Race Report: 2022 Achilles Hope & Possibility 4M

DATE: June 26, 2022; 8:15 am

DISTANCE: 4 MI

PLACE: Manhattan (Central Park), NY

WEATHER: 78 DEGREES, 64% HUMIDITY, CALM WIND

OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: Who cares? / who cares

FINISHERS: 6,715

SWAG: Tech t-shirt

Quick Stats:

Courtesy of NYRR

Summary:

A little deja vu, huh? Yup, in an effort to get as many 9+1 races out of the way before I leave NYC, I "ran" two races over the weekend.

A little information about this race:

“Celebrate disability inclusion at the 20th annual Achilles Hope & Possibility® 4M Presented by TD Bank on Sunday, June 26. By racing, you help support Achilles International’s mission to break down barriers to the start line for athletes with disabilities and empower athletes to cross the finish line. The race leads into July’s Disability Pride Month and the anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

— New York Road Runners (NYRR)

I'm gonna say that finishing this race was a bit bittersweet because this was my last NYRR (or NYC race) until NYC Marathon. That is if I can return to NYC to run the marathon in Nov.

The course for the race pretty much was the same as FRNY Pride Run's course that was held on the previous day, so I guess there were no surprises for Sunday. ;)

After Sunday's race, I think that my Apple Watch is on the fritz because once again it did not log my miles until I reached the E90s. Similar to the Pride Run, I decided to jog/walk from a local park in the W 120s to the start line in the E 60s before starting the race.

Don't you hate it when technology fails?

For Achilles Hope & Possibility Run, I did yet another type of interval run similar to the previous day's Pride Run. I did hard sprints for 200 m and jogged/walked as recovery for 400 m. This probably was not a great idea since the race tends to have many runners with disabilities and their assistants. Doing fast sprints near the back of the pack meant having to weave in and out of crowds of runners. Do not get me wrong, I'm not saying that I had a problem with disabled runners in this race especially because this race is supposed to celebrate them. I'm just saying that I probably should have done the hard interval runs during the previous day's race instead.

I gotta say that I was quite surprised that we received medals upon completing the race, which was a nice NYRR going-away gift. Also, it was cool to find out that this race has been around for 20 years.

Also, this race gave me an opportunity to check off another category for The Runchat's scavenger hunt. For this one, I checked off Animals (of any kind!). While I used the cougar sculpture on Cat Hill, the category did not say that the animal had to be a living creature ;)

Not sure if this is snow or snot.

It's nice when the virtual and real world collide.

While running the race, or maybe I was doing a recovery jog at that point, I felt some tap my back and shoulder. It turns out that it was one of my Twitter friends - meaning that we only communicated via Twitter (primarily through The Run Chat). After the race, he found me again, and we chatted for a few minutes.

A little post-race fun:

Since I was a bit in recovery mode from my birthday shenanigans, I decided to have a simple post-race breakfast at a local greasy spoon restaurant. Although I took it easy for my birthday this year, I did have quite a few cocktails, glasses of wine, and pints of beer throughout the day. After my post-race breakfast, I gave my feet some much-needed TLC with a nice soak and decrusting.

Playlist:

The same playlist that I used for the previous day's Pride Run.

Race Report: Front Runners New York LGBT Pride Run 4M (Copy)

DATE: June 25, 2022; 8:30 am (my birthday)

DISTANCE: 4 MI

PLACE: Manhattan (Central Park), NY

WEATHER: 71 DEGREES, 76% HUMIDITY, CALM WIND

OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: Who cares? / who cares

FINISHERS: 7,202

SWAG: Tank top, rainbow bagels, rainbow popsicles

Quick Stats:

Courtesy of NYRR

Summary:

Who's got PRIDE? We've got pride. I guess this really is not an actual report, but more of a brief summary.

Another year, another Pride Run 4 mi (it used to be 5 mi) - a race sponsored by NYRR and Front Runners NY (FRNY, one my running groups). This was going to be a simple race just to get back into the flow of things before starting my NYC Marathon training program on Monday.

While the expo was nice and pretty straight to the point, it gave me a chance to check out Industry City, which has been described as a creative workspace where folks can eat, drink, shop, and explore. After I picked up my race stuff, I figured that I would check out all (or most of) what Industry City had to offer.

Overall, I went into the race without any real goals or major accomplishments to achieve since this was my first race since April. My mental state for this race was to run/jog/walk for the sake of having fun. I will say that it did feel nice to kinda-sorta race. In fact, I woke up extra early (y'all know that's rare for me on race days) so I could walk and jog to the start. For the actual race, I cycled between running and walking 0.5 mi.

