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Mon., Apr. 25

I don’t know how good I’ll be at keeping this up, but the idea is to chronicle my training for the 2011 NYC Marathon. It’s not private, but not quite for regular blog posts.

I’ve been struggling for a while now. From 2006 until mid-2008 I enjoyed good success running-wise. I turned 50 in October 2006, which moved me into a new age group, but I was doing well before that.

In 2006 Erin got me into the NYC Marathon. I had no intention of doing it, but trained for that year’s Reach-the-Beach relay and viewed that training as marathon-lite. By August, I decided to do a fall marathon (I had completed only one at that point, NYC 1983). A call from Erin and an hour later I was in. I don’t know if I trained as well as I could have, but that race seemed easy until the latter stages. And shockingly I was third in my age-group (2:48:10). I thought, though, that I made mistakes in training and mistakes on the course — especially in going out too fast — and wanted to see how I could do if I really concentrated on it. My age-graded percentage was 82ish, well below what it was in shorter races, so I felt there was upside potential.

2007 was not the year since I opted to race Reach-the-Beach instead and did not feel I could do both. So it would be 2008, and that year began spectacularly, with high-85s/86 age-grades in a series of NYRR races. I had also gotten in a fair amount of mileage over the winter, which I thought set me up for the year. But my performances fell off as the year progressed and I was hit with a series of small but troubling injuries. I still had hopes of salvaging NY, though, when I broke me elbow in August.

2009’s a blur and so is 2010, a series of disappointments and fears of having crossed some Rubicon into mediocrity (which I know is a relative term) and wondering whether/hoping that my elbow-break had more of an impact than I thought, a concept I’ve embraced in the hopes that it and not age is the reason for these disappointments. And 2010 had me going back-and-forth about whether to do a marathon anyway. I never seriously thought of doing one in 2010.

Part of that was selfish. I knew I was moving up an age for NY 2011 and it’s getting harder and harder to compete with more and more good guys who’ve turned 50.

2011 has not begun well, running-wise, and those demons remain. In a sense, then, I know of only one way to be rid of them. To focus and commit. It’s hard. Hardly a day goes by in which I don’t think of just tossing the whole thing. Who’d care? My wife would love me more. Run a few days a week, head out to the occasional local race and have fun. But I know that it doesn’t matter how fast, or slow, I am because I need to be as fast as I can be, whatever that is.

So I make the commitment for NY. My coaching situation is a bit unsettled right now, and I hope to get that cleared up. For now, everything points to November 6, trying to change some of the things from 2006. Not “change” so much as supplement, with more miles and more Marathon-pace runs. I’ll do the club races and a number of shorter funner races. I realize the All-In aspect of marathons, of how so much work can just go, either before the race with an injury or in the race itself. Maybe I was lucky in 2006, to have it go so well and feel so easy (until 21). Lighting in a bottle? Who knows, but I’ll try to find out.

So there it is, thoughts more rambling than they were on tonight’s run when I was formulating them. That run was 8 miles, without watch. And who knows how fast but even as I tried to take it easy I had moments of stress. I don’t know; are there any runners who have runs in which there’s never a moment of doubt?

And to the question, what do I want to do in New York? Win.

Tues. Apr. 26

Rich Temerian, one of the top local 50s, commented on my On the Porch post that 2:55 might be more realistic. Couple of things. First, I like honest assessments since the idea that Rich things I can do 2:55 is music to my ears, since I have my doubts on that score. But he is right that that’s realistic based on where I am and that I’ll no better with some tests, particularly HMs. My objective is to be better than where I am and Grete in October will be a true test for me.

Tonight was a bit disappointing. To Scarsdale for Intervals. 1000s. The first was a little quick, which is something I need to get a handle on, and the second was better. The third, though, was fine pace-wise, but my right ankle — whatever that muscle is that goes up the side of the ankle-know — was tight. It had been on number 2, and a little bit during last week’s tempo, but I realized that pushing it would not be smart, so I ended up abandoning at the 800 mark on No. 3. No point in pushing it. Then maybe a mile and a half of easy jogging barefoot on the (artificial-turf) infield. I don’t expect this will be a problem.

I’m doing speed because I have races to be run and the idea of regular speed-work as runners age appeals to me. Of course, after Scotland, the aforementioned Rich said it may be that for us really old guys the only way to get into racing shape is to do lots of races. I am thinking of doing either the 5K or the 10K in a couple of weeks at Bronx Community College. That’ll likely be my next race.

Brooklyn? I’m leaning against it, if only because of the logistics of getting to the start by 7. I’m still mad that it’s a club race.

