Akes and Paynes

I've reached that point again. The point that I always reach a few days before a half marathon. The point where I notice every little twinge in my legs.

Of course, the mature, sensible runner will recognize these twinges as a normal part of every day life, and just get on with things. Why worry about anything? It's perfectly normal for different parts of your body to give off little signals.

Hence my reaction....

Ohmygahd, my legs are falling apart! My knees are killing me, and I'm only walking uphill! Is that a hint of strain in my thigh? Must be IT Band Syndrome! Will I have to stop running? Get surgery? Need a leg brace?

... Really, it gets a bit out of hand.

This time I think I'm handling it pretty well. I'm only worried about my right hip, and only panicked about my knees briefly this morning, and I doubt anybody on the street even noticed. Of course, I've got a few days to go until the Brooklyn Half, so there's still a chance to build some real momentum.

The least helpful article I ever read said that it's imperative to run relaxed; that if you aren't relaxed, you can really injure your knees. This leads to a little voice in my head that say, "Relax, dammit! If you don't relax NOW you'll injure yourself SEVERELY, and will screw up your body for the rest of your LIFE! So RELAX IMMEDIATELY you fool!"

This doesn't help.

Despite all of this, I'm really looking forward to the Brooklyn Half. I hear it's really fun, and I live close to the Q train in Brooklyn, so I'm already most of the way there. What's a little case of nerves?

Qualifying for NY, Part 2: long distances

(Edited on July 6th, 2008: I just found out that the "ING NYC Marathon Tune-Up" is also a qualifier, and was 18 miles last year. I'm editing this post to update the distances.)

Following up on my last post, the next logical question is, "what's the longest distance I could run to qualify?"

This is a bit trickier, because it depends on your gender. (Please take a moment to check this.) There are a couple of long qualifier races that only women are allowed to run. So, if you're a woman who enjoys running, achievement, distance, and (presumably) pain, you could run

[1] 26.2 miles More Magazine Marathon – Women only
[2] 26.2 miles NY Marathon (which is also a qualifier)
[3] 18.0 miles ING NYC Marathon Tune-Up
[4] 13.1 miles Manhattan half 1/2
[5] 13.1 miles Bronx half 1/2
[6] 13.1 miles Brooklyn half 1/2
[7] 13.1 miles Queens half 1/2
[8] 13.1 miles Staten Island half 1/2
[9] 13.1 miles New York 1/2 Marathon

for a total of 149 miles. "Weaker sex" my a__.

If you're one of us Y-Chromosome types, you have to get by with shorter mileage. Here's what it looks like:

[1] 26.2 NY Marathon (which is also a qualifier)
[2] 18.0 miles ING NYC Marathon Tune-Up
[3] 13.1 Manhattan 1/2
[4] 13.1 Bronx 1/2
[5] 13.1 Brooklyn 1/2
[6] 13.1 Queens 1/2
[7] 13.1 Staten Island 1/2
[8] 13.1 New York 1/2 Marathon
[9] 13.1 Grete's Great Gallop

Which is a total of 135.9 miles. With a bunch of women on the sidelines calling you a wimp.

Mind you, I'm not sure that Grete's Great Gallop is happening this year. The NYRR website lists the Norwegian Festival (which in the past has had Grete's), but they don't list the half marathon.

If Grete's doesn't happen, you'd have to do a shorter race. The next one down for men is the 15K (9.3 mile) NYRR Hot Chocolate 15K. This brings us down even further to a mere 132.1 miles. I mean, really, why bother?

Qualifying for NY, Part 1: short distances

This November I'm going to run my first marathon: New York City. I was born and raised here in New York, so I'm pretty excited about it.

There are a number of ways to get into the New York Marathon. One of them (the way I did it) is to run 9 "qualifying races" with the New York Road Runners. This sounds pretty impressive, but there are a lot of races that count as qualifiers, and they vary in distance.

Recently, I started to wonder what the shortest amount of distance is that a person can run, and still qualify for New York. Here's are some races:

[1] 1 mile Fifth Avenue Mile
[2] 3.1 miles Coogan's Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks
[3] 3.1 miles Amer. Heart Assoc. Wall St. Run
[4] 4.0 miles NYRR Gridiron Classic
[5] 4.0 miles NYRR Al Gordon Snowflake
[6] 4.0 miles Run as One, TGL Classic
[7] 4.0 miles NY Colon Cancer Challenge
[8] 4.0 miles Run as One
[9] 4.0 miles Run for the Parks

(I think there are also various other 4 mile races.)

So that's 31.2 miles, which is only 5 miles more than a single marathon. Not that much distance.

Lincoln Tunnel

The Lincoln Tunnel is one of two tunnels that connects Manhattan with the great (and often maligned) state of New Jersey.

According to The Encyclopedia of New York City, it took more than 2 decades to build the tunnel. It has a main central tube, and two smaller tubes to the north and south.

This morning, I ran through the southern one.

