Poland Spring Marathon Kick-Off
Yesterday, Elizabeth and I raced in the NYRR Poland Spring Marathon Kick-Off. It’s a five mile race that officially kicks off (duh!) marathon week here in NYC.
With my original plan to do the San Diego Triathlon Challenge scrapped, I shifted back to my “normal” weekend training plan and did a medium length run (about 17 miles) on Saturday and then had a short run scheduled for yesterday. Saturday morning I woke up to pouring rain and checked the forecast to see that it wasn’t supposed to stop raining until that night. Thankfully, it was pretty warm out. So, without thinking too much about it, I got dressed and hit the road for my run. It was actually really fun running in the rain. I ran up the West Side Highway to the Park and then did two loops of the Park and ended at the NYRR offices to pick up our race packets for Sunday. I felt pretty good throughout the run and managed to keep my pace consistently a little slower than eight minute miles, which was just where I wanted to be. The Park wasn’t that crowded and there was some nice camaraderie out there – partly because most people out there assumed that everyone else was running next Sunday and the rest because we were the hardy ones out there in the pouring rain. I ran about four miles with some guy (“Eric”) who is running next weekend. It was nice to have the company. I spent most of the rest of Saturday on the couch watching college football (including the beat down that the Buckeyes put on Penn State – Go Bucks!).
Sunday we were up at the crack of dawn to meet Emily and Liam on the subway to head up to the race. The rain had stopped, but the temperature had also dropped about 15 degrees and there were some pretty strong winds. Fun. It definitely made us question why we were up so early! But, by the time we got to the Park, the sun was out, the winds didn’t feel as strong and it was slowly warming up. My plan was to take the race really easy (my schedule called for three easy miles, so I was already extending that). I lined up and ran the first mile nice and calm solidly in heart rate zone 1. I passed the mile marker at about 7:30, which was fine. At mile 2 my watch said 14:15, which meant a 6:45 mile – a little fast. I tried to slow it down for mile 3 and got there around 21:25 – 7:10, still fast, but OK and my heart rate was in low zone 3. That’s fine. At that point, though, I’d passed most of the people who were going to be easy to pass and my competitive spirit kicked it and I decided to step it up a notch and got to mile 4 at about 28:10, a 6:45 mile. At that point, since I was still feeling good, I decided to race it home – and finished with a 6:25 or so mile. It felt great to run fast. I know that I’m not as fast as I was at this time last year (or this spring), but my legs can still move! Elizabeth has gotten back into running, which is great. She’s done a lot of lower body strength work and I’m convinced that strengthening her legs and core are key to avoiding injuries. Also, she’s not doing 10+ mile runs, which is helpful too!
Thankfully, as yet, the extra effort during yesterday’s run hasn’t affected me. I took it easy on this morning’s run, and it felt really good. I also took my yoga class this evening, for the third or fourth week in a row. I’m really enjoying the class. It’s a great stretch and I’m convinced that it’s helping to keep my injury-free. I also find it amazingly relaxing – I actually fall asleep during the shavasana at the end of class almost every week.
Less than three weeks until raceday now!
Swim – October 25
Distance: 1,925 yards
Time: 45 minutes
Run – October 27
Distance: 17 miles
Time: 2:20
Average heart rate: 152
Course: West Side Highway to Central Park, 2+ loops
Conditions: Wet, rainy and wet, but pretty warm (mid-60’s)!
Run – October 28
Poland Spring Marathon Kick-Off
Distance: 5 miles
Time: 34:42 (6:56/mile)
Average heart rate: 155
Course: Central Park loop (minus Harlem Hill)
Conditions: Cool (52 degrees), sunny
Race stats:
Overall place: 373/5973
Gender place: 341/3081
Age group place: 152/1170
Bike – October 28
Time: 1:00
Average heart rate: 110
Indoor ride
Run – October 29
Distance: 3.2 miles
Time: 25 minutes
Average heart rate: 138
Course: West Village
Conditions: Cold (mid-30’s) and clear
Yoga – October 29