Ben there, run that.

11 medium-long on the schedule. Done.

For today, I chose to go into the ghetto cesspool that it’s Brooklyn because there is a conveniently a 11-12 mile route.

From office over Brooklyn Bridge, straight to Prospect Park via Flatbush Avenue (that is nothing but one big ass steady climb). A counter-clockwise loop of te park and then back to the office the same way. The downhill coming back was a huge relief. In other words, going into Brooklyn sucks, getting the hell out of there is yay!

At least the misty, foggy weather kept the tourists on the bridge to a minimum.

Oh, and the Brooklyn Half this year is going to be torture for me, I assure you. I might walk it.

Note to self! Always band-aids for 10+ miles. Ouch.

I’ve decided I don’t like tumblr very much. Maybe I will switch to Blogger or back to Wordpress. And I wish I had a green bean slush right now.

With 6 weeks between my last marathon and my next one, I’ve kind of loosely fell back into a marathon training program, the same one I’ve been using for a while now. Only I don’t have a goal marathon pace for my upcoming marathon, so I’m kind of winging these workouts that require me to run at a predetermined pace. Maybe I should set a goal. Maybe not. Why set myself for disappointment when I’m only running marathons this year for the sheer hell of it? Good results are only a bonus. So I go into my next marathon probably with the same mindset as I had my last: under 3:30 is fine by me.

Back to the plan. It called for 5x600s tonight and after a bad day at work, I wanted a run, but I was in no frame of mind to head to the track and knock out these repeats on my own. Paragon was doing intervals tonight. Slightly less than the plan, but the group was sure to provide me with some motivation that I had none of. We got to the store as the rain started to build. Courtney thought intervals might be a bad idea with the rain and the slick floor, so she gave the group an alternative workout: 40 or 60 minute out and back run on the West Side. We voted and maybe 80% of the group voted for this option instead of the intervals. Bummer. I voted for intervals for the record.

Off I went with the 60-minute “pushing the pace group.” Pushing the pace turned out to be 8 minute miles. 8 minute miles is not pushing the pace for me, and I shouldn’t have been doing 8 minute miles especially since I was supposed to be doing intervals. We get moving and almost immediately I break off with another guy in the group. The rain falls harder as we get further into the run by the way. Lightning and thunder were all there. Everytime I we passed another runner, I just thought how hardcore everyone was that was out there tonight. The rain was not light.

So I think we are pushing each other and we match up eerily well. For the next 3 miles we run side by side and go stride for stride, completely in sync, not missing a single step. Literally, we go left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot for at least 3 miles all the way. It was pretty cool hearing our footsteps go plop plop in the puddles in complete unison. I think everyone should find a running partner that matches up so well. It’s really cool!

Then we reach 30 minutes and we made it to Battery Park City for the turnaround. I am not completely spent, but it’s been a really hard run up to this point. I continue to stick with him for another mile before he inches further ahead of me. I am still speeding up, but he is speeding up even faster. He finishes his run about 100 meters ahead of me. It was hell trying to chase him. We ran some 6:40 miles. That’s pushing the pace.

So he schooled me! And not only did he school me, he sent me to detention! Hard workout, but it looks like I got in some speedwork after all. I found a good running partner. Hopefully he’ll make me fast.

11 miles tomorrow. Maybe some bridges.

I didn’t run this year. I’ve ran the past three years, but not this year because I have to admit, I’m a little afraid of the ‘shorter’ distances now. And am I really into my fourth year of running?

So maybe I lie. I did run, just not officially. Fanny signed up, so I figured I could get in some extra miles and try to pace her at the same time and also be a part of a race without the added pressure of racing.

When we were evaluating her goals, she at first said she just wanted to PR. She had her doubts, which is perfectly normal. Her previous best 10k was at last year’s Scotland run - 55:44 / 8:59 pace. I thought that would be too easy. Though I didn’t voice it to her, I thought anything slower than 8:45 pace would be a failure. Based solely on her previous best performances, she should be capable of pulling off a 8:15 10K if she really pushed it. We lined up in the corrals and she told me she wanted to shoot for 8:30. Sounds good. I told her to not look at her watch while we ran and to just follow me. If her goal remained 8:45, I would have pushed her to 8:30, but since she said 8:30, I was going to try to get her to do 8:20.

