So I am 2 weeks out from my 8th New York City Marathon and I wanted to get in 13 miles at 6 minute pace on a rolling (hilly) course. That is just what I did this past Saturday as I ventured down to the Dowd YMCA in uptown Charlotte.
I parked my car less that 100 yards from the finish line at 7am and immediately saw the one and only race director, Tim Rhodes, who graciously comped my entry fee which I am very grateful for. I then took a nice leisurely 20 minute jog in the area until it was time to put my flats on (brand new Nike Zoom Kitana Racer). Did some easy strides and got to the starting line in my standard 2nd row spot. Saw 5 studs in the race and one was James McKeon who has been smoking me every race this year. Could I hang with him at the longer distance? We'll see...
So the gun goes off and I get right in to 6 minute pace mode and head down Morehead St. with about 10 guys in tow and a chick named Sonja. We were rolling easy. My feeling in the early going was not great yet never bad through the whole race. I was good with that. Finally got up and over Providence Road and was still rolling where I got to the 5th position as I got to the intersection of Providence Road and Fairview where I saw Paul and Sophie which was very cool.
Side note: Since I have been running and racing in Charlotte over the last 16 plus years, it still amazes me how many people personally root for me...I am grateful and honored!
Getting back to the race. At about the 6 mile mark I am feeling pretty good and decide to start reeling in the 3rd and 4th place runners who are up ahead. One is James McKeon who has consistently smoked me even though he is my age at 46! He is a tough competitor who seems to always bring his A game (as I would find out later, his calf was tight through the 2nd half of the race). None the less, by mile 7 and a half, I went by those 2 runners and set my sights on 2rd. That runner was about 30 seconds ahead and although I was rolling, I could not seem to bridge the gap. Finally got to the all too familiar Queens Road West and rolled through there until I hit Morehead and started climbing up what is the 13th mile. Cruised up Lexington to the finish line and crossed in 1:18 and change which was good for 3rd place. I was pleased with how I ran so consistantly on a rolling course like Charlotte which should bode well for New York in 2 weeks.
I was able to cool down with Caleb, JMar, and Caitlin for a couple of miles before it was off to breakfast, soccer, lacrosse and work. Good stuff...
My son went to his first Cotillion dance Saturday night. I told him not to be too nervous like his father use to be...Ha! Sophie scored a goal in a 1-1 tie. I'm trying my best not to think about the marathon every minute of every waking hour...HaHa!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
24 mile run...w/ a little help from my friends!
Last Saturday put me 3 weeks out from the New York City marathon. This meant my 3rd, at last, long run in my training cycle for the marathon. It may not sound like a lot, however, each one was run uptempo style. Saturday was no different...
My plan was to meet out at the Old Bell entrance to McAlpine at 6am and run 3 out and back 8 milers. Since our football game went into double overtime, I didn't get to bed until midnight. When I woke up and saw that it was 6:18, I knew that I had overslept. No worries! I knew Paul would be there at 6:50am. Anyway, I got to the park at 6:45am and waited for Paul to arrive. Sure enough, there he was at 6:50, we exchanged pleasantries, and were off!
This uptempo workout was inspired by Renata Canova where you run an uptempo 40k. I was ready. Paul did not disappoint as we hit 2 miles in 15 minutes (not fast yet we got out well...thanks Paul). Since Paul is knackered and nursing a small injury, he turned around at the 2 and a half mile mark and headed back. I ventured on solo. I kept my rhythm and ran tall with minimal arm swing. I made the turnaround at mile 4 in 29:50 and made it back having finished the first loop in 56:50. Good start since I was definitely trying to make myself tired.
I should say that at mile 7 with 1 mile left to complete the first lap, I nursed 1 Gu and then when I got back to the parking lot, I gulped down some water (15 seconds at most.) Ready for the second lap...
I started the 2nd lap with good turnover and ran all the way to the 12 mile mark along with my thoughts. Along the way, I crossed paths with Ben Hovis, Megan, Dan Matena (fresh off of his 2:43!) and John Compton (more on him later). Once again, I ran the whole 2nd loop with a stitch that thankfully did not keep me from running the pace that I wanted...
It was at this point that I spotted a young runner who I caught and asked him if he would run with me. He said yes. A nice kid named Kyle Hoffman who is running for the Myers Park cross country team. We ran together to the 15 mile mark where he ran into Boyce and I went strait. Running with Kyle kept me honest so I didn't slack off. We talked about all things running...
