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Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge
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Well, it's an interesting one, isn't it? The longer I spend on the course, the better my value for money, and the more rich my experience. I ran a 3:38 a couple of years back, pacing a friend of mine for sub 3:40, so maybe my target should be my longest ever marathon.village runner wrote: »Best of luck. Jog around it but you wont do that.:D:D
Certainly won't be aiming for a sub-3. Too much work on holidays (and I've only run once this week!). 0 -
Agree with you 100 per cent........Maybe pace one of the lads ere on boards. You have put in a great year so enjoy this one.Krusty_Clown wrote: »Well, it's an interesting one, isn't it? The longer I spend on the course, the better my value for money, and the more rich my experience. I ran a 3:38 a couple of years back, pacing a friend of mine for sub 3:40, so maybe my target should be my longest ever marathon. Certainly won't be aiming for a sub-3. Too much work on holidays (and I've only run once this week!).
Fair play to you for pacing dublin. Not sure I would have done the same.;);)0 -
Yeah, wouldn't mind having a go at pacing sub-3, but wouldn't have the motivation at the moment, if I were to try it on my own. Would like to do around 3:15 though. Just to keep it respectable.village runner wrote: »Agree with you 100 per cent........Maybe pace one of the lads ere on boards. You have put in a great year so enjoy this one.
Fair play to you for pacing dublin. Not sure I would have done the same.;);) 0 -
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Today: 5 Mile Recovery run with strides
I love New York. What a runner's playground. I set off with the other half from downtown Manhattan (near Wall Street) overlooking Brooklyn Bridge through Battery Park and hugged the shoreline as far as North Moore Street all the while the State of Liberty glared across the shore at us. I was wearing the Waverider 14s I picked up at the expo yesterday, and damnit if I'm not giving serious consideration to throwing caution to the wind and wearing them tomorrow for the marathon (do as I say, not as I do.
). They've made me realize just how battered my old shoes are (I can see that the heel cushioning has collapsed a little, possibly under the stress of three marathons).
Anyway, shopping and eating awaits. I have to get the 5:45am ferry to Staten Island (thankfully it's a mere 3 or 4 minute walk from the hotel) and I'm finally getting excited about this marathon. It's not going to be pretty, but it's going to be great (I hope). Weather looks cold, but sunny.
Summary: 5.3 miles in 47 mins, @8:45/mile. :eek:0 -
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(Or how I managed to make every single rookie mistake in the marathon book).
Overheard conversation:
Someone smart: You know there's less than two weeks between Dublin and New York marathons?
Me: Of course I did! (sh1t!).
That was mistake number one, in a long, long, line of rookie mistakes, but if you have to make mistakes, no better place to make them than a marathon where you're not aiming for a PB or specific time goal, but rather running it for the experience. And oh what an experience it turned out to be. Coming out of the Dublin marathon 3:15 pacing gig, the body was feeling a little fragile (mostly the achilles), so I figured 3:15 would be a reasonable goal to get around in a decent enough time, without any great risk of injury.
The week before the race I managed a single 5 mile run (rookie mistake number 2), due to work commitments before heading over to New York. I enjoyed a couple of pints on Friday night (mistakes 4, 5 and 6) after spending a few hours wandering around the expo (mistake #3). At the expo, I picked up a couple of new pairs of shoes, taking advantage of the weak dollar to get them at rock bottom prices. Comparing the new Waverider 14s with my old 13s, I realized that the heel support in my old shoes had entirely collapsed, so started toying with the idea of wearing the new shoes for the marathon, if my trial run on Saturday went ok. Yep, you guessed it, mistake 7.
Headed out on Saturday with the boss at her pace, but threw in some strides too. I felt so comfortable that I decided I would go with the new shoes and a more agressive marathon target. I figured I would start off with some sub-3 hour paced miles, and see how long I could make it last. An early night, and the time zone difference meant that I was wide awake a good hour before my alarm went off at 5am. I tucked into the bagel and fruit I had stolen from the hotel kitchen the previous day, grabbed my gear and left the hotel at 5:30am for the 5:45am ferry to Staten Island. Despite the early start, I really didn't feel that tired, so I reckon for anyone considering a trip, don't make that time-zone physiological adjustment before race day!
I joined the slow procession of track-suited zombies peering through the darkness, drawn towards the bright neon lights of the Staten Island Ferry. There was a big cheer as the ferry arrived, and we made our way through the terminal, while the NY Road Runner volunteers did their very best to bring a smile to the already weary runners' faces. Every single country, language and ethnic group seemed to be represented in near equal measure, but with more than four hours until the start of the race, nobody seemed to be in very high spirits. Through the frosted windows we got to glipmse the Statue of liberty, a ghostly apparition in the mists of the Hudson River.