Scotland Run has always been a huge race. The corrals go all the way to 10,000+! We started in the pink corral, the 6000s. I’d forgotten how it felt to be that far back. I think it took us a good 7 minutes before we crossed the starting mats. Normally, I’d already be starting my second mile by that time. The weaving in the first couple of miles was expected. I didn’t expect to still be weaving all the way to the finish. There probably wasn’t a 100 meter stretch in the entire 6.2 miles where I did not weave.

We started off a little slow. The first mile ticked off at about 8:50, partly because of all the weaving and partly because I was trying to gauge how she was feeling. As her training runs would tell during the week leading up to the race, she is either completely off her game or on. She is an unpredictable runner and I wanted to make sure she was okay with this easy pace, before I picked it up. We still had 5 miles to go.

But the 8:50 was a good start for the 8:45 goal. She seemed okay. Miles 2 and 3 we really picked it up. Those miles averaged about an 8:10 pace. Okay, maybe not the best pacing job, but there were some downhills here, and she likes to charge the downhills, so I let her go for it. If it were someone else, I’d probably would have told them to reign in it just a touch.

Mile 4, the pace slowed back down quite a bit to an 8:34 pace. I knew this was okay because this stretch always seems to be a problem from what I hear from other runners, myself included. The hills by Lasker Pool are deceptively tough and it’s a grind to make it to the 102nd transverse on the east side after you’ve just made it through Harlem Hill. We had time in the bank, so I wasn’t worried at all. Though I tried to let Fanny dictate the pace here, I always tried to stay a few steps ahead of her so she didn’t get too comfortable. Once mile 4 was over, I knew we had a chance for a big PR. I thought 8:20 pace was very possible.

Mile 5, we went sub-8. 7:57 pace. Though I feel that was more her doing than mine. Mile 6, we were in the clear. At 5.7 miles, I yelled over to her that she could walk to the finish and still clinch a big PR. It was now just a matter of how big of a PR she wanted. We knocked off the last 1.2 miles at 7:50 pace. It was good to see her push even harder at the finish. That’s how you run a good race. With the exception of mile 4, we negative splitted all the way. We probably could have knocked off another 30s or more if we didn’t have to do all that weaving from start to finish.

We crossed the finish line and Mary Wittenberg stopped me! I thought I was in trouble, but she saw I was wearing my Tokyo Marathon shirt and just wanted to ask me what I thought of Tokyo. I told her I loved it and it was second to New York City. She said that was good to hear and that they do an amazing job and that NYRR helped them kickstart their event. I did not know that.

Official finish was 51:02 / 8:13 pace. We took 4:42 off her 10K PR and lowered her best pace from an 8:28 (from a 4-miler). Hopefully the 8:13 will get her into the next faster corral for future races. Age-grade percentage was 59.5% making it her best performance since Grete’s half-marathon last October (57.1%) - a 2.4% leap!

This was my second time pacing someone to a PR. I must say it is an enjoyable and rewarding experience.

It is 55 degrees right now. That is exactly the number of degrees I like for running. And it sunny with a nice breeze. If I had to do 18 miles today, at least the weather cooperated.

If I had to do 18 today, I was sure as hell going to pick the path with least resistance even if it bored the shit out of me. That meant no bridges and no hilly parks. I played around with the idea of multiple bridges or Central Park or even shitty old Prospect Park. Then I thought why would I do that to myself?

I got a late start around 10 am, but the route was simple enough - an out and back on the west side. 18 miles without stopping. I wanted to quit after 6 but I was determined to make it far, far north to the turnaround point because quite frankly if I got myself that far from the end, I’m too cheap to pay for a subway ride back to the start, then I’d have no choice but to finish the remaining 7. Mind games can work wonders sometimes.

Though the 18 felt horrible and slow at the time, it felt like it flew by once I was done. And I wasn’t completely exhausted either. I can call it a nice long run on a nice spring day.

20 next weekend. Shits.

This is installment #4 of my unexplainable need to run 12 marathons in 2011.

I actually signed up for Ocean Drive after coming back from my trip to Asia. It was an afterthought that happened as a result of marathon withdrawal. I can’t believe this is only my second marathon in my homestate! The first was the first at Asbury Park a year and a half ago. Seems so long ago! I do love Jersey and I must make it a point to run here more often.

I didn’t research much into this course. All I knew of it was hearsay from other people who said it was flat and fast. I took their word for it. Then again, most Jersey races are advertised as “flat and fast” even though most of them certainly are not. I knew so little about the course that I thought most of it was run on boardwalk. What a surprise, all that pavement was!

