Half and Half

There's nothing quite like leaving a blog to fester for a few months (well 4 months to be precise).

It's been a bitterly cold and icy winter, so keeping up with the regime was tough. But... in January I ran my first ever half marathon, just missing out on cracking 2 hours.

My official time was 2:01:33, which as my only result is my PR - I should have been pleased, but was in truth bitterly disappointed. 2 weeks earlier, a random guy distracted my on Broad Street in Manhattan's financial district (trying to sell me on the merits of Bitcoin) and I put my foot over a curb over extending my ankle. I winced at the time, and knew immediately it was trouble for my half.

I set off well enough, and after 9 miles or so was well on target for a sub two-hour time. Unfortunately my ankle wasn't up to it, and after the 10 mile mark, I was running on one leg and slowing with every step. My last two miles were 11:30 min/miles, losing me at least 3 mins off my training pace.

I need to work on my running face, but that guy
behind me looks in more pain than I do.

But, it was a great experience and I learned a lot - and in January I ran 70 miles, something I've never done before in a single month and quite an achievement given the average temperature in January was 10 degrees below freezing.

So tomorrow is the NYC Half, and my hopes are in the balance for beating 2 hours. I've only run 30 miles in March war far, although I should reach 70 miles again this month, and my ankle is still causing me trouble. So much so, I am thinking of getting physio if I have the same trouble this time. On the flip side, while the Manhattan Half was two laps of Central park, which means two steep climbs per lap, the NYC Half is much more forgiving. After one lap of Central Park, it's a run downtown either slightly downhill or flat. Many PR's have been set on this course.

So, a prediction is probably going to jinx me, but I am hoping for a 1:58 time. That means running around 9/min miles.

Then it's the Brooklyn Half in May...

Limits and Possibilities

As 2013 starts to draw to a close and I look forward to 2014, I've been struck by both my limits and the possibilities for the next 12 months.

Next week, I am running my last 'race' of 2013, which qualifies for the 2014 New York Marathon. It's 4 miles, and all I need to do is show up and finish. My prior two 4 mile runs much earlier this year clocked at 37:51 and 36:01, so a target of 35 mins, or 8:45/mile feels decent, if somewhat modest. Beyond that, the biggie is on January 26th, when I tackle my first half marathon. In 2014, I am going to run the 9+1 for guaranteed entry to the NYC Marathon in 2015, plus at least 4 of the 5 borough races which includes 3 half marathons (Manhattan Half, Brooklyn Half, Staten Island Half, Bronx 10 miles and Queens 10k).

Recently I ran just under 6.5 miles averaging less than 9 mins/mile. The idea is in 8 weeks I'll be able to maintain that for 13.1 miles bringing me in just under 2 hours. Ideally I'd be running my first half at the start of March, another 4 weeks later, but the timing is good in some ways as I get to test myself early on.

I've also started hitting a nearby track to start to work on speed - again some limits and possibilities are showing here. I can run a 6 mins/mile at least for 400m at a time - again, modest but a starting point. I'm always weary that kicking too hard might pull my back out of sorts. Being injury free so far  has been encouraging and a great platform to keep building on.

So, let's see out 2013... and prep for that half marathon.

Marathon Blues - New PR

So yesterday I went to the Jacob Javits convention center to pick up my race bib for the New York Dash to the Finish Line race, which is a 5K dash to the end of the NY Marathon course. It's both a warm up for the marathoners tomorrow, and an opportunity for those not running the marathon to sock up some of the scenery and atmosphere associated with the big day.

What I didn't realize, but should have guessed, is that the marathoners were also collecting their bibs, and the entire center was constantly reminding me that's who they were catering for.

Welcome... if you're running the Marathon

For the first time, I wished I was running it tomorrow. I'd probably barely make it within 5 hours, and I'd probably be ill for weeks afterwards, but I wish my big day wasn't a ear away...

...but, solace. I did the dash and hit a personal record for 5K (27:30 or 8:53min/mile), and am slowly moving towards the 25 min target.

The Race Starts at the United Nations

Starting at 47th street on First Avenue, runners get to run along 42nd street and then up 6th Avenue towards the park. It's been my favorite race of the year so far, and now I'm only 2 races away from qualifying for the 2014 NYC Marathon, which was my goal in January.

Sunrise on the East Side

Half Marathon Baseline

I just applied for the NYC Half Marathon. Good chance I won't get in, but I'm hoping to run 3 - 4 Half Marathons next year as well as the NYC Marathon, so I applied anyway.

Also, trying to keep a new baseline of 15 miles a week:

Winter Baseline?

Running Treats

My lovely wife Maria bought me an assortment of running treats. I'll be reviewing these in upcoming posts. 

Post Race Run

After being buoyed by a PR yesterday, I fancied a little cool down run, and was surprised at grabbing a negative split at the end.

Ooh, 4th mile...

But where's my 8-minute mile?

5K PR

27:35 on a cross country run with zero drop shoes. Not bad old man!