Wed., Apr. 27

I take one day off a week. Today was that day. I did feel a bit of an ache on my foot, perhaps from my light barefoot jogging last night. Nothing big.

Thurs., Apr. 28

Lots of storms during the day, but it looked like a nice night for a run. Alas, at about 1/2 mile my right knee acted funny as my leg landed. Nothing unusual except a funny feeling. Not within the knee itself, where I usually have the knee issue, but on the outside. As I say, a “funny” feeling. After it felt a bit dicey at the 3/4 mark I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and stopped. No point in pushing it.

This happens now and then. And most of my aches are gone by the next run, so here’s hoping.

Fri., Apr. 22

I’m writing this on Saturday. We headed up to Great Barrington for the weekend.  It’s close to where the Josh Billings is and the roads are deceptive as they seem flat while driving but they’re rolling on a run. Late in the afternoon we settled in to the B&B and out I went. The road was beautiful and the stretch was a bit tough. Something of a struggle, but worth it. Where I ran.

I was concerned about the right knee and the soreness I’ve felt in my feet after the barefoot jog on Wednesday. But neither was an issue. Which is important since it turns out that there’s a 5K in Chatham NY on Sunday afternoon. It’s where a friend we’re visiting lives, and so it turns out that I’ll be racing it. Now that I survived this run, it seems doable.

Sat., Apr. 30

Up and a slow easy 25 minutes around the campus of Bard College at Simon’s Rock.

A great thing about LetsRun is some of the stuff on its message board. Noting that JTupper-ware is Jack Daniels, here’s a discussion that frequently went way, way over my head, on marathon training.

I’m also not a happy camper with regard to NYRR, and some of it may arise from personal pique at feeling slighted by a lack of response to some of my communications with it. For whatever reason I did a post entitled, “
Why Would Anyone Run An NYRR Race.”

Sun., May 1

One of our friends lives in Chatham NY, and it turns out that it’s annual spring 5K was today. My wife mentioned it on Thursday as we prepared for our trip, so I decided to do it, not too seriously but as a chance to get in some speed.

The race started at 1. So we took our time this morning before heading over. My wife and our friend Bonnie and Bonnie’s daughter Annie were in the Meghan Mile, which went off at 12:30. My wife and Bonnie somewhat walked and somewhat ran.

For my 5K, it was hot. A very nice course, but one that is better approached the second time around. There’s a big downhill just before the mile, a turn around a barrel, and a big uphill. Through 1 at 6:14 — feeling faster — and I stopped (again) for a few seconds right before the hill. Did I say it was hot?

Up the hill and then the course was pretty flat, through Chatham and then back to the finish at Chatham High School. Stopped for a few seconds again at 2 and then pushed it home. The time? Exactly half of what I ran the Scotland Run: 19:22.

This was fun, if a struggle. Good to get a bit of hard running in the heat too. And were I racing I wouldn’t have had quite so much wine with Saturday’s dinne. I didn’t feel that I had dead legs. Just that I was working. Now, of course, I want to do it again.

Mon. May 2

Wearing one of my new pairs of 1150s I headed out after work. This was a surprisingly relaxed, easy run after yesterday’s “race/speedwork,” even if it was sub-7. Well, until it wasn’t. Fortunately the issue that stopped me this time was not leg related. At about 6.5 (of a planned eight) I felt a pain in my back just below my right shoulder. A funny type of pain, and surely not worth pushing.

Tues., May 3

As expected, that little ache from yesterday was nowhere to be seen today. So to Scarsdale’s track I went. I was to repeat last Tuesday’s failed 4-5 X 1000. Turned out, I did it better than I expected. Because during the third one that ache in my right leg reappeared. It had not bothered me at all in Sunday’s race, wearing the same flats. But it came back. So I had to stop, this time at the 600 of the third rep. Things were going well before that, however, with a 3:31, 3:28 for the 1000s and a 2:04 for the final 600.

I think next week I’ll try something different. Maybe it’s the shoes. I have a new pair, Asics Hyperspeeds, on order so we’ll see how they go. A tad frustrating, but it’s a process.

Wed., May 4

It rained much of the morning. And it got chilly. By 6, the rain had stopped, but the chill remained. So compression tights and a long-sleeve shirt with new Asics 1150s. Nothing too hard. Six miles, to Scarsdale Road and back. Decided to pick it up for the last 2 miles. And did. Timed the final mile, which is slightly uphill, in about 6:10 or so, which was nice. No problem with my ankle or my back.

Thurs., May 5

Went to see my orthopedist. Hadn’t been for a check-up in a year, so it was time. X-ray. Doc doubts I’ll get much more movement, but is quite pleased that I have what I have. It doesn’t straighten, but is otherwise fine.

