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 This morning was completely unlike any other morning I’ve ever had. The ESBRU was such a unique experience. Despite all the great advice I got going into it (much of it in the comments to my posts up here), I really didn’t know what to expect. I made some big mistakes and didn’t place well as I would have liked to, but I learned a lot that I can take with me into next year. (That is, of course, if I get accepted again next year…) My official time was 15:16, which put me at 64th out of 139 men and 78th overall out of 206. Although that’s not as good as what I was hoping for, the event was still a lot of fun and I’m glad I participated.
I met up with Antonio by the 6 here in East Harlem early this morning and we rode down to the Empire State Building together. He wasn’t running, but I got a guest pass and his office is nearby so he tagged along. It was good having him around to chat with.
After a very long wait (because I had been neurotic about getting there super early hoping that would somehow get me closer to the front of the starting line in order to avoid the bottleneck I kept hearing about) I finally found myself lined up with the other men in the first wave. To be honest, I was more than a little intimidated by how athletic these guys looked. Most were in racing flats and had legs that looked like they could run the mile at least a minute faster than mine.
The whole trip to the starting line from the staging area was filled with jostling for position. I wasn’t being super aggressive because I didn’t know how quick I’d be running and I was guessing most of these others would be faster than me. I ended up near the middle of the pack by the time we finally reached the line.
 Adrenaline was racing through me like crazy went the start was signaled. I took two quick steps then stopped. The famous bottleneck… I got through pretty quick, maybe ten or fifteen seconds and then started up the steps. I had done single steps for all my training, but quickly realized that the stairs here were less steep than the ones I’d been training on. Plus, there were handrails that I was able to use to propel forward. So, I abandoned the singles after a flight or two and did doubles the rest of the way.
Everyone kept telling me before the race to save energy and not go out too fast, so I stayed really conservative. Floor 30 came and went and I was still feeling good, so I started to pass some guys. But passing took so much extra energy and they were making it difficult, speeding up as I’d try to go past. So, I hung back. Then, around floor 50, I started making moves again and this time got around several people. I burned up a bunch of energy though and slowed slightly. Then we started running into the stragglers of the women’s race and it got even tougher to pass. I got boxed in a couple times and ended up with some frustratingly slow flights. I was getting tired, but not nearly as bad as it had been in my training. When we hit floor 80, I opened up and started running as hard as I could, but it was too little too late. I only was able to pick off a couple more guys.
I reached the top and the cool air, ran across the observation deck and then looked out at the amazing view of the city. My legs were a little wobbly, but again, nothing like it had been in training. On the elevator down, everyone was talking about the race and I said, “That wasn’t nearly as tough as I thought it’d be,” to which a guy in the corner responded, “That means you weren’t going fast enough.” Very true.
If I get invited to do the Run-Up again in 2011, here’s what I’ll do different:
- Go faster.
- Be more aggressive in getting a good starting position. And, lining up on the left to be closer to the doorway.
- Do doubles the entire way. And practice them in training. Maybe I’ll have to find shallower stairs to train on next year since doubles on the 155th Street ones would be so tough.
- Pass early instead of waiting until it’s easier.
- Not run 57 miles the weekend before the race. My legs were pretty fatigued even at the start. I think I would have been able to spring past a few more people early on if I wasn’t already so tired.
57 miles in 3 days. That’s my plan for the weekend. And I’m 2/3 of the way there.
Early in the week, I decided that I’d do double 20’s this weekend since it was my last chance before having to start the taper for the HMRRC Winter Marathon. I was a little worried about putting that much mileage right before ESBRU, but I reminded myself that the stair climb is just for fun. If I run it a little slower because I’m tired, who cares?
Yesterday morning was originally going to just be an 11.5 mile run home from Brooklyn. But then Helen asked me if I’d go for a run in Prospect Park with her first. Of course I said yes. We did a relaxing four miles and then, as I was getting ready to head towards Manhattan, she said, “See you in 31 miles.” I kept a decent pace despite the traffic, finishing 15.3 in just under two hours. It was a quick two hours. My thoughts were bouncing around and there were times I think I actually forgot I was running. It was good. I was loving the weather, which was a sunny 13 degrees with almost no wind. It was chilly right at first, but felt amazing after a mile or so.
