The Longest Run

....for the 2009 NYC Marathon. With 9 races (including 5 half-marathons!) completed this year, all that was lacking was my volunteer duty. I worked the Long Training Run (a 20 mile run for people in training for this year's marathon) on Saturday; despite a crazy early start (I had to be in the park at 102nd Street on the east side at 6AM) it was actually a pretty enjoyable experience, aided by the fact that I saw three friends running while I was working the race. With the receipt of the note below, I'm officially in for 2009! Dear ANDREW On behalf of New York Road Runners, I want to thank you for volunteering at the Long Training Run # 2. NYRR and the 2342 finishers could not have put on the event without you. Be sure to save this email as a confirmation of your attendance. If you volunteered in order to earn entry into next year’s ING New York City Marathon (along with completing nine qualifying races and being an NYRR member as of January 31, 2008, and remaining in good stan...

With the full race report still to come, an additional tidbit from the NYRR Queens Half-marathon: I finished the race in 1:56:44 - not my fastest time and not my slowest time. Would you believe an 89 (!) year-old finished in 1:48:06? That is amazing. How cool would it be to not only make it to 89 years old but to run a half-marathon at an 8:15 minutes/mile pace? I wonder what his secret is....

<a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ny/new-york/126488386037">NYRR Queens Half-Marathon 2008 (approximate)</a><br/><a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/united-states/ny/new-york">Find more Runs in New York, New York</a> If you click through to the full screen view on the map above (the approximate route for next weekend's Queens Half-Marathon) and switch to Satellite View, you can see Target (quite clearly) from outer space. Wacky. I'll be running this race next weekend with my good friend Jordi , who is coming up to NYC with some of his family for the race and a Yankees game.

Well, it turns out that last weekend's race was in fact the slowest of the 4 half-marathons I've run this year. While I was disappointed in my finishing time I'm really glad I ran the race. Running down Seventh Avenue from Central Park to 42nd Street - with the entire avenue blocked off on both sides and relatively full of spectators - was the coolest running moment I've ever had. Pictured below, courtesy of NYRR, is a view looking up Seventh; not as dramatic as the view I had looking south to Times Square and beyond, but it gives you a sense of what it was like. There was a brief period of time Sunday morning where I wondered if (hoped that?!?) the race would be cancelled due to some pretty impressive thunderstorms in the area. By the time I left our apartment at 6:15 the rain had slowed to a drizzle and the big thunder and lightning had moved out. After the storms departed we were left with....hot and humid. The NYRR stats page on the race says 70 degrees and 90% humi...

Here's the week 6 training update: Week 6 target mileage: 40 miles Week 6 actual mileage: 38.6 miles Target cumulative miles through last week: 208 miles Actual cumulative miles through last week: 201.5 miles Variance: (6.49) miles Training miles to go: 418 Left it just a little short last week, so I've still not done a full 40 miles in a week. This week's number is *just* 37, including a 16 mile run on Saturday.

Finished today's race in 2:02:47 (unofficial time). Not my fastest time and not my slowest time among the 4 halfs I've run this year. Full report to come later.

Here's the week 5 training update: Week 5 target mileage: 37 miles Week 5 actual mileage: 36.9 miles Target cumulative miles through last week: 168 miles Actual cumulative miles through last week: 162.9 miles Variance: (5.14) miles Training miles to go: 458 No long run last week as I split Saturday's 13 mile run into 2 separate runs (see Commitment......or Insanity ). This week will be my first 40 mile week, and I'm off to a good start with 9 miles on the treadmill here in Baltimore this morning. Next week is an 'off' week - I have to run *only* 37 miles; after that - 7 weeks in a row over 40 miles, peaking at 45. Yeow! The NYRR/Nike NYC Half-Marathon is this coming Sunday, which will be a fun way to get in a long run.

