Hamilton Hangover 2014

Since Sept. I've been training quite a bit. I had a better finish in the Trenton Half than I did last year and a nice sub 9:00 5K in Dec. So I was probably as ready for the HH as I have been since the race in 2004. My best time for a 5 Mile race was the HH in 2003 and I did the race in an official time of 43:48 which is a 8:46 pace. I've been running consistently in the 8:50 range so I felt a PR was possible. Unfortunately it was not to be. The start was very congested and it took me approximately 27 seconds to get to the start so I was behind immediately. I picked up the pace and made up some time but the effect was burning out a bit and struggling during the third mile. I picked up the pace in mile 4 and really busted it in the last mile but the damage had been done. My official time was 44:34, my clock (Runkeeper) time was 44:07. This was my 2nd fastest 5 mile race in my 12 year race history. So I was close. My lesson learned from this race. Start Runkeeper as soon as the gun goes off. I always wait until I hit the start line but this ends up throwing me off as I monitor my progress.

NJ Marathon 2012 - Training starts today

So the plan was to get selected to run in the 2012 Boston Marathon, raise some money for charity and get my butt in shape. Denied! So plan B goes into effect - I had signed up for the 2012 NJ Marathon the day after this years fiasco. I had delusions of starting the training on Nov 6th or exactly 6 months from the marathon but we ended up going to watch the NYC Marathon. So today I start. As of today I have 177 days until the Marathon on May 6th, 2012.

Seems like a like of time however I am taking this time to revamp my running style. I want to run correctly or the way we humans did naturally before the advent of high tech running shoes. I tried the Vibram Five-Fingers last year but they weren't for me. I really want to just concentrate on form and if I do, I should be able to run in pretty much anything. I will post more on this tomorrow.

Anyway today I ran 1.8 at a 10:17. Slow pace yes but I concentrated on form and I felt like I maintained the correct posture and form the whole way and it was an easy run. Starting weight this morning was 192, 20 pounds heavier then I was last March.

More tomorrow....

Finish Time

5:07:50


2008's Finish time:
5:29:13

Mile 14 time posted

2:27:42

Half Marathon time posted

2:17:31


2008's half marathon:
2:25:41

20K time posted

2:09:48


2008's 20k:
2:17:07

15K time posted

1:35:22


2008's 15k:
1:39:53

Mile 18

Just past 18.


Ran the entire Queensboro Bridge and "that bridge is a bitch."

10K time posted

1:01:53


2008's 10k:
1:05:49

Mile 10

Al just past the 10 mile mark.

He's keeping under 11:25 a mile, which means he's on course to break 5 hours today.

I'll post the official times once I get them.

5K time posted

0:30:17


For comparison:
2008's 5K time: 0:33:08

Pete and i

Moments before the start. Hopefully updates will follow.

It's go time!

Race day is here!

We spent last night at Colette's house in Staten Island. She is
dropping us off at the start. More to you......

At the finish

Do we even still need to run?

Central Park late afternoon

I've run by this lake several times and never noticed it before.

The weekend plan

Pete and I will be heading to NYC shortly. First stop is the Javits Center to get our bib numbers and timing chips and whatever goodies they give us for a $185 entry fee. Then we'll park my car in parking garage near the finish line and then head down to Staten Island via Subways and the ferry. We are staying at someone's house near the finish line. It should prove interesting.

Tomorrow we're up and heading to the start. Pete is in the 10:10 wave, I'm in the 10:40 wave. Mary and her friends will wait for me somewhere on First Ave. for a quick visit hopefully around 3PM. Then I finish and we dog pile into my car and drive home.

Seems simple, doesn't it.....

NY Marathon training complete

Basic 3.5 mile treadmill run finished up training for NY. This gives me 760 miles for the year. The forecast for Sunday is perfect for me. 50 degrees and sunny. I will blog Saturday at the expo and in Staten Island and the morning of the race. Lauren will blog for me during the race unless it goes badly and I end up blogging myself. My goal again is to break 5 hours.

Training update #1 - 9/21/10

So I've run over 18 miles in the last 3 days.

Sunday was 8.2 miles, took it easy. Ran well for 5 miles, sort of ran down the last 3.

Monday - I went out for speed training which I did for 3 miles, then ran into a friend and ended up running a very slow 3 miles with him. The pace was very slow but I felt I could do it for a while and it would get me under 5 hours in the marathon.

Tuesday - I had no plan. Just went out and ran into my friend again. We did 1.5 before he quit, then I did another 3 by myself and just experimented with the slow easy pace.

I'll take tomorrow off and resume on Thursday.

NY Marathon 2010 Goal

In reading my 2007 wrap up blog, I typed the following - " I'm going to break 5 hours in this goddamn race if it kills me." I've run NY 3 times and my best time was 2007 in 5:25. So this year I'm going to break 5 hours in this goddamn race if it kills me.

There I said it. 4:59:59 or bust.

New York Marathon - 7 weeks from today

Here we go again. The marathon is Nov. 7 and my training has been, well..... disappointing. Mostly due to the heat but somewhat due to a lack of motivation. However this week I picked it up. Ran 28 miles ending with an 8.2 today. If I can do a 10, 12 ,14 and 16 in the next 4 weeks I should be good to go.

I'm formulating a different race strategy for this marathon, I'll post it when I have it finalized.

This week's goal is 30 miles. Stay tuned.