It didn’t matter much to me either way. I was just looking for a marathon that I could get to without having to dig too deep in my wallet. But that doesn’t mean the usual pre-marathon excitement wasn’t there. I was very much looking forward to this one. I love a small race atmosphere! It was gonna be fun, fun, fun!

The week leading up to Marathon Sunday, I obsessively checked the weather. I wanted a nice run! By Monday, the forecast called for rain on Saturday, with chance of showers on Sunday - phew! By Wednesday, the Saturday rain got pushed to Sunday - uh oh! By Saturday, the rain for Sunday turned into snow - hmm! Snow is better than rain and it would have been fun to run in falling snow! Any accumulation on the ground would have been highly unlikely. Sunday came and the skies were clear save for a speck or two or three of snow. It must be easy being a meteorologist. I was ready to run in cold, rain, snow, whatever. The only weather related factor turned out to be consistent headwinds blowing southward as we made our way northward.

Though I was unfamiliar with the race, I did know there were no timing chips, so I at least knew enough to  line myself up near the front so as not to lose precious seconds crossing that start line. I told myself to do two things for this race:

• Please do not stop, please do not walk. Please jog if you must, but please do not walk
• Try to finish under 3:30. You’ve only done it twice before in 11 attempts. You are due for another one

You see, I’ve ran three marathons so far this year. And in all three, I’ve had to stop to walk and I haven’t been able to break 3:30. It was time I got this big, fat monkey off my back. If I repeated this horrible chain of events for the fourth time in a row, well, then I just wouldn’t know what to do with myself.

Marathon morning. I’ve caught a cold from the day before. Not good. There’s nothing I can do about it except pretend it didn’t happen. So anyway, I lined up perhaps 3 or 4 persons deep and find Megan and Susan in front of me. They ask me to run with them, but I decline! I cannot go 3:15 or faster! I cannot even go 3:30 (lately)! The race starts without any warning and we are off. I was actually facing the wrong way when whoever it was said, “Go!” That could have been disastrous. Good thing the people lined up behind me weren’t paying attention either, otherwise I would have been trampled. Sheesh. I didn’t even get to wish my friends around me good luck!

Immediately, I’m wrapped up with the front of the pack and know to back off a little, but the first mile at 7:30 pace is still a little faster than I’d like. I back off a little more and the next two average 7:40s. It feels comfortable. From then on I waver between 7:30 and 7:40, but it felt alright. I didn’t feel as if I were pushing too hard and if I could keep moving at this pace, 7:30s wouldn’t be so bad because it gave me some insurance towards the end for a sub-3:30 finish knowing full well there would be a good chance I would walk some.

So yes, the course was flat with the exception of a few bridges. They were a bit daunting. I panicked a bit as I approached the climb of the first one. They looked 1000 feet high, but they really were not as bad as they appeared. Sometimes some hill climbing is good for you. I didn’t mind them at all, especially since they were spread rather evenly throughout the course. I read in an article the day after that there were actually 8 bridges? I don’t remember so many.

There were a lot of empty vacation houses to see along the way. There was a lot of marshland to see as well. We hit the boardwalk only once. Let’s see… what else. The few bridges I already mentioned. A lot of small, cracked eggs on the roads. And, oh yes, a lovely, bright, plump, freshly dead seagull on the side of the road.

There wasn’t a whole lot of crowd support given that it was a smaller, low-key event and the towns that run all along the shore are more or less abandoned this time of year. I appreciated the spectators that were there and gave a head nod or a wave to everyone who cheered me on. There was a large Maniacs presence at this small marathon. It was fun seeing a few of them on the course even though I didn’t know most of them. They’re supportive of their kind!

Though I ran alone for the most part, there was always someone within sight. Sometimes the gaps really widened between me and the person in front of or behind me, but it was fine. It was an amazingly peaceful run. A couple of runners along the way asked me what time I was going for. I said, “I dunno, just trynna finish.” Maybe it’s helpful to pace with people, but I get much too nervous and am not confident enough in my abilities over 26.2 miles to do that yet. And honestly, I did not know what to expect during this one.

I don’t have much else to tell about the sights and sounds, so let’s fast forward to the end. Mile 23 - I see another bridge ahead of me with a big climb. Mile 23 - about a 5k to go - coincidentally the point where I’ve grown accustomed to start my marathon walking. This cannot be happening. Why did this bridge have to be right here? I was tired, but no way would I let it happen again. At the very least, I needed to keep moving on this bridge and if I had to walk after it, then so be it. But I had to climb this bridge running. I did it, it wasn’t easy, I wanted to stop, I re-focused, and told myself it was only 3 more miles. I can run 3 miles without stopping. It’s only 3 miles! And so I did. I even tried to push harder during this final stretch. As I approached the finishing chute, I was in utter disbelief. The clock was ticking a three-one-eight-something. There must be some mistake. Holy shit.