And then today, I ran 3 loops of Central Park for the first time ever. It went really well. Antonio and I finished up 20.6 miles (we ran to and from the park too) with an average 7:11/mile pace. The plan was to run much slower since I have another long run tomorrow, but by the last lap, we gave up on trying to slow down and let the pace drop well under 7’s. Our last mile in the park was 6:41 and it didn’t really even feel like we were pushing that hard. Crazy. The weather definitely helped (it was again 13 degrees and sunny), but still that was an amazing time for how little effort it required. I’m really excited about this upcoming marathon. If I get some good weather and am having a good day…
My legs are feeling pretty good now and I’m not overly tired. Tomorrow is going to be a super relaxed jaunt out to New Jersey over the George Washington with Helen. A 21 mile recovery run, if you will. Seems funny writing about a run before it happens, but I’m pretty confident that it will be the perfect end to this, my first ever 80 mile week.
Update 2/1/09: We ended up running 21.3 miles and it was indeed the perfect way to end the week. While over in New Jersey, we made four or five stops for photos, Gatorade, etc., but the 7 mile trips out and back were solid. It was a great mix of running with training in mind and running just for the fun of it.
   
 I made a discovery today: Running up 2,200 stairs hurts. A lot. I’m not sure why, but today’s stair workout was significantly more difficult than last week’s. I was already struggling by the time I made my third trip up. Only 17 to go… That made it worse. I started to focus on the “landmarks” and they became a kind of mantra: King Cobra can, landing, dirty napkin, orange graffiti, landing, black graffiti, light stair, top… I was hugging the handrail on my trips down and having to go pretty slow, not because I was being lazy, but because my legs were shaking so bad it was tough to not fall. There were lots of people out and they were unusually friendly. An old man stopped to tell me, I wish I could still do that. It’s been a long time. I smiled. Some little kids waved as I passed. I got head nods and smiles, and even a Buenos tardes. The 20th trip sort of snuck up on me. I found it was easier to keep going without thinking of how many were left, so I hadn’t really been paying attention to my watch. So, when I looked at it for the first time in a while and saw I was already done with the last set, I was very pleasantly surprised. I’d just run up the equivalent of 120 flights of stairs. Sigh of relief that it was over. I stumbled back down to the bottom, then tried to start running. My legs were like noodles again. I slowly transitioned back into running on flat ground and, after some struggling, got the pace under 9:00/mile. A couple miles later, after making a right onto Malcolm X, I saw the Empire State Building towering off in the distance and it all suddenly seemed worthwhile. Six more days.
I registered for the New York City Marathon today, but it wasn’t because I qualified on time. That goal remains beyond my reach. Even though I have come tantalizingly close to both the full marathon requirement (2:57:52 to 2:55:00) and the half (1:23:46 to 1:23:00), I haven’t been able to cross that threshold yet.
Our conversation about that led to a questioning of why there is such a big difference between the men’s and women’s times. Just by looking at them, it seems as though the men’s are tougher. Helen suggested that I look up the age-graded percent of each. I, being the numbers dork that I am, did. Here’s what I found (based on an age of 26, using this calculator):
| |
Men |
Women |
| Half Marathon |
1:23:00 |
71.85% |
1:37:00 |
67.84% |
| Marathon |
2:55:00 |
72.48% |
3:23:00 |
68.40% |
Clearly the AG% for the men’s time is a lot higher. If NYRR had used the women’s percentages for men, we’d be able to qualify with a 1:27:55 half or a 3:05:25 full. That’s a huge difference. Does anyone know why they do this? Is it a money thing? Am I off base for thinking that this is unfair?
 Wow. Today did not go as planned. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it, but I managed to break the 1:27 barrier. 1:26, 1:25, and 1:24 too… I still can’t quite believe that I just ran a 1:23:46 half marathon, 6:23/mile overall. Especially after such a monster week. It just seems ridiculous.
As far as race reports go, this will be short, because I am completely spent and want to have some time to nap a bit before heading out to the bar to cheer on the Jets. Then again, it couldn’t be that detailed even if I wanted it to. I don’t remember much of the race at all. It’s just one big painful blur.
Because of Central Park’s hills, my splits were somewhat sporadic, but they were definitely faster in the second half. My fastest mile was a 6:12 mile 9 and mile 12 was the second fastest at 6:14. The fact that I was racing smart again makes me happy.
An alarming moment came right after I passed the mile 12 marker. I was at 1:16:50-something and, after doing some quick math, realized that I had eight minutes to run the last 1.1. That was the first time I knew I was going to drop sub-1:25. But almost immediately after that realization, I got really dizzy, stumbled, and almost fell. I guess I was pushing a little too hard. So, I ran pretty conservatively the last mile to make sure that I didn’t miss my goal over something as silly as passing out.
