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.

NJ Marathon Wrap Up - The Good

Amy letting us use her condo as our base of operations - just awesome.
Mary for being there, helping out and being there.
The race organizers for ensuring there was plenty of fluid stations, first aiders and in general just wonderful organization on a dreadful day.
The volunteers who distribute water and other supplies. They were tremendous.
The people who lived on the course who were hosing us down with water - thanks everyone.
The hot dogs at Max's after the race. Hmmm Hot Dogs.
They had enough water and gatorade on just a dreadful day - 'nuff said.
And finally we didn't die.

NJ Marathon Wrap Up - The Bad

The heat and sun - just brutal.
Loop courses - I understand all the reason for it but no thanks.
The banner near the finish that really said - finish ahead which was probably another tenth or two away.
The heat and sun, in the words of the great, late 20th century philosopher, Beavis - " Huh huh, the sun sucks"
But really that was all that sucked

NJ Marathon Wrap Up - Loop #2

After my ten minute break at Amy's I soldiered on and started feeling better. Of course this stretch was on the boardwalk and there was a very welcome cool breeze. When I got to the start/finish line I knew I was continuing. I actually started running better, miles 14 and 15 being much better than the previous 6. Soon enough I was back in survival mode again but I was ok with that. I just wanted to finish and I didn't care how long it took. I hooked up with other runners, we ran together for while and then there would be someone else to run, walk or chat with. Everyone I talked to was operating in the same mindset which was - OK, this will be my worst marathon time ever but dammit, I'm gonna finish. So finish I did in 5:36:54. This is almost exactly an hour slower than my fastest time and you know what. I don't care. I finished and didn't die. Mission accomplished!

NJ Marathon Wrap Up - Loop #1

It was hot, 87 degrees hot. I knew early on that this was going to be a long day. I let G Money go ahead and slowed my pace between mile 1 & 2. By mile 3 I was already up to a 10 minute pace and it just got worse from there. This was a loop course, in other words you run the same course twice for a marathon. This meant seeing the mile banners for 17, 18, 19 etc when you were at 4,5 and 6. It was impossible to believe that I would be running this loop again. I thought many times of the cardiac event last Aug and was determined not to duplicate it. So I slowed, walked, drank water at each and every water stop. If I felt funky, I walked. I tried taking pictures and blogging but it became impossible. The iPhone touch screen was not responsive to my sweat and water logged fingers. So I just gave up on the blogging. Mary met me at mile 11 with Powerade and other supplies which was a huge help. I stopped at race headquarters (ok, Amy's condo) for a bathroom stop and a general opportunity to assess my condition. I told Amy and Mary I had no intention to run the marathon, I was gonna finish the half and call it day. Of course, I didn't.

Well I didn't die

Just got home,absolutely brutal day out there. I was going to quit after the half, I have no idea what compelled me to run the 2nd loop. But I did it and G Money did too. I'll throw up a summation post later after I get a shower and relax a bit.

Slow going

Already in big trouble

Way too hot

The start

At the start

Race Headquarters

Race Day is here

6AM, coffee and Captain Crunch the breakfast for all serious marathoners.G Money will be here at 6:30 and then we'll head out to Long Branch and set up the command post at Amy's. A quick check of the weather shows a high of 85 degrees for today, I just hope the ocean breeze makes it feel much cooler.

Lucky number 13

This will be my 13th marathon. In order they are..

Jersey Shore Marathon (now known as the NJ Marathon) - 2002
Philadelphia Marathon - 2002
New York Marathon - 2003
Philadelphia Marathon - 2003
Ocean Drive Marathon - 2004 (Set my PR 4 hours 37 Minutes)
Philadelphia Marathon - 2004
Detroit Marathon - 2005
Philadelphia Marathon - 2005
Marine Corp Marathon - 2006
Calgary Marathon - 2007
New York Marathon - 2007
New York Marathon - 2008

Number 14 will be NY this Nov and maybe #15 in Philly a couple of weeks later. But I have to get through this one first.....

Quick Weather Update

The official Almo/G Money race headquarters is at my friend Amy's condo. Amy's condo faces the boardwalk at miles 12 & 25 (it's a loop course) so we'll run right by there twice. Anyway I just talked to Amy and although it's a zillion degrees out here in Robbinsville, she says it's almost chilly at the boardwalk. So maybe there's hope yet for tomorrow.

New Jersey Marathon

OK, I haven't blogged in a long while nor I have I run a a marathon in a while. Both streaks end now.

The NJ Marathon is tomorrow - njmarathon.org - and G Money and I are running it. Both Gary and I are ready. I've run 326 miles in 2010, probably the most I've ever trained for a marathon. Gary is in tremendous shape. I would expect both of us to set PRs tomorrow except.... the forecast is for mid to upper 80s. If that is truly the case then the race becomes a survival test. I'm not stressing about it, it will be what it will be.

My bib number is 1609 - Gary is 529

So stay tuned tomorrow as I blog, send pictures and report on my/our progress.