With 1 mile to go in the 2nd lap (mile 15), I decided not to take another Gu...I would just drink some Gatorade! Great choice...
So now I'm 2 laps down and starting the 3rd lap. I'm ready to go. I knew that I wanted to get as close to 48 minutes on the last 8 miles. The only way to do that for me would be to put pressure on the whole way. Guess what? At mile 17 (1 mile into my 3rd lap) I see John Compton coming towards me by himself! You gotta be kidding me! What does he do, he turns around and starts running with me. THIS WAS HUGE! Minimal words were exchanged as he knew exactly were I was in my running state of mind. He ran right off my left shoulder as to let me dictate tempo (also huge). At one point, we came up on a group of high school runners and just cruised right around them. We got to the 18 mile mark which is the start of the cross country course and he kept running with me. We got all the way to the turnaround at mile 20 and at that point I asked John what pace we were running and he said 5:55. I think we averaged 6:05 as he ran with me all the way to the 22 mile mark. Thanks for the 5 miles John! I still have 2 miles to go yet I'm in decent enough shape as I make it back to the end in 2 hours and 40 minutes and 40 seconds (last 8 miles in 48 minutes and 50 seconds)...I was pleased!
3 weeks until New York...
My plan was to meet out at the Old Bell entrance to McAlpine at 6am and run 3 out and back 8 milers. Since our football game went into double overtime, I didn't get to bed until midnight. When I woke up and saw that it was 6:18, I knew that I had overslept. No worries! I knew Paul would be there at 6:50am. Anyway, I got to the park at 6:45am and waited for Paul to arrive. Sure enough, there he was at 6:50, we exchanged pleasantries, and were off!
This uptempo workout was inspired by Renata Canova where you run an uptempo 40k. I was ready. Paul did not disappoint as we hit 2 miles in 15 minutes (not fast yet we got out well...thanks Paul). Since Paul is knackered and nursing a small injury, he turned around at the 2 and a half mile mark and headed back. I ventured on solo. I kept my rhythm and ran tall with minimal arm swing. I made the turnaround at mile 4 in 29:50 and made it back having finished the first loop in 56:50. Good start since I was definitely trying to make myself tired.
I should say that at mile 7 with 1 mile left to complete the first lap, I nursed 1 Gu and then when I got back to the parking lot, I gulped down some water (15 seconds at most.) Ready for the second lap...
I started the 2nd lap with good turnover and ran all the way to the 12 mile mark along with my thoughts. Along the way, I crossed paths with Ben Hovis, Megan, Dan Matena (fresh off of his 2:43!) and John Compton (more on him later). Once again, I ran the whole 2nd loop with a stitch that thankfully did not keep me from running the pace that I wanted...
It was at this point that I spotted a young runner who I caught and asked him if he would run with me. He said yes. A nice kid named Kyle Hoffman who is running for the Myers Park cross country team. We ran together to the 15 mile mark where he ran into Boyce and I went strait. Running with Kyle kept me honest so I didn't slack off. We talked about all things running...
With 1 mile to go in the 2nd lap (mile 15), I decided not to take another Gu...I would just drink some Gatorade! Great choice...
So now I'm 2 laps down and starting the 3rd lap. I'm ready to go. I knew that I wanted to get as close to 48 minutes on the last 8 miles. The only way to do that for me would be to put pressure on the whole way. Guess what? At mile 17 (1 mile into my 3rd lap) I see John Compton coming towards me by himself! You gotta be kidding me! What does he do, he turns around and starts running with me. THIS WAS HUGE! Minimal words were exchanged as he knew exactly were I was in my running state of mind. He ran right off my left shoulder as to let me dictate tempo (also huge). At one point, we came up on a group of high school runners and just cruised right around them. We got to the 18 mile mark which is the start of the cross country course and he kept running with me. We got all the way to the turnaround at mile 20 and at that point I asked John what pace we were running and he said 5:55. I think we averaged 6:05 as he ran with me all the way to the 22 mile mark. Thanks for the 5 miles John! I still have 2 miles to go yet I'm in decent enough shape as I make it back to the end in 2 hours and 40 minutes and 40 seconds (last 8 miles in 48 minutes and 50 seconds)...I was pleased!
3 weeks until New York...
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Lungstrong 15k...a race recap!