I was wearing a Jets t-shirt and had people yelling out Go Jets! the whole race. I even heard the J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets! chant a couple times. That helped a bunch, especially the last couple miles when I was really starting to fall apart.
A couple notes: According to the McMillan’s Running Calculator numbers I figured out before, my half is now the strongest of the 4 distances I calculated. It seems crazy that it went from last to first in one quick swoop.
Also, I can’t help but compare the similarities between today and Chicago. Both were days where I went in off high mileage weeks with really low expectations and then ran way better than I ever could have imagined. There’s got to be something to that… My dinner last night wasn’t an appropriate pre-race meal, I was drinking Scotch, I didn’t get eight hours of sleep, I didn’t really stretch today, my warm-up was half-assed, my legs were super tired at the start, and then I run one of the best races of my life? WTF?
Okay, that was longer than I expected, but it’s all I have the energy for. Nap time.
My last race was a disaster. I went up to the Armory with unrealistic expectations and then got my ass handed to me in the mile. The disappointment of that took a lot out of me, so I’m going to do my best to avoid the same mistakes at this Sunday’s Manhattan Half Marathon. Looking at my running log this morning, I realized that I have 76 miles in for the past 7 days. Add in 96 flights of stairs and, as you can imagine, my legs are less than fresh. A sub-1:25 half is on my list of goals for the year, but no matter how much I want it, I just have to realize that it’s not going to happen this weekend. So where do I set the pace? It’s not written in stone yet, but I think I’m going to shoot for 1:27:00, or 6:38/mile. That would be a personal best (current is 1:27:17) and, as such, is a decent goal but I feel like it’s within reach if I’m having a good day. Now, let’s just hope for a good day…
I am shocked by how improved today’s stair workout was over last week’s. A week ago, 10 trips up the 110 steps* left me hardly able to walk for a couple days. Today, I did 16 trips and now don’t have any pain in my legs at all. Crazy.
Of course, it was still a hell of a workout. I was sweating like a greased pig in just shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt despite the fact that it was only 46 degrees out. My legs started to shake pretty bad after the 11th trip and I had trouble getting back down the stairs without falling. But, I was still able to keep a solid pace, never letting two feet touch at the same time. All the trips were within 4 seconds of each other, so there was no significant fade. When I finished up and started towards home, I got noodle legs again, but only for a couple hundred yards and was able to run 8:04s instead of last week’s 8:30s.
I broke out my calculator and figured out that if the Empire State Building Run-up is 1,576 steps and 86 floors, today’s 1,760 steps is equivalent to just over 96 floors. That makes me feel a little better about my odds of actually finishing this thing in a decent time. Let’s hope.
* I recounted today a couple times and kept getting 110 instead of 109.
My goal for yesterday’s run was to make it hurt. I succeeded. Far too often lately, I’ve been hanging inside of the comfort zone instead of pushing to the limit. Yesterday, I rectified that.
My original plan was to just do six laps of Prospect Park, but Helen convinced me that we should run to Red Hook instead. I’m glad she did. The route led us to an amazing vista point of the Statue of Liberty out in the bay. Beautiful. From there, we headed back to Prospect Park. The run had a much more focused feeling than ours have in the past. It was good to be out having fun but still maintaining a solid pace. Before finishing a full loop, we made a stop for Gatorade and cake, and then ran up to the top of the big hill, where Helen left me to finish up my long run. We had run 11.31 miles at 7:28/mile pace, a perfect start to a solid long run.
I sped up a bit after we split up, but it wasn’t until my next trip up the big hill that I really started to push the envelope. I had been steadily passing people throughout the park and continued the trend going up the hill. Well, until I got to the guy in the blue t-shirt. He wouldn’t let me pass him. I’d get within a yard or two, then he’d accelerate and break away. I should have let him go, but I didn’t want to. I kept ratcheting up the pace steadily and finally caught him when we were about 200 yards from the top. I looked over, saw his stride break, and as he fell back, he called out, “Nice work.” I responded with a thanks and some encouraging words, then kicked it up another gear and zoomed off. I was running sub-6:30 up the hill when I glanced down at my watch. Wow.
I took the next lap as a breather, but still running just under 7s. It was an uneventful lap. I was feeling pretty drained as I finished it up and started on the final one, but I sped back up in order to finish strong. A 6:33 mile led me to the base of the hill for the last time and I was on fumes. But, I dug deep and ran strong. It was an amazing feeling. When I got to the top I was feeling so good/bad that I almost started another loop. Luckily, my rational brain talked me out of that, and instead I just did a quick cooldown back to Helen’s and called it a day.