I decided to do some speedish stuff. Two mile run and then four loops of a hilly stretch, working hard although not super hard on the uphill and then run around. Repeat. I did the measurements afterward. The uphill is 0.17 and the total loop is 0.46. Map (bonus 1: the green area to the right is the Nature Study Trail, although one can’t get there directly because there’s a highway in the way. The trail itself cuts between the parking area and the house on the right. bonus 2: I ran a number of times on that golf course (where the first PGA Championship was played back in 1919), but haven’t in years; I’m afraid they’d chase me off.).

Anyhow, the uphills were in about 1:00 (a 5:38 pace) and the laps between 2:50 and 2:55 (which works out to just under two miles at 6:17 pace). The ups were tough, but I kept a rhythm, told myself that this is the work that must be done, and survived. Although I planned on adding a few miles at a regular pace, I was too beat-up so I ran, jogged, and walked a couple of miles home. I’m tired now. But content with the effort.

Fri. May 6

I planned to just do some nice laps on the track, but idiotically I headed to Bronxville, where one runs the risk of being ejected when there’s school stuff. Well, there was school stuff, so I decided to head over to the trails, where I did my 6+ mile or so jaunt around Twin Lakes (two loops) and out along Nature Study. I was taking it easy, and ended up with a 44:23. Beautiful day.

Flo posted something on our individuality as runners. It seems that she’s been in a rut because “Because over the past year and a half, I’ve seen tons of Facebook and forum friends get faster, many in a seemingly endless straight line. It’s like everyone was zooming into new territory while I’ve been standing there, feet glued to the ground, sucking in the fumes of everyone else’s motion trail.” She seems to be pulling herself out of it.

Sadly, as I noted in a comment, I must be the exception. Perhaps it’s the curse of longevity, that not only do I have PRs that will never been seen again (actually, all of them) but I’ve generally hit a plateau. Whatever inefficiencies I have are not going away. I have a stride and awkwardness born of thousands upon thousands of miles at varying paces. While I’m trying to shorten my stride it’s not going to make much of a difference.

Yet the goal remains to do it as well as I can do it. I have no illusions as to that, even if I may as to other things. As Paul Thompson has noted, for use old-timers, there’s no “secret.” No magic formula. No Runner’s-World-10-days-to-your-10K/HM/Marathon-PR article. It’s work.

Flo talks about the mental game, and in large part that’s something I have to get a grip on.

Sat., May 7

Drove into the City, and parked along the Marathon route (at Marcus Garvey Park). Beautiful day. Met Paul at the 125th Street station and away we went. Unfortunately, we did not pick up anyone until we got to 90th at 9, which meant I had to drag myself for about 40 minutes. Water and we were joined by Robert and John and would ultimately pick up Jimmy and Matthieu, for a good group (including 3 of our 4 50+ guys (only Jonathan was missing). I, though, was relegated because I was hot and tired. Not only could I not speak for want of breath but it got to the point where I couldn’t listen.

Hold-on, hold-on. As I’ve noted, it seems far harder to run at a set pace with people than on my own. So the pace wasn’t particularly tough, but I sure felt it. Got in 1:23 and, under the circumstances, I am happy. It’s been weeks since I’ve gotten over 1 hour. Plus I managed to rally after the hour mark and finish strongly.

It was mentioned that Warren Street has a number of folks aiming to run between 2:45 and 2:55 this fall. Robert said he’s registered for New York. With luck, then, we’ll be able to get some longer stuff in as a group.

It seems quite unlikely that I’ll run Brooklyn, which starts at 7 in a few weeks. This was reinforced by the fact that it doesn’t look like many club mates will be there either.

Sun., May 8

The Bronxville Running Company has group runs during the week, and I decided to try its Sunday morning one. 9am. Jogged down, and about 5 minutes after I arrived five of us were off, including two guys who work at the store.

I expected to head up the Bronx River Parkway path, but they decided to take us to Twin Lakes, so off we went. I’m not sure what I expected in terms of the run because I was pretty blasted from yesterday, but I was committed. It’s a couple of miles to the trail and then we went around the lake and up a bit before turning back south. I was hanging on but actually holding together pretty well as I could not resist explaining things about the trails. We split off about 3/4 miles from my house as they headed north and I went south, and I was determined to finish. It was a bit of a struggle, but I managed to do the last couple of blocks at a pretty solid pace. Not a big deal, I know, but a nice way to end.

And then I was stiff. A short ice bath.

It was a good solid week. I’m happy with things.