Had a nice run this morning after thinking I wouldn't run at all. I did a double yesterday - a fast 7-mile run in the morning followed by an evening run. I guess evening run is a bit of a misnomer since it was actually the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge, where I joined 20,000 or so fellow New Yorkers in a 3.5 mile journey through Central Park. With all the miles logged yesterday followed by a late dinner out with a friend, I figured I would take this morning off. That said, since Thursday is typically a training day and since it was another beautiful morning with temps in the high 50's, I figured running with tired legs would ultimately be good for me. I returned to the Reservoir in the park for the first time in a while and did two loops - one fast and one slow. The race last night was quite an experience. I'd not run in the Corporate Challenge for many years, and for the first 1.5 miles last night, I was pretty sure I'd never run in one again. Having grown accusto...

I set out yesterday morning at 5:15AM in the dark and in a steady downpour to run in the NYRR 50th Anniversary Run - a 5 mile race in Central Park. I've been remarkably blessed this year in that I've not had to run in the rain or cancel workouts due to weather, but that certainly wasn't the case yesterday. As a result of the weather a race that would otherwise have had 5,000 runners had fewer than 2,000, but still a large number given the time and the conditions. I jogged down to the start of the race in front of Tavern on The Green, timing things so I'd end up at the start line with as little time as possible before the race got under way. After spending about 5 minutes huddled under some tall trees with fellow runners, I moved over to my starting corral for the pre-race announcements. The rain tapered down to light sprinkles as we got underway, which was obviously a big relief. There was a bit - and I emphasize a bit, not a lot - of a festive air given that the run w...

More details to follow, but I'm just back from this morning's NYRR 50th Anniversary Run - a 5 mile race in Central Park. In spite of ugly conditions (steady rain), I managed to finish in 38:16 - a pace of 7:39 per mile.

From the New York Road Runners Web Site: Hello, Andrew! Congratulations! You're in for the experience of a lifetime, the 2008 NYC HALF Marathon Presented by Nike! We are thrilled that you will be joining us on Sunday, 7:30:00 AM. Be sure to bookmark our site www.ingnycmarthon.org and visit it often for the latest news. Good luck with your training. The race is July 27 and features a great course. Here's the description: The course will begin on Central Park's East Drive (near 85th Street) and make a complete, clockwise loop around the park. Runners will then continue to the south end of the park and exit onto Seventh Avenue, heading south to Times Square. A right turn onto 42nd Street will take runners to 12th Avenue (West Street), where, after a left turn, the race continues along the Hudson River waterfront to Lower Manhattan. The finish is on West Street near Rector Street and Battery Park.

I ran this evening in the AHA Start! Wall Street Run, a 3 mile run through lower Manhattan. After watching it rain most of the day and expecting to be wet and cold for the race, we were blessed with cool temperatures and overcast skies with just a few sprinkles. The race was tricky given the sheer number of people (4,300 entrants), narrow streets (here's the course map) , and big puddles. Though the course was pretty cool, I didn't have a chance to really look up until the third mile. At that point I had a nice view of clearing skies and the Statue of Liberty - not so bad. My splits were so strange I wasn't convinced the course was really the advertised 3 miles. According to my watch, I ran the first mile in 7:42, the second in 8:12, and the last mile in 6:48 even though I felt that was the slowest mile. The official results: 3 miles 22:36 minutes 7:32 per mile overall place: 885 (out of 4,301) gender place: 764 (out of 2,563) age place: 122 (out of 507) To put things in pe...

I learned a lesson this morning: don't ever look at the New York Road Runners web site before heading out for a run - it's potentially demotivating. Checking the site this morning, I noticed that the date for the Staten Island Half-marathon has been moved....to October 12th. For those of you who have been following regularly, you know that October 12th is the day of the Chicago Marathon (now only 148 days and 19 hours away). Now, I've noticed that the dates for some of the NYRR races can move around a lot, so there's a chance that the race date will move again, but it's a bummer to think I might be denied in my quest for the Grand Prix when I've already completed 3 of 5 races. That's the bad news. The good news is that the weekend the race was originally scheduled to take place - September 13/14 - now has a NYRR marathon training run on the schedule; that will likely give me a chance to do one of my extra-long marathon preparation runs (20 miles +) in Centr...

