Until last night, I planned on running the Rye Derby today. The temperature for today was expected to reach 88, although it actually got to 91. I was still OK with it, until I read of someone dying at the Nashville Half-Marathon. Were the race in the morning, I probably would have tried it, but a 1:45 start meant discretion was the better part of valor. (The More Marathon in CP was canceled and the More Half-Marathon was turned into a fun run.)
So I planned on an easy longish run, to be followed by watching the London Marathon. In the event, however, I awoke at about 4:30 and rather than going back to sleep elected to watch the race on-line. I’ll just note that the race was not as exciting as in the last couple of years, especially with Ryan Hall’s absence, and link to the Science of Sport’s review.
So at about 7:30 I headed out. Temp was just under 80, and I headed up the BRP path I referred to yesterday. This was the first warm day of the year, and I take some acclimating. So I went out very slowly. I started to feel very good and flowing, almost effortless. But I still kept it slow, or so I thought. My Garmin had me at 7:10 pace or a bit faster. Turn around at 45 minutes at Scarsdale Station, where the Path ends, 6.25 miles.
I started to pick it up a bit heading home, and this was my mistake. Although the stride was there, I was getting warm and struggling. I hadn’t stopped for water (or for anything for that matter) and I was anxious to get home. So I struggled, not with my form but with being spent. I stopped with just over a mile to go and walked and jogged home. The jogging was a bit of a problem because my shorts had given me something of a rash. Ouch.
NY Marathon? I am at the cusp of having to decide whether to enter NY. Back on December 1 I wrote my thoughts. May 1 is decision date. I realize I can enter and withdraw, but I need to start thinking seriously on the subject. Do I run? Today’s run actually leans me towards it since it was extremely flowing and relaxed, although not as intense as Friday’s 7.75 mile barnburner. And I was energized by this LetsRun thread in which the consensus is that more miles are what are needed, a sentiment with which I agree.
We’ll see.
As an aside, I have long been a fan of the NYC Marathon and have vouched for how well it is run. But while watching London and seeing how narrow the streets were, I twittered (yes, there were others doing the same) that it could get awfully tight, and someone noted the same thing about NY. I realized that my view of NY is colored by my being able to run clear of any traffic after about 100 meters. Not so for the people behind. So I twittered back that unless you’re going relatively quickly, I don’t see NY as being a place to get a decent time, simply because of the crowds in the race. Same is liklely true for all big-city marathons. So I understand why people do them for the experience.
Twin Lakes Photos. I posted Rockies photos yesterday. Today I stopped down at my favorite trail, Twin Lakes/Nature Study. This is a County trail on which I started running back in 1971. It’s about 1.25 miles from my house so I often run to it, and I’ve done long runs, including a 20-miler there. Here are some photos of the Twin Lakes portion. It’s a popular bridle path (there are two stables nearby), but the horsemen are polite and appreciate runners being respectful of them. It’s also a popular Iona College running site.
South of Lake, Heading East
The Hutchinson River Parkway is to the right.
Twin Lakes, East Side, Heading North
The Lake:
One of the Twin Lakes
And heading west, with the Lake to the right. This is just north of the photo that I use at the top of my page.
Twin Lakes, South of Lake, Heading West
RunWestchester 
3 comments
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April 27, 2009 at 9:56 am
Flo
Can’t believe you ran yesterday without any water! That would have left me braindead. I did 12 yesterday and had 30oz. Love the pictures, btw.
April 27, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Robert James Reese
Well, I think that you should run New York. You’re just coming off an injury, so you have to realize that your time will be slower than what you’re used to achieving. If you try to push too hard, you’ll probably just get frustrated and possibly injured again. But, if you can just go out there and run for the enjoyment of it (at a pace that most people would still envy), I say go for it.
And on a completely different note — I hadn’t heard that they cancelled the More Marathon. I was wondering why I didn’t see more evidence from the race as I ran back through CP yesterday… Anyway, I think that it’s a horrible move for race directors to cancel races because of the heat. It’s like dumbing down to the lowest common denominator. People are intelligent and can figure out for themselves (like you did yesterday) when it’s too hot for them to run. To have a race taken away after months of training has to be heartbreaking. I know I was so disappointed this December when they turned the Ted Corbitt 15K into a fun run (and that doesn’t even compare because I wasn’t training specifically for it.) They definitely should work to educate the runners about the risks of running in the heat (or snow or ice or whatever), but have enough respect for us to make our own decisions on how far to push it considering the elements.
April 29, 2009 at 7:07 pm
TK
Run New York! I say this for purely selfish reasons: I won’t be running it, so want everyone else to run it so I can cheer my head off for my running buddies.
There are plenty of other marathons in the area you can run in the Fall that are also well-managed but less crowded. But what you have to sort out is if you want to run the New York City Marathon or if you just want to run a marathon. Can’t wait to see what you decide, and why.