Entries from October, 2009

Blue Line at Mile 24 Continue Reading

I woke up this morning fatigued and with stiff legs.  Knowing that Sunday is a forced rest day because of the race and Monday is a scheduled rest day, I had to muscle past the urge to be lazy.  That urge became overwhelming when I couldn’t find driver’s license, etc. before I left the apartment.  I thought I lost it.  Panic briefly washed over me.  The absolute last thing I need is to waste an entire day at the DMV and canceling credit cards.  After racing through the apartment, I double-checked near the washing machine and thank goodness my clip was hidden under my jeans.  Whew! Continue Reading

As promised, I rolled through the NYC Marathon Expo at the Javitts Center. My mission: not to spend a dime. I’m all for stimulating the economy (goodness knows I’ve done my fair share via Apple), but this time (1) I don’t need any gear (2) whatever gear I think I need, I can find it cheaper online and (3) my wife would shoot me. Obviously, #3 drove my behavior. Was I successful? Yes. GU was selling gels for $1 each vs. $1.25 at my local running shop. Since I use one every weekend now, buying 5 for $5 made economic sense. I can justify that with my wife. Continue Reading

Finally!!  No rain.  Therefore, I was highly motivated to get in a solid run.   It’s been nearly a week since I was able to run on the trails, so I was hoping the puddles dried up overnight.  Nope.  So, I headed for the asphalt, again.  The energy in the park was much higher than it has been lately.  Runners from all over the world … I was more surprised when I heard English being spoken rather than French, Italian, Spanish, etc.  Cool stuff. Continue Reading

Upon hitting this streets this morning I quickly realized my plans were going by the wayside or should I say Slip-n-Slide.  Relentless, hard rain completely drenched the Bridle Path, where I intended to warm up and then do some Yasso’s.   After about 800 meters of puddle hopscotch, I decided to bag the idea of my normal warm up and head to firmer land.  Even the asphalt was a mess.  Between ankle-deep puddles and leaves everywhere, I accepted that any kind of technical run was out of the question today.  Therefore, I was resigned to a fun run. Continue Reading

Despite this being ING NYC Marathon Week, rain put a brief damper on my mood as I headed out for hill repeats this morning.  One thing about rain, no matter what you wear if you are running long enough you will get soaked.  Since I was headed north, I would not see any of the bleachers and set up for Sunday’s race.  Bummer.   On the positive side, the hills are on asphalt so it is a tad less messy than running on muddy trails.  On the negative, I always do my warm up and closing lap on the trails. Continue Reading

ING New York City Marathon Week kicked off this morning with the Poland Springs Kickoff 5 miler in Central Park.  I briefly considered entering, but in the end I decided against it, however, as you will soon discover I did end up racing today. Continue Reading

I may be suffering from training burnout.  For the past week, when I wake up there is a seed of doubt about whether I should run.  Once I shake off the cobwebs and get into the morning routine, that feeling goes away quickly.  It could be the fall blahs or as I am 90% certain, I picked up another cold from my kids.  Whatever it is, the combination led me to take yesterday off.  I planned an LR, but when I woke up, neither body nor mind were in sync.  Bad, bad feeling. Continue Reading