Mon., May 9

After two tough days, today was about recovery. 6 was the goal, and decided to just run down to the Bronxville track and put in some laps. I also decided to wear Newtons. I’ve had a few problems on the roads and track with them, although never on the treadmill, but my thought was that if I had a problem tonight I could walk home easily enough. The other idea is not to switch to them but to wear them now and then as an alternative to my Asics. I like the idea of modifying my stride sometimes for variety, provided it doesn’t create any injury issues. (I’m also trying to increase my cadence.) The Newtons work to force more of a midfoot footstrike.

In fact I had not trouble with them. 1.25 to the track, 12 laps, 1.25 home. Nice easy pace with no watch. I like to just cruise along on the track now and then, thinking it helps with my form. I don’t know that it does, but I think it does.

An interesting thread on LetsRun: Summary of Renato Canova’s thoughts.

Tues., May 10

Because the focus is on the marathon, I’m giving speedwork a bit of a backseat. But conscious of what John Kellogg has said, I want to try to get some in regularly. Last week I had a problem with 1000 intervals, but was OK when I included hills in a run.

Today, I decided to get some form work in, which means repeats. Fast, short, full recovery.

I received a call from Westchester Road Runner. I had looked to get a pair of Asics Hyperspeeds, but it did not have my size so I ordered them. The call came at about 5. Since I was heading to the track, I figured I’d get them on the way and I did, trying them on, giving them a test run at the store, and buying them.

There was a lacrosse game at Scarsdale so I headed to my next option, Eastchester. Lots of people on the track — and I had to spend a good deal of time asking them to keep lane 1 clear although it says on the track itself “Do Not Walk Or Jog In Lanes 1 2 3” not once but four times — but no game on the field. So there I stayed.

Plan: three sets of 200, 300, 400, 300, 200. Although I wore my watch, I wasn’t giving it a lot of attention during the runs. I concentrated on running relaxed and holding my form. At one point I felt some tightness in my right ankle-area, where I had the problems with the intervals, but it went away, as did a slight back ache under my left shoulder.

The numbers:

• 37, 58, 78, 57, 38
• 38, 57, 76, 55, 37
• 37, 38, 58, 76, 58, 36 (did an extra 200 there)

Tired during the warm-down, but felt, and feel, good. The shoes seem quite nice. I’ve long loved repeat workouts. I used to tell the folks at SSRMC that you get to run fast, you get full recovery, and you can chat between efforts.

Wed., May 11

No run today. Technically. But following on something in Brad Hudson’s book I decided to do 8 steep hills. So a bit of a jog and then 8 ups and jog down. About 15 seconds on the way up. On the toes, using the arms. The idea is that this is a good form of strength-training. I surely felt it. Then watched Bertie and Elizabeth” which had been on Masterpiece Theatre in 2002. Covered much of the same territory as did “The King’s Speech.” Not as Hollywood as the more recent movie, but quite enjoyable and, I thought, better and more comprehensive. With an add-on from Russell Baker (from the broadcast) about why people came to hate Edward VIII, particularly in comparison to George VI. As Baker also points out, George VI’s death from lung cancer was a wake-up call about the possibility that smoking could cause cancer.

Thurs., May 12

As expected decided against running the Master’s Mile. I can’t face the idea of going (or trying to go) that fast for a mile. So I went with a lunchtime run. I intended to run to the Kensico Dam and back and to keep it easy, but when I came upon the 2 mile mark on the way back — the 2 miles end about 1/2 mile from my office — I gradually picked it up. I was breathing heavily but not particularly pushing in. This stretch is almost perfectly flat, and I tend to go quickly along it. Still, when I got to the end of the 2 miles I stopped. So that made it a bit over 6 miles or so, with the final 2 at 12:49.

The picture I put up is of what used to be the village hall in Tuckahoe, where I grew up. My wife and I had dinner there tonight, so I took the photo. In high school, the bus picked me up here and I picked up my papers on my paper route in this area, and delivered many papers to the two apartment buildings, the one in the front had no elevator so I’d race to the top and down again. More important, I’d finish my runs through this square and up that hill in the center, which doesn’t look steep but leads to a fairly steep stretch, at the top of which I’d be done. The Metro North train tracks into the City are just to the right.

Fri., May 13

To Twin Lakes. Two laps plus to Webster. Tried to keep it relaxed, and finished spot on 45. Beautiful night. Beautiful run.

Speaking of which, Flo has some good stuff on “recovery” runs (which, according to Matt Fitzgerald are not for recovery).