The event is called The Lincoln Tunnel Challenge and is a fundraiser for New Jersey's Special Olympics. They clean out the tube the night before, and keep air constantly circulating. So it's easier to breath than you'd expect if you know the tunnel. And you probably get through more quickly than when you're in a car. :-)

As an event, it could use some better planning. I'm sure the organizers have their hands full, but... It would really help if

1. There were more frequent shuttle buses to/from NYC.
2. The walkers started 15 minutes behind the runners (or at least further back). We runners had to constantly dodge the walkers, which couldn't have been fun for them either.
   
3. The location of the baggage area was clearer.
4. There were any sort of clear instructions on where to get the bus back to NYC.
   

Despite that, I had a really good time. I ran into a friend of mine from work and her husband. She's suffering from back problems and had to walk rather than run, which is a shame because it's always fun to run with a friend.

It's a 5k race. You start by running away from New Jersey, are really excited to arrive in New York; then you finally find yourself back in New Jersey.

Hmm. I've known some people who'd describe their life's story like that.

The contours of the course are really simple: you start by running downhill for the first 1/4, then you run uphill to make it to Manhattan. On the way back you do the same: start downhill, and end going uphill.

A number of people stopped midway, to get their picture taken in the tunnel at the point that marks "New Jersey" on one side, and "New York" on the other. I wish I'd brought a camera and done the same, even if I accidentally almost bowled over one person who stopped to take a picture.

Half marathon #9

Last weekend's race:

Capital City half marathon (Columbus, OH), April 18, 2008

Clock: 2:00:22
Chip: 1:59:04
Pace/mile: 9:05

My second best time ever. On the other hand, the Thunder Road 1/2 in Charlotte was my 3rd best time, and was much, much hillier, so that was probably more of an achievement.

The temperature was great – in the 50s – but it was windy as heck. It was a big loop, and yet it felt as if the wind was against us more than half of the time.

The course was great. It went through some of the more interesting parts of Columbus: past shops and coffee houses, into the historic German Village section. Very cool.

It was also a pretty flat course. Central Ohio is pretty flat (although not as flat as Northern Ohio), so it was pretty easy going.

Very enjoyable.

Half marathons #1-8

I was about to post about my 9th half-marathon, and realized that there's no information here about the first 8. So let me do a quick recap:

#1: Staten Island, October 15, 2006

Clock: 2:19:45
Chip: 2:14:58
Pace/mile: 10:18

(Note: "Clock" time is the official start of the race. "Chip" time is the amount of time from when a runner passes the start line until he/she passes the finish line. In races with thousands of people, it can take awhile to get to the start line.)

#2: Manhattan, January 21, 2007

Clock: 2:13:03
Chip: 2:05:19
Pace/mile: 9:33

#3: NYC Half Marathon, August 5, 2007

Clock: 2:11:12
Chip: 2:05:43
Pace/mile: 9:35


#4: Grete's Great Gallop, October 6, 2007

Clock: 2:09:15
Chip: 2:06:53
Pace/mile: 9:41


#5: Staten Island, October 14, 2007

Clock: 1:55:57
Chip: 1:54:18
Pace/mile: 8:43


#6: Thunder Road (Charlotte, NC), December 8, 2007

Clock: 2:00:59
Chip: 1:59:59
Pace/mile: 9:09


#7: Manhattan, January 27, 2008

Clock: 2:07:50
Chip: 2:04:12
Pace/mile: 9:28


#8: Bronx, February 10, 2008

Clock: 2:03:20
Chip: 2:01:05
Pace/mile: 9:14

Wishing Well

Last Friday I was saying goodnight to my friend Brian, who was about to run a marathon in a couple of days. As he was walking off, I realized that I wanted to say something encouraging about the race, but didn't have a good phrase on hand.

• "Good luck" – Hopefully the race won't involve any luck.
• "Have a good race" – Not bad. Sounds like what you say when someone's going on a picnic, but not bad.
• "Break a leg" – Um, no.

I'm really not sure what to say to someone, or what I want to hear, before a long race. I feel like we runners could use something short and pithy like "break a leg," but I can't think of anything.

• "Show 'em how it's done!"
• "Go long!"
• "What are you, nuts?"

These all have their points, but... not quite.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Fight the Power

I've seen a number of articles recently about under-represented groups in running. There are really cool articles about African-Americans in running, people who run with prosthetics, and legally blind people like David Patterson, the new Governor of New York State.

There are also articles about non-skinny runners, slow runners, and other people who don't fit the standard image that we all picture when we think "runner".

All of that's good, but I'd like to bring up another under-represented and (I would argue) oppressed group within the running community. I feel very strongly about this, because I'm one of them.

I'm talking about Runners Who Are Not Morning People.

Seriously, what's the deal with all of these peppy early morning runners? Oh, sure, they like to bitch and moan about their schedules, but it's clearly just bragging. "Man, it was tough waking up at 4:30 so that I could eat a full breakfast, do my taxes, and read the rest of War and Peace before hitting the road at six."

Six? Six?!? The best thing I'd like to say about six in the morning is that it was still 4 hours before I woke up.

Six. Give me a break.