We arrived at Staten Island as the sun rose, and the views back across to Manhattan were fab. I wouldn't be arriving back into Manhattan for at least another 7 hours, which meant 4 hours of standing around in the freezing cold, followed by at least three hours of running. I was glad that I had brought lots of spare clothes with me. A bus took us to our final destination, where we joined the ranks of other either huddling in the cold, or queueing for coffee, water or bagels. I found a spot and hunkered down, and waited for the next three hours to pass.
And they did pass. Slowly. And coldly, but they passed. I handed over my bag to the UPS truck, and headed to the sub-elite corral. I had originally planned New York as my target race, before Berlin was added to the plan, so had designated my intended finish time as 2:48. Any guilt I felt about being in the wrong starting corral soon dissapeared as I got passed by hundreds of runners as we 'walked' to the starting point before the Nerazzano Bridge to Brooklyn. As we neared the bridge, the PA system was blasting the Pixies 'Where is my mind', which really set the tone for me. This was going to be a great day. A few quick speeches and a introduction of the chilean Miner, a cannon roar and we were off, with the elites in the other lane of the bridge storming off at an incredible pace.
As we set off on the climb up the first of a number of tough bridges, I had a few causes for alarm. The cold air was causing a sharp pain in my lungs that typically results in a nasty bout of asthma, and my achilles were stiff and sore after standing around in the cold for hours. Well, nothing to be done but run and see how things faired. The first mile was a little stiff and slow as a result, but coming back down over the far side of the bridge the running became a little easier. I passed Run Johnny Run who had stopped on the bridge to paint the freeway with his steamy nectar, and headed on into Brooklyn. Mile two was a little better, and I made up some of my lost time, with a 6:26 mile.
Running up through Brooklyn at 10am the crowds were already out in force. The drinks stops seemed to be every mile, with first the Gatorade and then water stops, dispensed by the local volunteers and school-kids. I tried the Gatorade, and found it sickly sweet, but more often than not, the water and gatorade stations were jumbled up, so when you wanted water, you ended up with Gatorade. Urgh.. Mistakes 8-12.
At this stage I was running comfortably and really enjoying the fantastic crowds and atmosphere. I was running comfortably at around 6:30/mile, when I bumped into lex Luther. I hadn't met him before, but heard his first name called out as I ran past, where the crowds read it from his vest. We exchanged a few pleasantries before I pushed on a little, enjoying the comfortable pace. I had to stop for a pee, and saw no reason not to, given that I was doing this one for fun. I lost around a minute, which would have been nice to have back at the finish line. The climbs over the Pulaski and Queensborough bridges at around miles 13 and 16 were quite tough and many of the runners dropped off the pace.
I ran behind the leading fire-fighters and NYPD boys for a while, who were involved in their own little race, and as we passed every firestation, firetruck, and Poh-leese, the encouragement from the crowd was awe inspiring. Everyone might have their own personal beefs with the authorities from Monday to Sunday, but on marathon day, they were welcomed and encouraged like brothers. I think they were a little over-eager in the first half of their race, as I soon left them behind.
It was running over the Queensborough Bridge when my Garmin lost it's connection, running as we were underneath another highway (mistake 13) that I started to regret not making out a pace band (#14). My maths skills had deserted me at mile 10, after moving to double figures, so I was now guessing, as the distance and pace figures were screwed on the watch (a lesson for all runners; don't trust a Garmin!). I lost a half a mile of data on that bridge, but the views over Manhattan were fab, so I wasn't too put out. It was great returning back top street level as were welcomed by the roaring crowds.
Arriving into Harlem at around mile 20, a deep loud booming voice welcomed us to to the burrough which was an amazing experience, however things had stopped being fun. I had been given a few Gatorades instead of waters, and had lost any apetite for sugar. I didn't realize it, but energy levels were running low and I had avoided the gels due to the sickly sweetness of the horrendous Gatorade. I started to pay for it as we arrived back into Manhattan and an untimely climb at around mile 23 nearly ended the fun, where I actually contemplated taking a walking break. I counted my gels, realized my mistake, and stuffed a gel into the system and poured a cup of cold water down my neck, which seemed to wake me from my slowing day-dream (7:29 and 7:12 miles). At this point I was passed by the leading teacher in the Footlocker 5 burroughs challenge, complete with police bike escort and camera crew. I couldn't be live on marathon TV being passed by a guy in striped footlocker Pyjamas, so I kept up with him, waving at the camera and mouthing the words 'hello mum' every chance I got.