Sat., May 14

Here was the plan. Nice and easy for 1:30. I charged my Garmin and off I went, heading up the BRP. The pace was a bit quicker than I hoped, around 7:05, and it was humid, albeit with a low temp, and I was not particularly enjoying myself. But hot and bothered as I was, I was OK. Just at the 5-mile mark, however, I felt a twinge in the front of my right quad, to the inside and just above the knee. Nothing serious, I think, but enough to stop and schlep home. A bit frustrated.

Sun., May 15

As expected, yesterday’s pain is today’s memory. So weird.

It was raining when I awoke, but the radar suggested it would move through. At 8ish, there was a thunder-clap and the rain came down in torrents. Which meant our garage might be flooding. So down I raced, startling Shadow (our basement-living cat), and upon opening the garage the water began to enter. But I got the sump pump running, the rain tapered off, and the garage was saved.

I called the Bronxville Running Company. “Are you going out?” “We are”. “I’ll be there”. And at 9:10 (the run starts at 9) I was. We waited for a few others who had called in that they were running late, and off we went, up the Bronx River Parkway path. It was not flooded, although there were flooded stretches. Alas, at the Groucho-Marx Bridge — so called because one must bend a bit to get under it — the path was flooded, so we headed home. Adding a bit after our return to the store, and I had us at 1:18. Good solid pace.

So I was happy with the effort. For the week, looks like about 45, for six days.

Mon., May 16

A bit wet today. Decided to run down to the track, 20 laps, home. Felt pretty good doing it, although spent one lap slower as a chatted with a guy who’s just moved to Bronxville from Sweden. No watch.

Tues., May 17

Worked from home after heavy rains. Hoping to avoid a storm that would never come headed out at 5:30 on local streets. Figured it was about 6.5 in 45:00 and felt relaxed.

Separately, I got into a bit of a battle with some at NYRR on Facebook about my latest post, “Safety Last“, which also ran at NYCRuns. Fortunately, it appears that most of the runners who responded agreed these things should not have happened. It is frustrating. Instead of a substantive response from NYRR, even for the positive things I say, I get nothing but anger and resentment and, more troubling, accusations that certain things I’ve said are “childish”, which may be true, and that my emails have been profanity-laced (if you’re wondering, the only thing I’ve written that is close was in response to what someone called NYRR’s “fiasco” related to the NYC Marathon Show in which I sympathetically wrote to someone there, “You must be tired of having to do damage-control for the fuck-ups of others” and when he responded badly to that I wrote, “I don’t know how you took offense unless you were the moron behind the fuck-up — I use those words intentionally”).

Wed., May 18

Well today it rained and rained and rained. It let up as I headed into Bronxville for a run with the guys from the Running Company so after a detour necessitated by the closing of the Bronx River Parkway as a result of said rain — GoogleMap said traffic was fine — I decided to head out with them. Of course about 2 minutes into the run it started to rain again, although it would let up towards the end.

In the event, we ran hither and yon for 36 minutes. I’m calling it 5. Fun.

Thurs., May 19

Although I wasn’t tired or dragging, I figured I’d take a day off. And I did.

Fri., May 20

My standard Friday trail run. No watch. (Well, I had the watch and started it but then realized it was best not to use it to keep the pace easy so I stopped it.) We’ve had a fair amount of rain recently, but the trail was passable even if there were a few dicey spots and I ended up with a fair amount of mud on my legs and my shoes.

Sat., May 21

8 miles without a watch to Crestwood and back. This was a schlep. It was not what I call a “no-way” run in which early on I tell myself there’s no way I’ll finish but somehow do. It was more of just a schlep. Don’t know the pace, but it was humid if not warm. I was never dead, but I had many doubts about making it. But 3 turned into 4 (the turn-around) which somehow morphed to 5, etc., until I was at 8. Couple of strides after. Not particular beat-up afterward. Just a grinding run.

Sun., May 22

Into Bronxville for a group run. I had run with none of the people before. A group of us headed north on the BRP path, getting to Scarsdale and back. 1:05:18. I was a bit more tired than I wanted to be so although I thought of adding some distance, I decided not to. I had a fair amount of wine last night, going out to dinner, so that may have affected me a bit.

Wed., May 25

With BRC, to Leewood Tunnel and back. Felt pretty good; no hamstring issue.

Thurs., May 26

Feeling alright, but then felt a sharp pain in the lower back at 2.25. So stopped, and walked home. The pain didn’t come back.

Fri., May 27

No run; concern about the hamstring.

Sat., May 28

Because of my sore right hamstring, elected to skip the Bronxville 2.5. Ran about 5 instead, and the leg was fine.

