Not Much Going On

Not a lot to add lately. Speed training in this weather has been tough. Tempo runs in particular. However, the body is acclimating and running hasn't been as bad as it was in the first week or so of June when NYC had a killer heatwave with temps approaching 100. Two more weeks of speed training before NYC Marathon Training begins. As this will be my first Marathon I am shooting to finish but giving where I've raced and trained, I do not think it unreasonable to have a time goal. I'd like to shoot for under 4 hours. My 1/2 time predicts a 4:07 finish. However, I do think I'm continuing to improve. So the NYC 1/2 Marathon will be a good indicator. I fear though that temps above 55 will slow me down as I do hate to run in anything approaching warm weather. Ideally I like to run in 50 degree weather, overcast, and no wind. I'm good to go it seems anything between 40 and 50. Maybe I can raise that 55 to 60 as I aclimate myself to hotter temps.

As far as a training program for the NYC 08, everything I'm reading and all the advice I get on the Vboards (Hal Hidgon's Site) points to me using his Novice 2 program. I was seriously considering his Intermediate 1 program but having only been running for 8 months I'd rather arrive at the line healthy as opposed to beat up. I know my body is still adjusting to running.

Some Musings

Firstly, I have received my official acceptance into the ING NYC 2008 Marathon. As a runner for Team for Kids this was not unexpected, just the timing. I thought I would get my official entrance email after the lottery but it arrived yesterday!!

I've been using Hal Higdon's Intermediate 10-K program for speed training before I begin my official 18 week Marathon training program. Last week I did 8x440yrds at between 7:30 and 8:05 pace. Felt pretty good after too. I am definitely noticing that I am getting faster. Most of this I attribute to the general improvement in fitness that comes within the first year of running (i've only been running 7 months). My pace for short distance training runs has gone from 12:00 pace to between 9 and 9:30 pace. With the hotter more humid weather I think its pretty safe to assume that this will level off rather quickly as temps of 70 or above really begin to affect pace for a given effort. I think its safe to say that for me between 50 and 55 degrees is my preferred weather..a bit overcast as well with a slight breeze.

Improvement Continues

Having just completed the Brooklyn 1/2 Marathon I have started a 8 week speed training program before my July 1 commencement of an 18 week training program for the NYC Marathon. Yesterday was a scheduled tempo run which basically was 5k in distance. The run was done at a 8:35 pace which was basically the pace of my last 5k race at Coogan's about 2 months ago. The 2nd mile of this tempo run was at 7:57 pace. Needless to say I am quite happy that I seem to be getting faster. Time will tell where I will end up.

Brookllyn Half Marathon!

Got to Coney Island about 15 minutes before the start which was perfect because it was a bit chilly and sitting around wasn't doing any good. This was the first race in which the corral system was used and I think it worked out well as there seemed to be less passing and being passed in the crowded beginning. Weather was overcast and about 52 degrees I estimate 5000 to 6000 lined up on the board walk for the race. After the gun sounded it took less than 1 minute to cross the start line and I was off along the decredped hole and nail filled boardwalk. Three miles of this having to be careful not to get injured on this thing. I had my garmin on which I debated heavily whether to bring or not. In the end I figured it would be a good thing to know my pace so I don't go out too fast. The first three miles I did at 9:10 pace. It was off the boardwalk and north on Ocean Parkway for 6 miles. Was flat the entire way but there was a slight headwind now and then no biggie. I felt pretty good and by mile 5 I see I am doing 8:40 pace..much faster than I needed to break my 2 hour goal. I kept looking at my watch and saying "I feel good, I'm running this pace, don't let your watch psyche you out". I kept running about 8:50s to 9s to mile 9 where we entered prospect park and where the hills began. Needlees to say it got tougher, later in the race and on the hills. I kept repeating to myself "trust your training, trust your training". It was also at this time I knew I'd break 2hours if I just relaxed. Mile 10 by far the toughest was essentially entirely uphill 9:20 pace. 11 and 12 back to bascially flat with some small hills. At this point my legs are really hurting but with so little left I just pressed on. In the end 1:58:30! Six months ago I ran 1 mile in 12 minutes and felt like I would collapse. Now for a little speed training (7 weeks) before I start Hal's Novice 2 for NYC Marathon.

The Best Running Headphones

If you are like me the headphones that come with the Apple I-pod are not designed to stay in your ears laying down, much less running. I've gone through and have experimented with many a pair of headphones only to find one particular design flaw at least when it came to running. These flaws include: 1) pods do not stay in ears, 2) cord is too long, 3) cord is too heavy, 4) cord transmits vibrations to ear piece causing unwanted noise, 5) sound quality is poor. Well I have finally discovered the perfect headphones. They are the Senheiser PMX70 headphones.
These headphones are perfect in every way. The "buds" are connected to a lightweight, sturdy neckband that keeps the buds comfortably in place. The cord is just the right length as well as light. The sound quality is excellent with deep base. Since the buds do not insert all the way into the ear you can hear outside as well but not enough so that it over powers the music. I highly recommend these headphones if you are a runner.

A First!

Today I did a standard 3 mile run along the west side highway and I'm not sure what happened but the middle mile of the 3 was a sub 9 minute mile (8:39). While running sub 9 minutes is nothing really new it is a first in any of my training runs ever. I was not trying to do this mind you but sort of just running with the grove and before I know it my pace was about 8:30. I feel great and am happy things are progressing.

Colon Cancer 15k

To make a long story short I had a 9 mile run scheduled for Sunday as part of my 1/2 Marathon training schedule. I figured I'd run the 15k as a training run to get in my 9 qualifying races for NYC '09 Marathon. Well I didn't quite run it as a training run and didn't quite run it as a race. I figured to make sure I'd run it long and slow I lined up in the 10mm corral. As the gun went off we walked to the starting line which felt unusually long..at least 5 minutes to get there. Crossing over the carpet I hit my watch and was off. Was moving with the 10mm group (which felt somewhat slow) and as it turned out my first mile split was like 10:30. I picked up the pace just moving along with the crowd and kind of started to get into it, nothing overt or heavy. The balance of my runs were done at about 9:30 pace..mostly negative splits. Bottom line was this was the fastest I've run 9 miles without racing. I think had I wanted to I could have run the nine miles faster than 9:09 pace. This is significant to me because if I can maintain this pace for 26.2 miles then I will have accomplished one of my intermediate goals of running a marathon in less than 4 hours. (Yes I do want to finish my first marathon but this is a nice sub goal). The downside was my Tuesday 4 miler was horrible, slow and painful. The race was great fun though even though I didn't "race".