Two weeks and counting

About 17.25 miles today. I say about because in my rush out of the apartment, I forgot my Garmin 405. I relied on Jaime's instead, and we split about 3/4 mile from my place. No log today, but it would have shown that I covered the last 11(ish) miles of the marathon plus about 5 miles in the park and heading home. This was one of the more fun runs because it was all about interacting with other runners and chatting with a bunch of others for about 3 hrs. Time flew right by.

Judging by some of the conversations I had, I think I've set myself up to do a solid lower 3:20's time, and 3:15 a definite possibility. Jaime asked me if I would consider dropping out if I knew I wasn't going to make it. That's never been an option for me until he explained his logic. If I dropped out knowing I would not make my 3:15 goal, I could save myself for the Philadelphia marathon. I haven't signed up for the Philly marathon, and I don't intend to ;-)

Wish me luck!

Marathon Pace Training

31 days and 12 hrs to the NYC marathon! That means I have to start getting very familiar with my marathon pace, so that's what I decided to do this evening. I set my trusty Garmin 405 virtual partner to run 7:25/mile and to make every mile an automatic lap. Going into the workout, I needed to my legs and effort level to understand a ~7:25 effort. I also needed to gauge my exertion levels, and how that corresponded to my heart rate. Here are my results:

Lap

Time

Distance

Avg Pace

Avg HR

Calories

1	00:08:50	1.00 mi	08:50	114 bpm		100 C
2	00:07:27	1.00 mi	07:27	153 bpm		107 C
3	00:07:29	1.00 mi	07:29	156 bpm		105 C
4	00:07:07	1.00 mi	07:07	157 bpm		106 C
5	00:07:32	1.00 mi	07:32	162 bpm		106 C
6	00:07:15	1.00 mi	07:15	158 bpm		106 C
7	00:07:16	1.00 mi	07:16	158 bpm		106 C
8	00:08:43	1.00 mi	08:43	131 bpm		108 C
9	00:00:12	0.02 mi	12:36	131 bpm		1 C

Laps 1,8 and 9 were warmups and cooldowns. I wasn't exactly sure what a consistent 7:25 feels like, and the hills at Central Park did not make it easier to feel the pace. Consequently, I just tried to keep the same effort level after my first mile at 7:27. The good news is that I felt my effort was fairly even throughout, and it didn't feel so difficult. The bad news is that my pace fluctuated according to the the park elevations. I think come marathon time, I'll have to use the downhills to bank some precious seconds.

The other thing about my run tonight is that my lower calf muscles felt like there were on fire. My legs aren't fully recovered yet from the urbanathlon and the 20+ miles the following day. This goes to emphasize how important it is to approach the start feeling physically fresh. I can't wait.

Speed class benefits

Tonight's speed workout was an upside down ladder - long to short intervals. I felt energized going into the workout because I felt well rested from a decent night's rest and last week's relatively low mileage. Here's a breakdown of this evening's workout from my Garmin 405:

2 mile interval ~ 12:44
- mile 1.02: 6:33
- mile 2.04: 6:11

1 mile interval ~ 6:15
- mile 1.02: 6:15

2 x 600 meters
- interval 1: 1:41
- interval 2: 1:35

When I started doing these NYRR speed classes earlier in the year, I remember my previous best for the 2 mile interval was 12:58. My time tonight was a nice improvement, and my max HR was only 183, which means that I confirms my feeling during the run that I could have pushed harder. I did the 1 mile interval a little slower because I didn't want to be bumped up to the group ahead. The last 600 was a lot of fun because I started off in the back, starting about 5 seconds after the group, and I had to chase everyone down. Tonight was probably the most fun I'd had doing speed workouts in a while. Anyways, I'm hoping this improved efficiency will translate to a Boston qualifying time on Nov. 2.

On a side note, half the group went to see David Blaine hanging upside down at Wollman Rink. I guess it's his next publicity stunt.

Robbed!

I'm miffed. I crossed the finished line today at 5:38 and on NYRR official results page, I'm credited for 5:41. I feel robbed. I was so excited about doing a sub 5:40 mile! I guess I can try again next year.

Here's how the race went down for me...

- Warmed up for about 5m and arrived at the start 3 mins prior to gun
- Lined up about 4-5 people deep on the left side of Park Ave.
- As the gun goes off and I cross the starting line, I noticed there was no starting mat.
- Crossed 1/4m mark at 1:23
- Crossed 1/2m mark at 2:50...slowed by incline
- Don't remember 3/4 mile mark
- Crossed 1500m mark at 5:25(ish). At this point, I was already on my toes when I heard a girl scream, "KICK IT IN GUY IN THE BLUE SHIRT!!" As best I could, I obliged and managed to cover the last ~100m in what I thought was about 13 secs.
- As I approached the finish, I saw the clock at 5:35. I sprinted as fast as I could to finish below 5:40, and managed to cross the line at 5:38 according to the clock.
- Turned off my watch about 5 seconds later when I remembered, at 5:43.

I'm not sure where that extra 3 seconds from NYRR came from, but I'll use it for motivation next year. I know every runner feels that they could always have performed better, and this was no exception. I was way too strong over the last 400m, and even stronger over the last 100, which means that I could have taken the first 1/2 mile faster. Live and learn.

Anyways, here's my running day's recap according to my Garmin 405:

5.14m :@ 44:11.61 - warm-up through Central Park to starting line @ 77th and Park
1.03m @ 5:43.64 - 5th Ave. Mile race.
7.87m @ 1:28.18 - run/walk with Sara around the park