Official finish: 3:18:47. A PR by 2 minutes and 8 seconds. This was a surprise. What was my secret? Are you ready for this? I don’t think you’re ready for this, but here it is…

My Garmin died at mile 8.

That’s right. Even as I was cursing its periodic low-battery beeps, its failure just might have been my blessing in disguise. There were no mile clocks along the course. Mile markers, yes; mile clocks, no. Only one at the half way point where I did notice my half split to be 1:39:50. I’ve never negative-split in any of my other marathons before. I didn’t see why this one would be any different. I thought I would come in close to 3:30 (my second halfs are usually 10+ minutes slower than my firsts). So you see, at the halfway point, I thought I was on target for my goal time. The math worked out, double my first split and add 10 minutes and I’d have my 3:30. Otherwise, I had absolutely no clue how on or off pace I was moving throughout the final 13.1 miles. All I knew was I felt like I was getting a bit more sluggish after the halfway mark.

What a pleasant surprise to cross the finish line knowing that:

• I did not stop to walk
• I unintentionally PR’ed
• I unintentionally broke 3:20
• I unintentionally ran 11 minutes faster than what I set out for
• I unintentionally ran my first negative-split marathon!

Though a 3:18:47 is still light years (light years = 7 minutes, 48 seconds) away from where I want to be at, I cannot be more happy with this result because it was so unexpected and so unplanned for. Oh what a wonderful day it was indeed.

So in the end, Megan, Susan and I finished within minutes of each other. 3 PRs and 3 first-time sub-3:20ers! They kicked some serious ass and I’m so impressed with their dedication and focus to their training and how they were able to deliver. I know they worked hard for it.

Congrats to my marathoning friends - Jason, Julia, Fanny, Kino and Steven - who worked their butts off to make their ways across that finish line on Sunday along with some new running friends I met - Noel, Paul and Rhea. Great job ladies and gents. Hope you had as great of a time as I did!

Oh, I must, must, must thank all of you who left me Facebook congratulations. Your support means a heck of a lot to me and you make me want to do even better the next time around (6 weeks)!

This one happened a few weeks back, too, so the details are kind of iffy at this point.

A while back I signed up for the Tokyo Marathon lottery. Acceptance success rates for international residents were high - and lo and behold I got accepted. So did a few friends. How could I pass up such an opportunity? To run my first international marathon (which also is a big city marathon with 30,000+ participants) and to visit Japan - I certainly could not say, “なし.”

Well, as fate would have it, it turned out to be my second international marathon. Hong Kong was the weekend before and since I was making the flight to the Far East anyway, signing up for Hong Kong was a no-brainer - especially since it was sold out and then registration re-opened for a brief window just for me. Well, it probably didn’t re-open just for me, but it was certainly a sign!

As wonderfully organized and efficient and clean as the Tokyo Marathon is, I really did not like their corralling system. I ended up in Corral B which I felt was too slow for me. I think the corrals extended back to J or something. For corrals A and B to be as big as they were was kind of odd. I was horrified to see the the big B on my bib. And rightfully so! On race day, once the gun sounded, I must have shuffled at a near walking pace for the first 2 miles of the race. It wasn’t until mile 4 or 5 that I felt comfortable and running at a nice, normal stride. I don’t remember doing as much weaving in any other race as I did that morning. I got really flustered at the beginning.

The course itself was spectacular. We ran all over Tokyo with the start immediately spilling into Shinjuku. It was point-to-point, but contained two out-and-backs which I can always appreciate because it’s always exciting to see the elites running towards me and also a nice distraction to look for friends throughout the race. I spotted Patrick once, Fanny twice, Kar Min once and Jen once. I completely missed Yosuke, but at least managed to catch him at the hotel elevator leaving for the race to wish him luck. Kino and Thompson, my HK Marathon buddies, were nowhere to be found. But I did try to look for everyone!

I can’t remember what cities we ran through. It was five weeks ago. I could look them up in the course map, but then again, you can do that too if you really wanted to know. I do remember we ran past the Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower, and the Kaminarimon gate. All of which I’d already seen sightseeing the days before. There may have been more landmarks, but I don’t remember.