Sun., May 29

Sunday at Running Company. Just Bobby P and me, and he wanted to run up the Hutch Trail, so that’s what we did. From parking lot to edge of Saxon Woods and backed. I blew up climbing the hill south of Pinebrook, as I’ve not blown-up before. It was a struggle, but he stayed with me to the end. Many it was humid; I was drenched.

Mon., May 30, Memorial Day

Plan was to do the HM as part of the Memorial Day Marathon, at Van Cortlandt. Left early to beat the heat, but it still hurt, and it was very humid. Ended up walking briefly in the back hills, but then picked it up and felt pretty good. Went with Emmy and Frank for about 4 miles of their second loops. This was a lot of fun. Although it was painful.

Tues., May 31

It was hot. My determination was to go easily enough so that I wouldn’t suffer, and I pretty well did. Just to Scarsdale Road, but felt good. Solid, optimistic.

JUNE

Wed., June 1

Quite warm. Ran with Bobby P of Running Company to Leewood tunnel and back. Pretty dead, but held it together.

Thurs., June 2

To Nature Study and back. Felt good.

Fri., June 3

To Albany. No Run.

Sat. June 4

At Freihofer’s. No Run.

Sun. June 5

This was a tough one. Bobby P. decided to head to the OCA. Lots of hills getting there. With Harry of New Balance and Rob. We got just across the Bronx border. Pace was honest, and felt pretty good over the final stretch. About 1:12.

Mon. June 6

Hot. Easy, easy pace to Parkway Oval and back. Kept it under control and felt pretty good, although it was HOT.

Tues., June 7

Ran to Nature Study, but stopped shortly after entering. Both knees have been aching off and on, and they started to bother me as I entered the trail. Decided the better part of discretion was to stop. So walked home.

Wed., June 8

With B’ville RC, to Leewood tunnel and back. Felt good and strong.

Thurs., June 9

Day off.

Fri., June 10

Drove to Twin Lakes and did the standard lap plus lake. Ran for a while with Brian from B’ville RC. Felt good, if tired.

Sat., June 11

Ran up to Hearney Road to meet at deli. Relaxed.

Sun., June 12

Met at Twin Lakes with B’ville Running Company. Did two full loops with Bobby P. et al. A bit of a struggle towards the end, but not bad. 1:08.

Mon., June 13

Check out Mount Vernon Track. It was open, so ran a bunch of laps in lane 5. 47:48. Nice.

Tues., June 14

Flag Day. Decided it was time to get in a bit of speed. So 20 minute tempo was on order. I was very apprehensive about this one. What could I do?

Because Mount Vernon’s track is now available, I went home, got changed, and jogged over. Once again, felt HORRIBLE as I started, but as it was a track workout this did not much concern me, because that’s often happened.

I did not want to wait around. The weather had had a bit of rain in the late afternoon, and rain was threatened (and, in the event, it would drizzle for a few minutes).

Wearing my compression socks and Asics Hyperspeeds, I got started. Things went far better than I expected. 14 smooth, easy laps: 89.1, 92.7, 93.2, 93.8, 94.3, 94.3, 94.8, 93.7, 94.1, 93.0, 94.0, 92.1, 92.4, 91.1 Average: 93.08 (21:43, 6:13ish). Pleasantly surprised by this one.

Wed., June 15

With BRC. To Leewood Tunnel and that back via Columbus and Sagamore. 37:48. Pretty easy.

Thurs., June 16

Day off.

Fri., June 17

We had a bit of rain during the day. So decided to skip the trail run and instead drove to B’ville track, where got in 20 laps. Nice, easy.

Sat., June 18

Race tomorrow. No run.

Sun., June 19

Portugal 5 miler. 31:16.

In the afternoon, I walked to and from B’ville to pick up some milk. I’m hoping that a bit more walking — I do considerably less now that I’m working in White Plains — might help with recovery and such.

Mon., June 20

Nice, very relaxed to Scarsdale Road. Threw in the hill at the end. For the first time in a while, did not feel horrible at the beginning. Wonder if that’s from the walk?

Tues., June 21

Morning run. To Nature Study and to bridge and back. I’m not a fan of early running. A bit of a struggle. No watch. Saw several very small rabbits.

JULY

Sat. July 24

Laps of Twin Lakes, but had a digestive issue at 40 minutes or so.

Sun. July 24

About 34 minutes at Twin Lakes. Had to stop because of a bug bite. Ouch.

Mon., July 25

To Parkway Oval. Easy. Not too warm. 51 or so.