Arriving into Central Park I was back on track, running comfortably, but had lost enough time to make hitting a sub-3 a near impossible challenge (I couldn't make up a lost minute at that stage). The crowds had spilled out onto the road, creating a chute for the last few miles. I was smiling again, thoughts of walking erased, and really enjoying the experience. I took out the camera again, and recorded the last couple of hundred yards heading to the finish line. Unfortunately, revewing the footage afterwards, I had inadvertently covered the lense with my fingers (mistake #15). Delighted to cross the finish line in 3:01:02, with only a mild tinge of regret for not ducking under the 3:00, but with a 2:48 in the legs from late September, I can have no reason for regrets. Three marathons in 7 weeks at a decent clip is a pretty stupid thing to do, so to come out the other side without injury is both a relief and an undeserved reward.
After collecting our medals, we walked the couple of miles back to the familiar UPS truck, and spent the next hour freezing in the cold, queuing to pick up our bags from the one UPS trucks that seems to have completely and utterly disregarded any form of system or reason, and could only manage to dispense a bag every three or four minutes. With nearly a thousand runners queuing to get their bags in the late afternoon cold, I thought there might be a riot, as the runners united in their anger and frustration at not being able to get access to their warm dry clothes, recovery foods, and mobile phone. One small sour note in an otherwise near perfect day.
As I said in another thread, this is a marathon that every marathon lover should experience once in their lives. Not necessarily a course for a PB (particularly if the margins are tight) but a superb life experience that will stick with each runner for a long, long time. I took some piccies during the race that I'll upload when I get a little free time. For now, it's time to try and settle back into GMT, before I head back over the Atlantic, next week.
Finally, did I mention.... I now want to be a fire fighter. FDNY rules!
Summary: 26.3 miles in 3:01:02, @6:55/mile (or something similar), Average Heart rate=1551 -
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fairplay krustyman.
ps u should have contacted boards.ie via ipad (while on the run) when you had a spot of trouble with the garmin. I hear the guy on the 'garmin help thread' isn't too bad.
that was funny when you met johnny on the bridge. ya should've shouted 'P;ss johnny, p;ss'0 -
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Yeah, he was the drummer in the Saw Doctors. Runs a marathon every month for charity (on his own dollar) and has done great things for his charity (sea-change - a micro credit management program). A top notch guy, I believe (when not pi$$ing on the side of the freeway in his Discover Ireland singlet).ManFromAtlantis wrote: »hes a guy doing al oad of marathons (100 or so)maybe more? for charity.
was he in the 'saw doctors'? i think he is/was.? 0 -
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Great report Krusty and a brillant trifecta ... what's on for December ?
15 "mistakes", a potty break and you still throw in a 3.01 ... yikes ! Glad you enjoyed the day ...the enthusiasm is infectious.
With an eye on doing this next year, the Gatorade/water mix up is pretty poor. Usually (going on other NYRR races) the water is in different cups - plain white for water, and Gatorade branded cups for Gatorade. If they were mixing this is that's disappointing.
Was it possible to find somewhere to roll over and snooze out on SI before the race ?0 -
Hi pgmcpq, the water drinks may have been in different cups, and I may not have noticed. They seemed to have the aid stations separated into a water section and a gatorade section, however they seemed to be handing out either drink in each section. The only way I could tell was to grab a cup and look inside it. Yellow=bad, clear=good! There were others going through the same process as me. I ended up covered head to toe in Gatorade, from a number of runners throwing away un-sampled cups in disgust! But maybe there was a logical system that I (and some of my running brethren) were unaware of. There were enough aid stations, that you could just hold out for the next one, and hopefully grab what you wanted the next time around.Great report Krusty and a brillant trifecta ... what's on for December ?
15 "mistakes", a potty break and you still throw in a 3.01 ... yikes ! Glad you enjoyed the day ...the enthusiasm is infectious.
With an eye on doing this next year, the Gatorade/water mix up is pretty poor. Usually (going on other NYRR races) the water is in different cups - plain white for water, and Gatorade branded cups for Gatorade. If they were mixing this is that's disappointing.
Was it possible to find somewhere to roll over and snooze out on SI before the race ?
As to having a snooze, it was just too damn cold. There was no room in the marquees (as early as 6:10am). Lots of people had brought disposable sleeping bags and managed to get some shut-eye. The clever people grabbed cardboard from the dumpsters, and used this as a barrier from the cold on the road/grass. The corrals (Wave 1) opened at 8:10am, so at that stage I had largely disrobed and handed over most of my warm clothes, for the final 1:40 wait! Thankfully the sun was up so there was some warmth to be had (but not much!)0 -
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