With this years training for the NYC marathon, I have been trying to just let the workouts come to me. As I have gotten older, I have found that I just need more time to recover from hard efforts (workouts). Therefore, I have only been running 2 workouts per week. I am on a 7 day cycle. This also means that I have only done 2 twenty milers so far in my build up to New York.
Having said all that, here is how the race went on Saturday:
Got to Lake Norman early enough on Saturday morning to get a nice and easy warm up in. I met up with John Compton as I started my warm up and we ran together and had a nice conversation (as usual). Put my flats on and did about 5 or 6 easy strides...nothing too fast. Felt good for the start. Let me say that I have not tapered at all in my lead up to this race. Got to the line and he is how it unfolded...
The announcer said something about some dude breaking the course record. He raised his hand and I said to myself...this dude is not going to beat me! Period...
We all get out and I realize rather early that I could not run with the group of guys that I would have liked to have run with. They include Chad, Billy, David, James, Richard, and a couple of other studs...oh well. As it was, I was running 5:52 pace according to my breathing! That was high end for me yet I was rolling. I never felt great, yet I never felt really bad. I'll take that. So, I can't run with the studs, and I did find Kent and Greg who I ended up rolling with for a few miles. That was nice. The course record guy drafted off of me for a lot of miles and I kinda took it like he appreciated my pacing abilities. No sooner did I say that that he actually said that to me. Pretty cool...
So back to the race, Greg starts to slowly pull away from me at the 6 mile mark. I set my sights on Vincent and Kent. I developed a stitch at this point yet it didn't slow me down. I caught Vincent and finally caught Kent on the main road at about mile 8. I'm in 9th place at this point and really wanted to get under 55 minutes, yet I didn't know my time. As I approached the finish, I saw the clock that said 54:45 and whan I saw the results later in the day, Jim had finished 1 place and 20 seconds ahead of me...one tough customer!
Lots of people ran well not least of all John Compton! My average pace was 5:52 and I'll take that on a rolling course. Paul won the overall followed by, maybe Chad, Richard and Billy? Good stuff. I was shut out since I missed 4 races in the first 6...oh well!
Having said all that, here is how the race went on Saturday:
Got to Lake Norman early enough on Saturday morning to get a nice and easy warm up in. I met up with John Compton as I started my warm up and we ran together and had a nice conversation (as usual). Put my flats on and did about 5 or 6 easy strides...nothing too fast. Felt good for the start. Let me say that I have not tapered at all in my lead up to this race. Got to the line and he is how it unfolded...
The announcer said something about some dude breaking the course record. He raised his hand and I said to myself...this dude is not going to beat me! Period...
We all get out and I realize rather early that I could not run with the group of guys that I would have liked to have run with. They include Chad, Billy, David, James, Richard, and a couple of other studs...oh well. As it was, I was running 5:52 pace according to my breathing! That was high end for me yet I was rolling. I never felt great, yet I never felt really bad. I'll take that. So, I can't run with the studs, and I did find Kent and Greg who I ended up rolling with for a few miles. That was nice. The course record guy drafted off of me for a lot of miles and I kinda took it like he appreciated my pacing abilities. No sooner did I say that that he actually said that to me. Pretty cool...
So back to the race, Greg starts to slowly pull away from me at the 6 mile mark. I set my sights on Vincent and Kent. I developed a stitch at this point yet it didn't slow me down. I caught Vincent and finally caught Kent on the main road at about mile 8. I'm in 9th place at this point and really wanted to get under 55 minutes, yet I didn't know my time. As I approached the finish, I saw the clock that said 54:45 and whan I saw the results later in the day, Jim had finished 1 place and 20 seconds ahead of me...one tough customer!
Lots of people ran well not least of all John Compton! My average pace was 5:52 and I'll take that on a rolling course. Paul won the overall followed by, maybe Chad, Richard and Billy? Good stuff. I was shut out since I missed 4 races in the first 6...oh well!
Monday, October 3, 2011
10 mile tempo fun with Stephanie Pezzulli & Aaron Linz
This was just awesome!
So after last Sunday's 20 miler, I sent my workout schedule for the week out to all my running Buds and actually got a response. I was beginning to think that I didn't have any pull within the club...Ha!
Aaron Linz e-mailed me back and said that he would like to roll the 10 mile tempo with me. Great! He then e-mailed everyone to see if anyone else was interested in joining and Pezz said that she would come out and do her workout. That would consist of a 3 mile, followed by a 2 mile segment, followed by a 5 minute 1 mile segment.