Tues., July 26

OK, so I’ve been bad. I’ve not posted anything here for over a month. Today I need to do it to record an interval workout. Simple: Scarsdale Track. 10 X 400, 40 secs. between. 78.1, 77.6, 78.7, 80.3, 81.7, 79.3, 80.4, 81.1, 80.8, 79.7.

Tues., Aug. 2

Mt Vernon HS. Tempo. Too fast. Stopped at 10 laps: 90.0, 91.4, 90.0, 89.4, 89.7, 90.5, 90.7, 91.5, 91.6, 91.6. 90.64 average.

Wed., Aug. 3

To Leewood and back, with the group.

Thurs., Aug. 4

With a storm threatening, in the neighborhood. 43:40.

Fri. Aug. 5

Race tomorrow. One easy lap of Twin Lakes.

Sat. Aug. 6

Club Champs. 31:03.

Sun. Aug. 7

Dead, dead, dead. With Bobby P to Twin Lakes then struggled back to B’ville. Very humid.

Mon., Aug. 8

Work late. No run.

Tues., Aug. 9

Last Tuesday I headed to the Mt Vernon Track for a 20-minute tempo, but the pace was too fast, close to 6:00 flat, and I couldn’t get past 10 laps. Under the do-it-until-it’s-done principle, I headed there again this week. It was raining shortly before I got there, but the rain had stopped and the humidity started cranking up when I arrived.

Succeeded: 90.7, 93.3, 93.5, 94.2, 94.6, 95.5, 95.2, 94.7, 94.6, 94.3, 94.1, 93.7, 92.8, 91.4. Avg.: 93.76 (6:15).
My goal was 94 second laps, a 6:16 pace. I hit it.

Wed., Aug. 10

Relaxed 5.5 or so with the BRC crew.

Thurs., Aug. 11

To Crestwood. Then right knee felt iffy shortly after the turn around. Damn. But started jogging again in Tuckahoe, coming home via Sagamore, and then it felt OK and then I was able to run home. Weird.

Fri., Aug. 12

No ill-effects from yesterday. To Twin Lakes and 4 relaxed laps. No watch.

Sat., Aug. 13

Got up late and we went out so decided to do a long run in the afternoon. At 5 or so headed out to Twin Lakes. Plan: 8 laps. Lap 1 was 11:30 then 11:00, 10:54, 10:53. Somewhere along the lines I think I stepped awkwardly on a rock. Wearing Minimi. Early in lap 5 the right foot hurt and hurt some more. Walked it in. It hurt.

This long-run pace is still too fast and the runs are still too short.

Sun., Aug. 14

After yesterday, no run.

Mon., Aug. 15

Jog down to MV Track. Felt horrible getting there, but then was fine. Lost count of laps, but they were in the 7:05-7:15 pace. 42 flat, so I’m calling it 5.5.

Tues., Aug. 16

To Mt. Vernon Track. A bit tepid about right foot. Decided to give it a whirl. 4 X 1000 @ 3:40.

• 3:36.0,
• 3:34.6,
• 3:34.3,
• 3:35.7.

80-90 secs. between. They felt pretty relaxed. Right foot started to hurt during the last one so stopped and walked home.

Wed., Aug. 17

With BRC. About 6.

Thurs. Aug. 18

3 X 7 lap tempo. 2 mins. between. Target pace: 95.

• 94.3, 94.1, 94.9, 95.0, 94.6, 94.8, 94.0 (94.5; 6:18)
• 90.6, 93.3, 93.4 92.8, 91.0, 92.9, 92.3 (92.3; 6:09.2)) (I was excited on lap 5 with a kid on a razer)
• 89.8, 93.6, 92.9, 93.2, 93.2, 91.1, 92.0 (92.3; 6:09.3)

These felt great. I wasn’t going to wuss out and I didn’t.

Fri., Aug. 19

Nice and easy, no watch, around Twin Lakes, in NB. No watch.

Worried that this would be too much speed for the week. It was hot and sunny and this was tough. 5 X (2 min. at Interval pace, 1 min. jog, 1 min., 30 sec. jog, 30 sec., 30 sec. jog), at interval pace. Not precise about the time, but it was around 88 I think. Solid.

Sun. Aug. 21

At Rockies. Dropped off back of Josh and Bobby A. in first mile. Then ran with Patrick and Steve after 25 mins., very slow. Finished up switchbacks at 13-Bridges and back. 1:12:58. Minimi.

Mon. Aug. 22

Planned Day off.

Tues. Aug. 23

I feel much more comfortable and confident since my decision from last week. I did speak about it at length during this past Sunday’s New York Running Show.

