NYC Marathon and the First Day of Training for Ironman Germany
Posted by Admin on November 9, 2010 in Training
This past Sunday was a perfect running day. It was sunny and dry, and the air was crisp and within that special window of temperatures that enables you to wear just the right amount of clothing to feel light but warm. As usual, I had a number of friends and teammates running this year, so I made my plans to try and cheer them on at various points of the course.
Mile 8 in Brooklyn has long been a favorite spot for me since it’s where runners make a hard right turn from 4th Avenue onto Lafayette Avenue and where the energy level of both athletes and supporters is just fantastic. I decided to tour this year’s event by bicycle, so early Sunday morning, I geared up and headed downtown. It’s rare when NYC offers that much peace and tranquility, but it felt that way Sunday morning as my street, 5th Avenue, was deserted as police and race officials prepared for the 45,000+ runners destined to run on it in a few hours.
I made it to mile 8 and was lucky to see a tremendously fast teammate named Tim (eventual finish time was 2:50!). Finding anyone in the crowd of runners was a big challenge, especially if you’ve been scanning for the person or people you want to see. Your eyes begin to glaze over and a mere few seconds of looking away could make you miss that person you were trying to find. I found myself suffering that glazed-eye syndrome when all of a sudden, a certain girl caught my eye. She was Carin, my teammate from the Spring Couples Relay this past May. I was so excited to see her that I drew a blank on her name. Instead, I blurted out, “Go you!” Pretty lame on my part, but the enthusiasm was there even if the brain wasn’t operating right. Just as I high-fived her, my great friend Chris called out my name. Apparently, Chris met up with Carin and Fernando early on and they ran together until mile 7 and change when Fern took a pee break. I was thrilled to see Chris and before I knew it, Fernando came by. He stopped, we hugged, and I told him how proud I was of him. He’s faced a lot of physical battles this year with injuries galore. Though it was his 7th NYC Marathon in a row, it would prove to be his slowest. It was also his hardest and in that sense, he deserves even more credit for fighting through so many obstacles.
After Fernando, I figured I needed to high-tail it back to Manhattan and meet up with my Terrier Tri teammates who chose 92nd and 1st as their meeting point. I rode like a madman across the Manhattan Bridge and found myself in a very competitive mood with respect to other cyclists. I was the fastest by far, but I didn’t need to be riding as such a breakneck pace. Once I got to the meet-up point, my coaches and teammates were in great spirits, both to receive me, and to cheer on so many different runners. Coach Robert is apparently fluent in Italian, so with his megaphone, he cheered on the scores of runners with Italia shirts. Sure enough, I had missed our teammate Tim since he had just run by. I did the math and realized that he had run from mile 8 to mile 18 or so faster than I had cycled it (albeit after waiting to see my other friends and a far more circuitous route). So impressive on his part.
I knew it would be difficult to see Carin, Chris, and Fern from the east side of 1st Avenue, so I thought about going up a few blocks to 95th to meet up with Fern’s family, but crossing the street was a near impossibility. Instead, I decided to ride to my apartment. I was pretty cold and thought a change of clothes was in order. Plus, getting the dogs some fresh air seemed like a good idea. Once changed, I charged downstairs with the girls and scanned the crowd for my friends and teammates. Fortunately, 5th Avenue by me is a mere 4 lanes wide including the parking lanes, so it was considerably easier to look for everyone. I did see Carin, didn’t see Chris, and figured that Fernando would be soon to pass by as well. As in past years, I wanted to run with him for a couple of blocks, but doing so with two small dogs could be problematic. So, I picked them up and held them out for runners to see. In many cases, I could see how they buoyed the spirits of some tired athletes. My place is at mile 21.5 or so of the marathon course, and it’s usually within the 20-22 mile marks that people hit the proverbial wall. Running with Fern at that point could help him a lot with both him looking forward to seeing a friend, and the residual effect for another few blocks thereafter.
When I finally saw Fern, he was walking and with a glum face. He smiled when he saw me and we walked three blocks together. He told me about his cramping thigh, his tendon issue in his ankle, and various other issues. I tried to buoy his spirits as best I could and tried to get the girls to lick his arm or something cute like that. Eventually, he said he was going to try running again, so we hugged once more, and I wished him good luck as he gave it another go. I found out later that his finish time was 4:30, and while that’s certainly a good ways off of his personal record of 3:27 (or so), the fact that he was able to fight through to the end is really admirable.
Chris finished with a VERY impressive 3:43 time, and Carin finished with a 4:21 time. I think that she was disappointed in her time based on finishing in 3:51 last year, but she’s a very good runner and will assuredly get it back down next time.
After seeing Fern, I got a sandwich and retired my spectating efforts for the day, aside from looking out the window many times thereafter. I felt good about not running this year. Next year will be my year, and I can only hope that I’ll have a day like Chris. Then again, if I have a day like Fern, I’ll still feel pretty good because both of them (and Carin) are pretty impressive to me.
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Today was day one of Ironman Germany Training. After about six weeks of taking time off from training, I’m about 14 pounds heavier (EGAD!) and my cardiovascular fitness is pretty bad. I still play lots of sports (two football teams, and one soccer team), but that kind of static motion doesn’t create true fitness.
I ran my favorite 3.93 mile loop that takes me from my apartment to the northern loop of Central Park, and back home. In no uncertain terms, it hurt. I didn’t feel good at all. My feet hurt, my lungs hurt, my heart rate was through the roof, and maintaining good technique was inconsistent at best. I knew this would be the case, so I’m not terribly disappointed or surprised. I expect that by the end of the calendar year (if not sooner), I’ll feel strong and fit and considerably lighter.
Tonight, I’ll cycle on the indoor training for the first time and tomorrow, I’ll swim before soccer playoffs. Thursday will be an early morning indoor spin class with my triathlon team, and I’ll swim that night again. Friday will be an early morning run. With plans to see the Dave Matthews Band that night, I’m hoping to be up early enough Saturday to attend another indoor cycling session. It’s actually a double-header of 2.5 hours, so needless to say, I’m getting on board in a very intense manner. I think that I need to, and I think that body will respond well (albeit with some soreness).
More to come on training progress and hopeful weight loss. 14 pounds: really? What was I thinking.
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