ten mile race in 1:22:32 @ 8:15 average pace. Thankfully, I didn't slow down too much during the second half. 

So, inadvertently, I ended up with an HMP (half marathon pace) effort instead of an MP effort - my best half marathon pace was 8:16mm from this past October. 

Post race, the girl in the blue skirt came up to us and thanked us for being her inadvertent pacers, and I told her it was a mutual thing. It turns out that she was in the age group below us, and she ended up with 2nd place in the 20-24 year old age category. I thought that Leiba at least had a minor shot at an AG, but it turns out that we were in a more competitive age group, and ended up in 14th and 15th place out of 74 respectively. 

In another cool turn of events, someone approached me to say hi, and it turns out that she recognized me from high school. After a moment, I realized who she was as well. I hadn't seen Chloe since high school, but it was very nice to catch up with her after all of these years. 

I really enjoyed this race. Since it was capped at 500, I never felt crowded out, and I was able to run my own race the entire time. While I would have loved one more water station out there, it was a great experience overall. I especially enjoyed the hot chocolate provided at the end of the race. 

Overall, I was very happy with my performance. Although I got an automatic PR, I broke the 60% AG rating for another distance. Now I just have to figure out whether I'm underestimating what MP pace I should do, or whether I don't know how it should feel. I'm thinking it's a little bit of both, but at least I have 9 weeks left to find out!