Central Park 5 Mi Loop w/ Tabata Set

It was a pleasant, cool workout in the rain tonight and I enjoyed a pensive run. Running is my favorite form of meditation. I escape a little deeper when the rain chases most runners, bikers and tourists away from the park. Those escapes aren't meant to be documented.

As far as the workout is concerned, instead of trying to time a strict 20 seconds, I've noted it takes me just a little 20s to sprint from pole to every other pole along the east side straightaway in the park. I used those as guides, took 10s breaks, and repeated 8 times. Winded, yes, but not as I have been in the past. Admittedly, I did not do this workout at 100%. Probably more along 85%. But it's okay with me for now. Seems I'm going back to 2007 training mode where I'm just doing comfortable mileage. But it's okay for now because I have not yet defined my performance goals for the marathon.

Here's my spreadsheet so far this week. Planning on going for an easy 6-7 tomorrow morning and then 13 on Sunday.

NYRR workout | 6x Columbus Cirle to Tavern on Green ~ 600m

Tonight I felt like running, which means my legs usually feel pretty sprite and light. I also hadn't run since Saturday so I felt fresh. To my surprise, my legs felt slow and heavy on the way to the workout. No biggie, I thought. I figure I'd feel better once the workout started.

The repeat distance from Columbus Circle to Tavern on the Green covers approximately the last 600m of the NYC marathon. There is an incline at about the halfway point which continues to the finish line. The incline is more pronounced the first 50m. My strategy is usually to go fairly easy on the flat and then be aggressive on the inclines. I figure I get a better strengthening session that way. My splits were as follows:

Rep 1: 1:46
Rep 2: 1:46
Rep 3: 1:46
Rep 4: 1:42
Rep 5: 1:42
Rep 6: 1:41

The difference between training this year so far is that I probably would have done those repeats in mid 1:30's. I'm not there yet, and I'm actually not sure if I want to be there. We'll see where I am in the coming weeks. It's still early.

Niketown Workout | 4 x 1 mile - 10k pace

Now that I've officially decided to start training for the marathon, it's time to start getting my legs acclimated to long distances again. 16.5 weeks from the NYC marathon, I thought tonight would be as good a time as any.

Started my workout this evening with a 2.4 mile commute from my downtown Manhattan to Paragon in Union Square. From there, the Niketown group headed out to the east side track about 1.9 (door to track according to my Garmin 405) miles away. Tonight's workout was four cruise intervals with a minute break between each set. My times were as follows:

Mile 1 | 6:39 - always feels hardest
Mile 2 | 6:39 - felt easier
Mile 3 | 6:37 - little harder
Mile 4 | 6:32 - picked it up over the last 100m to bring down time

The workout was sustainable and uncomfortable. Sustainable because of the easier pace. Uncomfortable because of the warmth. I can't believe I've done Honolulu Marathon's in this weather. Another 1.9 miles cooldown jog to Paragon made my total mileage about 10.2 miles. Significant for me because I haven't done that in a couple of months.

Interestingly enough, I felt like a hamster during these workouts. I've never been a track workout person. I prefer the undulating hills and changing views in Central Park over counting laps.

Niketown Track Workout - 2x800 | 2x600 | 2x400

Since I missed my NYRRC workout last night, I had to attend the Niketown workout. I had originally planned on running from work to Paragon Sports but left work too late. Got there just a few minutes before we left for the track, enough time to say chat with some colleagues.

After the nearly two mile commute to the track and a brief stretch, we were ready for our workout. My splits were as follows:



800 - 3:02
-- 200m easy jog
800 - 3:04
-- 200m easy jog
600 - 2:11
-- 200m easy jog
600 - 2:12
-- 200m easy jog
400 - 1:16
-- 200m easy jog
400 - 1:15
-- 200m easy jog

Based on my HR, I should have been able to push a little harder tonight. And I did feel that way. It was a good short workout, but last week's worker was definitely harder. I just feel like I'm done with really pushing for faster times.

Niketown Track Workout | 800/1200/1600/1200/800 ladder

Joined the Niketown training group that meets at Paragon on Wednesday evenings for the first time, and I must say that besides the tough workout, I enjoyed myself. I was also pleasantly surprised that it was not the big group that I had expected.

Tonight's workout was an 800/1200/1600/1200/800 on the track. I'm not, and never have been a track runner, so I was looking forward to it. Going to the workout though, I wasn't sure how taking last week mostly off and sleeping at 3am last night would affect my workout. I joined with the 6:30 pace group and my splits went as follows:

800m - 3:10
200m easy recovery
1200m - 4:39
200m easy recovery
1600m - 6:11
400m easy recovery
1200m - don't know. forgot to press stopwatch, but I'm guessing about 4:50
200m easy
600m - 2:37

I stopped 200m short on my last repeat. Sickens me to say that I QUIT. FAILED to complete the final 200. But I couldn't go anymore. Gassed. Spent. Out of it.

It was a great workout with amicable coaches, and probably will go back again after my road runner sessions are done.

The best part about the workout was the commute home. It was about a 2mi run home straight up Broadway, through Times Square and left on 47th to 9th Ave. Lots to see and lots of crowds to dodge made it a short commute.