I got there e few minuted before 7 am and although the McMullen parking lot was full, there was no Aaron and no Pezz! No worries, as Aaron showed up a few minutes later and then Stephanie came. Aaron and I are ready to go yet Pezz needed a few minutes to get ready (for the warm up!) Maybe that's why she's already qualified for the O Trials Steeplechase and I'll be in the stands. Anyway, we run a nice and steady 2 mile warm up and get back to the parking lot for a little more circle jerking...
Actually, Pezz needed to use the restroom, change her outfit, and change her shoes. NOW...we are ready!
Since Pezz was starting off with a 3 mile segment, Aaron was going to run with her. So we take off and it becomes evident early that I was going to be chasing. I couldn't believe they left me in the dust so soon (15 seconds into a 10 mile run). Anyway, I get to the half mile mark and I look at my watch and see 2:45. I double that and realize that I'm still running 5:30 pace. I back off slightly and hit the mile in 5:45. I'm behind yet my mentality is that I have to work by myself for 9 and a half miles...I'm good with that! I settle in and just start clicking off 5:50 miles and at the 3 mile mark I pass Pezz in 17:15 and give chase to Aaron. I catch Aaron just before the 4 mile mark (he slowed up for me) and we run side by side to the 5 mile turn around.
Side note, Aaron is such a good/tough training partner who has a suttle cockiness to him...which of course being from Jersey...I love! So we hit the turn around in about 28:54 and I'm working and feeling fine.
We stay side by side until the 7 mile mark when Aaron looks over at me and drops a bombshell!..."Stephen, I feel like a million bucks, I'm gonna take off!" Are you kidding me...
Here I am runninig 5:50 pace and he hits me with that. Needless to say, I could not go with him...
When I got to the 9 mile mark, Pezz had just started her 1 mile segment and she looked strong. I finished up the tenth mile and hit 58:24 for the ten miles and Aaron was about 30 seconds up on me...great run for him!
Aafter walking around for a couple of minutes, Pezz came in and we all did a 2 mile cool down to finish. I was pleased because I didn't kill it and was able to recover rather soon after.
So after last Sunday's 20 miler, I sent my workout schedule for the week out to all my running Buds and actually got a response. I was beginning to think that I didn't have any pull within the club...Ha!
Aaron Linz e-mailed me back and said that he would like to roll the 10 mile tempo with me. Great! He then e-mailed everyone to see if anyone else was interested in joining and Pezz said that she would come out and do her workout. That would consist of a 3 mile, followed by a 2 mile segment, followed by a 5 minute 1 mile segment.
I got there e few minuted before 7 am and although the McMullen parking lot was full, there was no Aaron and no Pezz! No worries, as Aaron showed up a few minutes later and then Stephanie came. Aaron and I are ready to go yet Pezz needed a few minutes to get ready (for the warm up!) Maybe that's why she's already qualified for the O Trials Steeplechase and I'll be in the stands. Anyway, we run a nice and steady 2 mile warm up and get back to the parking lot for a little more circle jerking...
Actually, Pezz needed to use the restroom, change her outfit, and change her shoes. NOW...we are ready!
Since Pezz was starting off with a 3 mile segment, Aaron was going to run with her. So we take off and it becomes evident early that I was going to be chasing. I couldn't believe they left me in the dust so soon (15 seconds into a 10 mile run). Anyway, I get to the half mile mark and I look at my watch and see 2:45. I double that and realize that I'm still running 5:30 pace. I back off slightly and hit the mile in 5:45. I'm behind yet my mentality is that I have to work by myself for 9 and a half miles...I'm good with that! I settle in and just start clicking off 5:50 miles and at the 3 mile mark I pass Pezz in 17:15 and give chase to Aaron. I catch Aaron just before the 4 mile mark (he slowed up for me) and we run side by side to the 5 mile turn around.
Side note, Aaron is such a good/tough training partner who has a suttle cockiness to him...which of course being from Jersey...I love! So we hit the turn around in about 28:54 and I'm working and feeling fine.
We stay side by side until the 7 mile mark when Aaron looks over at me and drops a bombshell!..."Stephen, I feel like a million bucks, I'm gonna take off!" Are you kidding me...
Here I am runninig 5:50 pace and he hits me with that. Needless to say, I could not go with him...
When I got to the 9 mile mark, Pezz had just started her 1 mile segment and she looked strong. I finished up the tenth mile and hit 58:24 for the ten miles and Aaron was about 30 seconds up on me...great run for him!
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