Many of you reading this (... he writes, as if it's more than 2 people ...) may fit into that morning-runner category. Let me try to make this a little clearer. Here's what you think you're saying:

"I love going jogging in the morning when the air is brisk, and you can feel a certain crispness in the breeze. I love it when the roads are empty, and the clear light is filtering through the quiet, slowly waking world."

Here's what a person like me hears:

"I am completely insane. I hear voices and they tell me what to do. At any moment I may take out an ax and attack you. Coo-coo! Coo-coo! I'm a little teapot, short and stout... Wait! I'm receiving an important message from the Planet Zirqon!"

Unfortunately, the running world is dominated by morning people. They set the times for road races ("Let's make it at 7 am, so that everyone can really enjoy themselves! Hold on a sec... I'm receiving another message from Zirqon."), and there's nothing that the rest of us can do about it.

Why does this happen? My personal suspicion is that they have their planning meetings in the early morning too. I'm picturing a meeting of 4 chirpy, happy morning people sitting around a table at 5:30 in the morning, having already decided on the calendar, as the first non-morning person drags him or herself in in a desperate bid to stave off the inevitable. ("Gosh, Sally, it's a shame you weren't here earlier when we figured out the entire year's schedule. But now that you're here, let's go running!")

This week's long run

Introduction

Okay, this post got a lot longer than I'd intended, so I'm going to break it up with big bold headers, so that anybody who reads it (yes, all both of you....) can skip the parts that don't interest them.

Every weekend I try to do a long run, usually between 8 and 11 miles depending on weather, mood, time constraints, etc.

On Saturday, Spring went streaking through NYC, which was both exciting and frustrating. ("Ha ha, you like this guys? The warm weather? The soft breeze? Well enjoy it, suckers, because a glimpse is all you get!") I celebrated the warm weather with one of my favorite runs.

The Run

Distance: 10.75 miles
End points: Prospect Heights (Brooklyn) to Coney Island (Twilight Zone)
Auditory accompaniment:

• NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!"
• PBS's Washington Week Podcast with Gwen Ifill (marry me, Gwen!)
• Leonard Lopate
• John Gorka's "Pure John Gorka" album

Neighborhoods visited:

• Prospect Heights
• Prospect Park South
• Ditmas Park
• Midwood
• Homecrest
• Brighton Beach
  

There are two good ways to run from Prospect Park to Coney Island. The easiest way is to get onto Ocean Parkway, which is a long, straight street that has long, tree-lined, pedestrian-friendly strips along it. I like running along these if I'm running with people who I want to talk with for 2 hours straight.

If I'm running on my own, I prefer to run through neighborhoods so I can look at houses and gawk at people. Here's how I get from Prospect Park to Coney Island:

1. Exit the park in the Southwest corner, at "Park Circle", across from the Parade Grounds. If you've been running the loop counter-clockwise (like everybody else in the park), this is the first exit you get to after you see the lake on your left.
2. Cross Parkside Avenue, and run through that odd stretch of road with ballfields on your left and the backs of Parks Department buildings on your right. Basically, this is a block-long parking lot.
3. After a block. you'll get to Caton Ave. Zig a little to the left, so you can cross it onto Stratford, the first of many England-themed streets you'll come across in this area.
4. Run along Stratford until you get to Beverly Road. Or possibly Beverley Road. The road can't decide how to spell its own name, and it changes depending on where you are. Anyway, turn left on Beverl(e)y, and run 3 blocks to Rugby.
5. Turn right on Rugby and run along this for a long way. At some point you will find that, without intending to, you are are on 14th street. Little did you know that the "Runner's High" also involves hallucinations.
6. Run along 14th. Run more along 14th. Curse the name of the stupid blogger who sent you on this route.
   
7. When you get to Avenue U, turn right. There, that wasn't so bad, was it?
8. Run along Avenue U until you get to Ocean Parkway. Please note: Avenue U is commercial, which means there are shops and people to gawk at, but it can be crowded. If it is, try running along Avenue V instead.
   
9. Turn left on Ocean Parkway. Follow it to the sea.
   

That entire run is about 6 miles. To add extra mileage, either run to Park Circle in Prospect Park and/or run along the boardwalk when you get to Coney Island.

Why I Love This Run

I love running to Coney Island, because I get to do my post-run stretch on the boardwalk, watching the waves. And then I can take the subway home.

And Coney Island is a real trip. First of all, there's all the history and entertainments: the Cyclone roller coaster, Astroland amusement park (which everybody says is going to be destroyed soon), the parachute jump, the aquarium, etc. That, combined with the beach, brings out a great combination of families, people on dates, people strutting, and folks who are just plain bored and looking for distractions.

One guy with a strong Noo Yawk accent, who arrived at the boardwalk just as I was slowing down and walking a bit, looked around and said, "man, it's f___in' great here!"

Amen, brother, amen!

Also it's next to Brighton Beach, which is largely populated by Russian Jews from Odessa. So there are all these wonderful looking, stoic elderly people sitting around on the boardwalk at any time. I also like the sound of Russian, and you hear quite a bit of it.

I'm feeling ready for the 1/2 marathon in Columbus next weekend.