But I was nervous about tonight’s workout. Per Daniels: 5 X 1200 @ Interval (89) pace, 3 min. jog between. A funny thing happened, though, when I did them. They were not hard. I kept the pace under control and was nice and relaxed, having time to focus at times on maintaining good form. It was the ideal number, 5, as I felt a bit fatigued after about 400 meters of that one. Don’t know if I could have done another.

Numbers:

• 86.5, 88.15, 88.16 (4:22.84)
• 88.9, 86.9 88.4 (4:24.2)
• 87.8, 88.4, 88.0 (4:24.2)
• 87.4, 87.6, 88.2 (4:23.2)
• 87.4, 87.5, 88.2 (4:23.1)

Wed., Aug 24

With BRC. About 5.7

Thurs., Aug. 25

3 easy laps of Twin Lakes.

Fri., Aug. 26

Didn’t plan a run, but found out tomorrow’s race cancelled. To Scarsdale Road, but stomoach not good coming back so stopped at about 3.5.

Sat., Aug. 27

It was humid. Aim was 1:20 and did 1:22:37. Tried to keep as easy a pace as possible, and succeeded.

Sun., Aug. 28

Hurricane Irene. No run.

Mon., Aug. 29

to MVHS. 40 Min. Tempo at 6:33 pace:

1. 95.23
2. 94.44
3. 96.39
4. 97.05
5. 98.74
6. 98.10
7. 98.15
8. 98.40
9. 97.07
10. 98.22
11. 97.25
12. 97.25
13. 98.68
14. 97.41
15. 97.12
16. 97.09
17. 97.45
18. 97.13
19. 97.02
20. 95.80
21. 97.18
22. 96.27
23. 93.89
24. 94.11
25. 91.95

40:19.36. Avg: 96.77 (6:27.08)

Felt fine throughout, although laps 10 to 20 were tough mentally. But this was one of my best runs in many a day.

Tues., Aug. 30

No run. Nice dinner at X2O in Yonkers. For the anniversary.

Wed., Aug. 31

With BRC. Added a bit at the front-end so ended up with 59:41.

Thurs., Sept. 1

To the Track. 5 X 1200, with 2 min. jog:

1. 82.78, 87.16, 86.55 (4:16.49) (5:42)
2. 85.13, 87.07, 87.49 (4:19.69) (5:46)
3. 86.70, 86.19, 88.12 (4:21.07) (5:48)
4. 85.79, 87.07, 87.68 (4:20.54) (5:47)
5. 87.32, 87.81, 86.93 (4:22.06) (5:49)

Pretty comfortable on these. A bit of a struggle on no. 3, but not too much.

Fri., Sept. 2

This was a weird one. At Twin Lakes, which was in good shape after the storm. Felt a twinge on the very top and front of my right leg after a couple of minutes. Decided to stop and walk around the lake to see its condition. Cleaned up a few spots and then decided to give it another try. And it was fine, until just before the end of lap 3 when the LEFT foot bottom started to hurt. So I stopped. Wearing Minimi. Don’t know what the deal is.

Sat. Sept. 3

Tomorrow at the Rockies so decided on a hybrid speed session. 2 miles or so followed by 4 sets of 200 (jog 200), 200 (jog 200), 400 (jog 400) then an 800 at Interval pace. Sunny but not too warm. I found that when I concentrated on taking it relaxed and focused on keeping my head up by targeting something at the end of the straight it worked. Also, ran the final 200 of the final 400 very fast.

1. 15:25 at a decent pace chiefly around the track.
2. 41.74, 42.36, 85.00 (estimate; late watch stop)
3. 40.97, 40.24, 81.75
4. 40.39, 40.38, 81.23
5. 41.24, 40.95, 77.15 (40.38 and 36.77)
6. 2:54.18 (88.30 and 85.88)

Then jogged about a mile on the track and home. And no problem with the foot or the leg.

Sun. Sept. 4

To the Rockies. Started out with Bobby P but was dead and took it easy, with Laura R., just over an hour. It was humid.

Mon. Sept. 4

Labor Day. Another hot one. Pretty tired and decided to turn at Scarsdale Road. But the left foot hurt shortly after the turn-around so limped into B’ville and got a ride home.

Tues. Sept. 5

Because of the foot, and a lot of rain, took the day off.

Wed. Sept. 6

Decided to chance it with the B’ville Running Co. No problem with the foot, and a nice easy 45 minutes.

Thurs., Sept. 7

Oops. Screwed up the watch. Not wanting to waste a week and with a race on Sunday, I decided to do a 20 minute tempo, which I converted into 15 laps, or about 22. But I erased the splits from my watch, but they were all in the 91 to 94 range, a little under the target. Quite easy in fact. Not too easy though.

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