My overall pace for those last 10 miles in the park was 6:55/mile, which brought the average for the whole 22 down to 7:14/mile — considerably faster than any of my long runs have been lately.
I was completely destroyed. And, as only you other crazy runners out there will understand, it felt amazing.
 Today was my first workout in preparation for the Empire State Building Run-up. I ran three miles up through Harlem into Washington Heights and to the base of a monster staircase at 155th Street. I looked up, took a big breath, and started charging. By the time I reached the top, I was about to puke, my head was dizzy, and I realized there was no way I could do even one more ascent at that speed. So, after trotting back down, I headed back up again, strong, but not sprinting. That’s not to say it was easy. I was breathing hard from half-way through the first ascent and, by the fifth or sixth, was sweating buckets even though it was only 34 degrees out. I counted the steps coming down and got 109 two different trips, so I’m sticking with that. And, I clocked the trips up on my watch so I could see the splits. Other than the first one, they were fairly consistent: 28, 38, 35, 34, 34, 34, 37, 36, 35, 37. Of course, I have no idea if those are good numbers or bad numbers. Is 34.8 seconds to run up 109 stone stairs a decent time? I have no idea.
There was a big Puerto Rican girl walking up the stairs on my last trip up. As I got closer, she took out her headphones and said, “Looks like I should be working out with you.” I smiled as much as I could and said, “It’s not fun.” After hitting the top that 10th time, my quads were shaking and I was having serious trouble getting back down the stairs without falling. That’s when I decided that I was done for today. My legs felt like spaghetti when I reached the bottom and started the run back home and I couldn’t get the pace much faster than 8:30’s. Good news is that they bounced back pretty quick after I got back home and relaxed a bit. Also, the 1,090 stairs I ran today is almost 70% of the Empire State’s 1,576. Of course, I won’t have those recovery breaks in the race, but I still have a few weeks to get in some training so I feel pretty good about where I’m at. I’m obviously not trying to win anything here, I just want to finish with a respectable time.
On the running front, this week has been less than stellar. It started well, but went to shit when I decided to race the mile up at the Armory. Thanks to that, I finished with less than 47 miles for the week. Not where I need to be 6 weeks out from my marathon…
Monday was off, as always. Tuesday was a quick trip over the Queensboro, the best run of the week as far as numbers go. On Wednesday, I met up with my GMR teammate Jeff in Central Park. While warming up, we randomly ran into two of our other teammates, TK and Eric, who were heading out on their own run. Small town, this New York.
NYRR didn’t post the events for Thursday’s meet up at the Armory until earlier this week. Helen and I had other plans for the evening, but when we learned that the mile was this week, she suggested we go up there instead. I was anxious to get a shot at sub-5 and happily agreed. I ran the mile, but nowhere close to sub-5. I was in the 6th of 8 (I think) heats and still managed to finish dead last. It wasn’t that I raced dumb. In fact, I went out exactly as planned, hitting 37 seconds each of the first two laps. My legs just didn’t have fast in them. Starting in the fourth lap, I slowed and fell from the middle of the pack to behind the pack, eventually finishing in 5:18. Eh… I cheered on Helen as she ran the 800, and then we ran a super-relaxing cooldown to and over the George Washington Bridge. It was the perfect run to take my mind off the disappointment of the mile.
Unfortunately, the mile didn’t just bruise my ego, it did a number on my lungs as well. I was tightening up bad and having trouble breathing when I got back home Thursday night. I didn’t even set my alarm early enough to get a run in Friday — I already knew it wasn’t going to happen.
Saturday morning I woke up early and got a run over the Williamsburg Bridge in, but it wasn’t pretty. About 100 yards into the run, I wanted to quit. My chest was on fire and I was having to fight for every step. I ran into some serious digestive and lack of fuel issues too. The last couple miles of what ended up being only an 11 mile run felt tougher than the end of any marathon. It was a fight.
Good news is that today’s run went much better. Helen and I headed down to Central Park, did a loop, then an extra trip up the Harlem Hill. I was still feeling pretty shitty at the start of today, but by the end, I was almost back to normal. That’s good news for next week.
Finally, a couple random notes: With yesterday’s run over the Williamsburg Bridge, I have already run all 6 major Manhattan bridges in 2010. (I’ve run 3 of the ones over the Harlem River into the Bronx too.) Did I ever mention that I like bridges?
And, more exciting, I got an email yesterday informing me that I was accepted into the Empire State Building Run-up. That comes as a big surprise. I didn’t think I was hardcore enough to get invited to that event yet. I guess I need to start doing a bit of stair work.
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