What I do remember loudly and clearly is I was moving at a nice 7:35 average pace up until about mile 23 just as I was running through Ginza. I really thought I could finish with a PR. Then it hit me. Hunger pangs. And it was getting a little too sunny and warm. This combination was dreadful. I slowed down a bit, but as I approached Odaiba, I was feeling lightheaded, so… I walked… once again. The last 5k were miserable and it gave me plenty of time to think about how I neglected proper nutrition during the week leading up to this day, but then I made it to the finish line and was thankful that the walk was over.

Official finish time: 3:33:56. I guess it’s not too bad considering the last 5k. But after having done this just one week before at the Hong Kong Marathon; this was a shot at my confidence.

Otherwise, how does Tokyo rank amongst the other marathons I’ve ran? It ranks #2 - following New York City of course. I love marathons with an urban feel and this one was entirely through city streets. Maybe it could have used a bridge or two, but it was still a beautiful course without them. It was also extremely flat save for a small climb or two towards the end. I regret not being able to take advantage of the course for a faster time, but things happen.

The marathon was also incredibly clean. I felt bad about tossing my GU packets on the streets; so bad that I held onto them until I hit the next water station where there were volunteers holding out garbage bags for proper disposal. Same with the water cups! And though the spectators were out and crowd support was pretty heavy and consistent throughout the whole course, the energy level was pretty subdued. The crowds here were nowhere near as boisterous as the NYC crowds. Overall, it is a fun marathon and a great course. I give it an A, even though they didn’t give me an A.

Congrats to all my friends who ran. It was good to see you guys on the course if even for a moment!

Hong Kong: Bridge, tunnel, bridge, bridge, tunnel, tunnel. That about sums up my Hong Kong Marathon experience. It happened 6 weeks ago so I don’t remember enough of it to make a detailed race report. All I remember is:

• Kar Min trying to run with me for the first 2 miles and then looking like he was ready to collapse when I left him. But I appreciated the company
• It was super scenic. I absolutely love running over bridges no matter where in the world I am and no matter how tough their climbs are. Tunnels are a treat too since they usually do not let me run inside them and there were three of them in this course
• Kar Min taking a picture of me leaving Tsing Ma Bridge as he was just getting on
• Crowd support was great! Volunteers were great! But I got pretty sick of the “加油” chants after the halfway point
• The sports drink on course was not great! Menthol flavor? Blech. I took one swig at the first station, spit it back out. I don’t know why I carried a bottle of Gatorade with me at the start because I never hold anything while racing, but for whatever reason, I did. The Gatorade lasted me through Mile 22ish
• Every so often, I was reawakened by the scent of Chinese herbal medicines wafting through the air
• There were barely any flat stretches on the course. If you weren’t climbing up, you were rolling down. But mostly it was climbing up
• As tough as the number of uphills were, I felt strong pushing through them. I was steady all the way at about a 8:00 pace. That is until I approached the exit of the very last tunnel at Mile 22. That bitch made me walk
• And then I ran/walked the rest of the way to the finish. This habit is starting to get embarrassing

Official time: 3:45:32. Not my worst, and definitely not my best. Though I wasn’t aiming for a fast time knowing I had another marathon 7 days later, I was disappointed I wasn’t able to run the entire 26.2.

But overall, it was a fun and challenging course. I would do it again were it not for the 16-hour flight. And nice to see some buddies along the way on the out-and-backs - the HKG/TKO crew made it a memorable trip: Kar Min, Kino, Thompson. And Otto was there too right behind me on the second bridge turnaround! Good job, 好朋友!

I finally got around to writing up the race recaps from my last 3 marathons! The first 2 are kind of short because they happened weeks ago and the moment is now lost. Reposts to follow.

So last night I finally got a chance to try an Indian run. I’ve always thought it sounded fun and different, but for whatever reason, I always managed to miss those workouts whenever they had them.

Since I have a long race on Sunday, I didn’t want to exert myself. I had already done some sort of speedwork on Tuesday. So I lined up with the 8:00 pace group. I wanted to do 7:30, but there was no 7:30. Only 7:00. And given the fast group’s history, they more likely were to go 6:30s and I didn’t want any part of it.

Anyway, off the bat, I knew I lined up with the wrong group. There was too much time for recovery during and in between the drills that I felt it negated any benefits from the little bit of speed running I actually did. Next time, I’ll join the faster group.

But it was fun.