Lots of details I want to share with you about the run yesterday. Before I do that, though, I want to say thank you to the many readers who reached out over the past few days with well wishes and positive thoughts; your support meant (and means) a lot to me. As I struggling through the latter part of the race I thought a lot about the goals I'd set and shared with all of you; that gave me extra motivation to keep up the pace.... As challenging as I found the run, it was an incredibly satisfying experience and a really fun day. Here's how it unfolded: I got on a yellow school bus in Manhattan at about 6:20. By 7AM we were at the boardwalk on Coney Island, so I had two hours to burn before the race started. I spent the first hour walking down the boardwalk (this was my first time there) - taking pictures and checking things out. At about 8:20 I checked my bag and started to get ready for the race - stretching, jogging to warm up, 'eating' my PowerBar chocolate gel for bre...

Tomorrow is the big day! I take a bus (at 6:30) from the East side of Manhattan out to Coney Island. Not sure exactly what time we arrive but I expect to do some standing around before the race starts at 9AM. The training work is done and all that's left is sweating the details (I was going to say managing the details, but I suppose one can't really manage the weather....). What kind of weather will we have? The AccuWeather forecast shows rain between 9AM and 10AM; the Weather Channel says cloudy with 20% chance of rain. I'm hoping the worst case is scattered showers. Running in the rain can be fun, but not for two hours, not when it's 50 degrees, and not when you have to wait around for a race to start. The uncertainty in the weather means uncertainty on what to wear. Long-sleeved or short-sleeved t-shirt? Tights or no tights? Hat or no hat? I've got my bib/number and assigned corral - the 7-8 minute/mile group. It looks like my corral is based on the time I ran th...

Just back from this morning's run - the last long(ish) run before the Brooklyn half-marathon on Saturday. Last night, I enjoyed a drink with a good friend in the 35th floor bar at the Mandarin Oriental (overlooking Central Park and the East Side of Manhattan), followed by a great dinner with Katherine, the friend, and his wife. Even though it was around 11 by the time we got home, I stayed up to watch American Idol (David Cook was excellent as always) - meaning it was a late night. It's clear and cool in the city this morning - I actually went back to tights and a long-sleeved t-shirt. My plan was to do the 5.2 mile loop in Central Park at a slightly fast pace - something around my target race speed, which would be 8:40 per mile. I felt pretty uncomfortable the entire time I was running, which I attributed to last night's drinks, late dinner, and late bedtime. Turns out I was also uncomfortable because of the pace at which I was running - just under 8 minutes per mile on av...

It's only one week to go until the Brooklyn half-marathon. The course map has finally been posted; you can see it here on the New York Road Runner's Club website if you are interested. I had a great run today: 11.7 miles on the challenging hills of Candlewood Isle. In contrast to my last two long runs here, each of which was over a 10 minute/mile pace, I managed 9:42 per mile today. I think between that and the fact that my knees continue to feel good - in spite of almost 27 miles in the last 4 days - is a very good sign.

Did my first speed run in some time - given travel schedules and knee pain I haven't been able to do a real speed session since early March. I ran on the treadmill at the hotel this morning and had a great result: 8 miles at a pace of 8:12 per mile. The pace for the last speed session was 8:24 for only 6 miles, so I'm definitely making progress. The great news is that my knees felt fine for the whole run and that I managed negative splits (each mile is faster than the earlier ones) all the way through the run. Here are the times for each mile: 9:24 8:47 8:34 8:20 8:00 7:52 7:40 7:22 The Brooklyn half-marathon is now just over a week away, and I feel like all the training I've done is starting to pay off. My goal for the race is to take about 5 minutes off my time from the Bronx half-marathon, which would mean a pace of roughly 8:40 per mile. 8:40 per mile would be a total time of about 1:53 or so, which would put me close to the top 50% of finishers (another goal of mine).

I received my first email newsletter today from the Chicago Marathon and was shocked to learn that there will be 45,000 registrants for the race. Wow! As a point of comparison, the New York City Marathon in 2007 had 38,761 finishers. It's hard to imagine what it will be like to be at the starting line with 40,000+ other people; I think the biggest race I've been in so far had under 5,000. The official Chicago marathon website has a countdown timer to the start of the race. It currently says: 172 : 17 : 11 : 41 (days/hours/minutes/seconds). There's a lot of running to be done between now and then - something like 650 miles!