A couple of things that make you go hmmmmm:

When technology fails

Has this happened to anyone with an Apple watch? For Saturday's race, I decided to do a very easy jog from a local park in my neighborhood to the race's start (about 4 miles). I started my watch at W120 street, but it did not start registering my mileage until E 96th Street. The distance between these two points is about 1.5 miles. I hope that might watch is not on the fritz; I wonder if it means it's time to upgrade to a new Apple Watch. Perhaps, that could be a birthday gift to me.

My LGBT+ running group

Not sure if this is snow or snot.

As part of the FRNY Pride Run tradition, we take a team photo after the race (below).

In addition to the large group photo, the club takes pictures of the smaller subgroups within the club (eg the various subcommittees, gay Asians, gay Latinos, women, non-binary, etc.). So someone asked me if I was going to do the Black gays photo. To which, I was like which Blacks? Is it just going to be me in the photo? I later learned that there were about 8 Black members in the Black team member photo. Before you ask why I was not in that photo, I did not near the president announce our photo because I was on the phone with a couple of folks who were wishing me a happy birthday. Eh next time . . . I guess. While this sounds like a rant, which I do not mean to do. I will say the group has been working on its DEI efforts.

A little post-race fun:

While waiting for the husband to meet me at a local spot for brunch, I treated myself to a refreshing screwmosa (vodka + mimosa).

In terms of birthday celebrations, it was pretty chill . . . just like I wanted it to be. After brunch, we went to a wine bar, watched Jurassic World: Dominion, went to a friend's wedding reception in Brooklyn Park, then had dinner. Oh, we went home and continued my Jaws marathon. Random trivia: Every year around my birthday, I watch Jaws and its sequels. Oh (part II), I was a bit disappointed with Jurassic World, and I hope this is the last one. Also, in this day in age, no action movie needs to be longer than two hours.

Pride Run Playlist:

Race Report: Gridiron 4M

DATE: FEBRUARY 13, 9:00 AM

DISTANCE: 4 MI

PLACE: CENTRAL PARK, MANHATTAN, NY

WEATHER:  32F 

OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: 36:44 MIN / 9:11 MIN/MI

FINISHERS: 4,332

SWAG: LONG-SLEEVED TECH SHIRT

Who’s ready for some football? I will admit that I do not really follow football (or any professional sport for that matter), but this year I need to run 9 races for my guaranteed entry into NYC Marathon 2023 so I figured why not. Actually, I think this was my first time running the Gridiron 4 Mile. Random question: Was this race always in Central Park? I feel like it used to be somewhere in Jersey, but I’m probably wrong.

Clearly, I did not pay attention to any of the weather forecasts for the weekend because I was kind of surprised that it was snowing when I woke up. I almost went with a hard pass because of the snow, but I powered through.

This weekend was pretty weird in terms of weather – Friday with temps in the mid-50s F and Sunday with temps in the 30s F PLUS snow. Since I’m training for a marathon in April, I wanted to combine this race with a 15-mile long run, but that did not happen. Oh well . . . there’s always next weekend. However, I did sandwich the race between a 1.5-mile warm-up and cool down. . . I guess that should count for something.

Random thought: I think NYC is so pretty during the first day of snowfall. Some views to and from the race:

Overall, I really did not know what to expect for this race because I did not set any goals. I guess finishing without slipping on ice and snow was the main goal. That said, I thought NYRR and NYC did a great job clearing the snow and slush from the course before the race. The course pretty much was a mini loop of Central Park, which started and ended right before the biggest Harlem Hill.

Not sure if this is snow or snot.

Unfortunately, I could not really pace myself during the race because my Apple Watch was still set on kilometers from Friday’s sprint workout. Miles 1 and 2 were pretty much a bust because of corral and course congestion. Perhaps, the NYRR races are becoming too large, because I do not remember so much congestion after the first mile. In fact, the race was pretty congested for the entire 4 miles. I guess that comes with the territory of now being a back-of-the-pack runner. Note to self: I really need to work on my speed so I can start these races in a lower corral.

Congestion aside, I thought that I did a decent job in this race and I did feel like I got faster with each mile and was surprised that I still had enough juice to run (well technically jog) about 1.5 miles home after the race.

The combination of racing and polling

Shortly after Mile 2, runners had a chance to choose whom they thought was going to win Superbowl LVI by picking a lane. I went with the LA Rams because the lane was on the inside of the curve. Hey, I do not like running a millimeter more than I have two.

Playlist:

This kid is finally on Spotify, and it took only 5+ years. Since Eurovision is around the corner, I listened to a playlist that contains the songs that have been released so far.

