NYC Half

This is very belated, but here's how the NYC Half went;

I ended up running a 1:16:51 for 137th overall out of 15,000+ finishers. I am pretty happy with it considering how training went leading up to the race. I was able to manage my ankle injury thing and it didn't give me any problems during the race, but I would have liked to have gotten some more quality work in the lead-up.

I started pretty conservatively as the first 10k was a big loop in central park, the hilliest part of the course by far. People underestimate central park because there are big sustained hills, but it is not easy by any means. It is never flat, and yet never that hilly either, and it is really hard to get into a rhythm because the road is always changing, it makes for relatively slow and hard running.

I tried to save my bullets for when the course left the park to go down 7th Ave. through Times Square and over to the Westside Highway for the trip down the west side of Manhattan.

It was really interesting to run through Times Square with all of 7th barricaded off for you. To be honest it was a little eerie, it was early so the real big crowds hadn't come out yet, and the fog hanging around the tops of the buildings along with the unusually peaceful and quiet atmosphere that was in such stark contrast to the chaos that is characteristic of Times Square made it kind of surreal.

I tried to roll down the west side as it is straight and flat. I kept a pretty good pace and worked on catching as many people as I could. As soon as I would catch a group I would focus up the road on the next person and tie that mental rope around them and set about the business of reeling them in a little at a time.

It went pretty well until about 800 meters to go when I was stymied by a pathetic little grade coming out of the tunnel. My legs didn't have much pop left in them after ~12.5 miles of hard running (not helped I'm sure by the fact that I had failed to take in any fuel even though I had two gels stuck into the waistband of my shorts, it just didn't feel like my stomach could take a shot of salty-sugary goo being dumped into it without yacking on the NYC asphalt). I managed to dredge up some semblance of a kick and got a few more places before the line.

As I got through the chute I was greeted by my loving parents and loving Allison, who wrapped me in a hug and kiss despite the smells I was undoubtedly putting off at that point. My parents were coming into the city by train that morning and planned to meet up with Alli in the park to catch me. With so many variables (train delays, my parents tenuous grasp of public transit and use of a cell phone) I was a little worried they would never find each other. So I was relieved to see the three of them cheering for me as I came through Times Square.

Overall it was a good learning experience and a decent time for my first half all things considered. I am focusing on taking lessons away from my races and training, and making the necessary adjustments to be stronger and faster in the future.

There is no shame in mistakes, only lessons to be learned.

I want to thank my amazing girlfriend Alli, my parents, friends, everyone at The Running Company, and the folks at PacificHealth Labs for all the support!

First Race of the Year

Things have been going pretty well. My buildup for the NYC Half Marathon got derailed slightly a few weeks ago as my right ankle (tibialis posterior tendon) got grumpy. I think it was just increasing my workload a little to quickly and not taking the time to recover between workouts and I would get a little deeper in the hole with each workout.

It's hard to factor in the work that my legs do all day just walking around, I spend all day on my feet whether it be at work or just getting around the city as my legs are my main form of transportation. It's easy to only see the volume that I'm running and forget that my legs aren't going to recover as quickly as they would if I were on my feet less.

I had to back off for a couple of weeks as a result, but I think I learned a valuable lesson; it doesn't matter how long it takes to nurse my body back after a workout, and overall volume isn't the only thing to think about as long as I can get the key workouts and long runs in, there's no need to beat myself up on easy days just to meet weekly volume goals. I never had to completely stop running, and was able to cross train (bike and swim) through the days when the ankle was really sore.

Overall I don't think I lost much fitness, I have been able to get some harder stuff in the last two weeks. The ankle still isn't 100% and it gets aggravated if I do to much, but I can manage it with cross training and massage.

The NYC Half is this Sunday, it will be my first half on the road and I'm excited to see what I can do. I've been told it's a fast course, and you get to run through the NY streets with no traffic. Pretty good. Prettyyy pretty good.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Update

Although it has been a long time since I have updated this, I am going to try to revive it and keep a regular routine of posting.

Much has happened since the last post...

I am still living in New York, am now working at The Eastside Running Company, as well as at STAR Physical Therapy as a Therapist's Aide, and I am taking classes in preparation for applying to graduate programs to become a Doctor of Physical Therapy.

I still have a beautiful amazing girl in my life, Allison, whom I love very much.

I am also now back to pretty serious structured training getting ready to run the NYC Half Marathon on March 18th. It will be my first crack at the distance on the road and I am super excited to see what kind of time I can run. Training is going pretty well so far, I am being pretty careful with things due to my history of injuries from trying to do too much too quickly in the past. With the right approach and the right mindset I think I can really see what I am capable of. I want to give a big shout out to the folks at PacificHealth Labs who are helping me out with my nutrition needs in the form of Accelerade sports drink and Endurox R4 recovery drink, good products that I really feel help me out from good people.

I'll try to use this to keep anyone who might be interested up to date on how things are going with training, racing, and that funny thing called life.

Be easy.

-Silas