No Hard Workouts This Week

Seems I've been notching down my running the last couple of months. Short miles last month, but intense short miles. That reached an apex at the corporate challenge for me and I just kind of got tired of this hard running. Promised myself an easy workout week, as in no speed workouts this week. Just easy miles. And what do you know...I already feel like doing one tomorrow and it's only Thursday. Can't live with'em. Can't live without'em.

A Change of Heart for the Treadmill

Admittedly, I have never been a treadmill fan. In my 7 years of running, I've run in torrential rains (Hawaii) and freezing temperatures (NYC). This winter season though, in the last month alone, I've done four treadmill workouts. It's been a frigid winter and I have not felt motivated to run. What I've discovered for myself is that treadmill workouts are not that bad.....as long as it's interval training. I don't think I have the mindset to do a steady 45-60 mins on watching TV and waiting for time to pass. Broken up into sprint sessions, the workout is a lot more fun and productive. Tonight, I did inverted ladders as follows;

1 mile warmup @ 8:30

7 mins @ ~ 6:49 pace

3:30 break

6 mins @ ~ 6:44 pace

3:00 break

5 mins @ ~ 6:39 pace

2:30 break

4 mins @ ~ 6:30 pace

2:00 break

3 mins @ ~ 6:22 pace

1:30 break

2 mins @ ~ 6:15 pace

1:00 break

1 min @ ~ 5:45 pace

2 mins cooldown

It was a pretty decent workout. Next time I think I can push just a little more. Oh, and one other thing I like about treadmill workouts.......less laundry :-)

Working Back Into Race Shape

Having been sick last week and not having done any speed workouts in a while (all year actually), I was nervous about doing a Tabata workout tonight. Instead of doing it on the main road, I decided to cut my mileage and just run at the Great Lawn. Once there, I stretched out for a couple of minutes, loaded Stricken, and bolted from my stationary position. Four minutes later, head about to explode, I nearly collapsed on the grass. Whew, what an awesome workout! The first couple intervals felt exhilarating. I'd forgotten that sprinting high. After that though, it was one interval closer to throwing up.

The first speed workout is always the hardest. I've done the same intervals on the stationary bike, but it's not the same as running on a track. I was surprised that I covered more distance than I expected. I don't think I'm any faster at this point in the year. Got to do a few more long runs and intervals at least a couple of times a week before I feel fully confident. That should also shed most of the winter weight I've gained. Thankfully it's been warmer this week. I'm starting to get excited about running again. It's been a long break!

Taking Precautions

I skipped my NYRR class this evening. I'm starting to feel like I'm coming down with something for the second time in three weeks. I can't help to think that I'm being paranoid, but I definitely don't want to aggravate any oncoming sickness. If I feel well tomorrow, I'll do some speed sessions at the park on my own....probably some Yasso repeats or 6-8x from Columbus Circle to the marathon finish line at Tavern on the Green.

The Tabata Protocol

This evening's workout was a Tabata protocol session. For those that have not heard of it, the Tabata protocol, in short, is 4:00 of high intensity interval training (HIIT). It's broken down to 20 secs max effort and 10 secs rest periods repeated eight times. If you're looking for a lung-burning, head-exploding, spit-thickening, kill-me-now kind of workout, this is at the top of my list.

I hadn't done Tabata protocols in the last few months mainly because I've been distance training, but the last two weeks of marathon mileage involve high intensity short runs. During the first half of the year, these interval workouts helped me to a PR for the Brooklyn half-marathon and a 3.5 mile race in Central Park. I'm banking on similar benefits for race day.

Tempo Run

Considering that it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, I thought it would be a good idea to pack in more mileage during lunch today. No one was able to join me so I turned it into a mild tempo run of about 7:00 - 7:10 per mile for 4 miles once I got to the Brooklyn Bridge and to base of Manhattan Bridge. This sets me up for a nice rest day tomorrow so I'll be relatively fresh for Saturday's race. At the packet pickup today, I learned that there were more obstacles than I had originally thought. Particularly, a rope crawl and some monkey bars. I've always liked monkey bars, but I've never done a rope crawl.

In other happenings, I'm almost done setting up my new notebook. Drives have been partitioned and the system drive imaged in case of emergency. I think I've installed all the major applications. Next comes the utilities, and lastly, multimedia and entertainment. By the time I'm done, it'll have taken me three days to set up everything. Whew. I think it'll be worth it once all the cable clutter and the workstation is gone to free up some precious square footage.

Speed classes while tired

I don't feel like working out today. Hadn't been home all weekend, and got to bed about 2:30 last night. Even though I woke up at 8:30, I'm quite tired. Not too tired to workout, but I don't like going to my speed workout classes feeling weak and generally tired. But this is all a part of training and working out. I've run a marathon on less sleep, as I'm sure we all have. I've never been able to sleep much before any race. I have to run off the extra calories I consumed this weekend, and then some. Boston, here I come! :-)

On another note, I managed to finally figure out an application development problem today. I was trying to figure it out most of last week. Maybe it does do good to come to work tired?

Happy training!

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Okay, my workout wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Fortuitously, it always turns out that way when I'm dreading any workout. 6x600's up to the NYC marathon finish line from Columbus Circle entry to Tavern On The Green. I still definitely wasn't pushing as hard as I have in the past. I had a max HR of 186. When I hit 190, I know I've pushed really hard.

About 9.5 weeks left to the marathon, and I worry a little bit about my mental state. I'm just not into it right now. I'm pretty sure I'll continue to do the miles and the speed workouts, but my mind is just not into it yet.