Next Race:

Mar. 6, 2022: NYRR Washington Heights Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K

Race Report: Fred Lebow Half

DATE: JANUARY 23; 8:00 AM

DISTANCE: 13.1 MI

PLACE: CENTRAL PARK, MANHATTAN, NY

WEATHER:  28F 

OFFICAL TIME / PACE: 2:22:33/ 10:31MIN/MI

FINISHERS: 4,573

SWAG: BEANIE

Image courtesy of NYpost.com

“Fred Lebow (June 3, 1932 – October 9, 1994), born Fischel Lebowitz, was a runner, race director, and founder of the New York City Marathon. During his career he completed 69 marathons in 30 countries. Along with the NYC Marathon he also organized the Empire State Building Run-Up, the Fifth Avenue Mile, and the CrazyLegs Mini Marathon (a 10K road race), which was the first strictly women-only road race. Lebow was also president of New York Road Runners for twenty years. He was posthumously inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 2001”

— Wikipedia

Fred Lebow statue in Central Park

Woo Hoo (I think) for my first half marathon of 2022! As some may recall, I would like to run either a full or half marathon during each month in 2022. I guess that we have one down and eleven to go.

Since Fred Lebow was my first half of 2022, I did not have high hopes going into the race because this half was going to serve as a baseline (or time to beat going forward). In terms of NYRR-sponsored races, I think this race is tough.

I guess that would be the case for any NYRR-sponsored race that involves multiple Central Park loops.

While the course is essentially two large loops in Central Park, we have THREE steep Harlem Hill climbs, and those hills are no joke.

Pre-start to Mile 1:

To be perfectly honest, I was not feeling the race due to the weather and my physical state. I was a bit of a goofball and did a workout, which focused on the lower body, and attended a bouldering technique class the day before the race. The morning of the race, I woke up with a little bit of soreness in my calves and the right side of my back. While the plan was to walk/jog to the starting line, which is about 0.75 miles from my apartment, I decided to take the bus.

LOL @ the bus driver being concerned about my safety. He was like where are ALL of your clothes? It’s cold out there. To which I responded: Don’t worry, sir. I’m wearing plenty of layers.

During the little jog to the start line, my body was like dude, this is going to be a struggle. Within the first 200 meters past the start line, I (sadly) decided to walk the first mile and see how I was feeling after walking the first mile. This walk was to get my mind right and to see the light. Also, the big hill is within the first mile of the course so I figured that it would not be too bad to walk the first hill.

Mile 1 – 4:

While walking the first mile, I decided to break up the half into four three-mile segments . . . . IF I was feeling up to running after walking the first mile. Fortunately for me (and my time), I was up to the challenge after walking the first mile. Going forward, I think that I should warm up and remove some layers BEFORE starting a race. Actually, that has always been the plan, but either I wake up too late or my poop schedule interferes with this plan. I don’t know why, but I think there is something about having to wear a lot of clothes that mentally takes me out of running long distances. During my walk, I had to remove my gloves, beanie, and gaiter. After removing these items, I became more engaged with the race.

I think that the first segment went well because I managed to run the entire three miles. Hey, that was a big accomplishment from debating on walking the entire half or going home after walking the first mile. My pace for this segment was 11’06, which is slow but it is within my long-run training pace.

Mile 4 – 7:

Ok, this is the point where I finally started to get into my groove (pace: 10’09”). Also, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel since I completed the first of the two Central Park loops. I was a bit concerned that I was going “too fast” because of doing the big hill again at mile 12. Random thought: my running playlist was pretty much on point because I do not remember skipping too many songs during this segment. While running this segment, I was annoyed that I had to tie my shoes . . . twice.

Mile 7 – 10:

Honestly, I do not remember much during this segment, but I did slow my pace to 10’48”. I think that I was still scared of the final three miles that included another Harlem Hill. Oh wait, I do remember doing some fartleks during mile 7 or 8.

Mile 10 – 13.1:

Let’s bring this bad boy home. While I picked up the pace (9’44”), this segment felt slower for me. Funny how the mind can play games with you. I remember running more frequent fartleks and 0.25 – 0.5 mile “sprints”. Although I had been dreading the final Harlem Hill, I was up to the challenge and even did fartleks (probably about 50 meters) on the last hill. I was surprised that I still had some gas in the tank to sprint up the last portion of the hill and to the finish line. Boy, if only I could have run the entire half at a 9’44” pace. One day . . . maybe.

While this was not my best half, it was not the worse, and I think it will serve as a nice baseline as I move through my resolution to run a half (or full ) marathon each month this year.

Song of the race:

Go_A’s Shum.

While I have no idea what the lead singer is singing or what the song is even about (the song is in Ukrainian), this song really gets my blood pumping. FYI: this band landed in the top five of Eurovision 2021.

Next Race:

Rock n Roll New Orleans – Feb 06, 2022