The TCS NYC Marathon Here and Gone

I have been so bad updating this thing, because of lab work, teaching, searching for a new job, etc. Training for this marathon, as well as updating this blog, really has taken a back seat to other things in KOS' life. I am glad to say that I did complete the marathon. 

For this "race report", I will divide it into sections.

Marathon Day:

I was really responsible, because I packed all of the crap that I would need and was in bed by 9 PM. Which was a change from the first NYC marathon that I ran in 2013. For that marathon, I was out drinking and smoking till around 11 PM.

Let's get into this thing. Basically, my strategy for this marathon was to have a decent run for the first half and see where it would take me for the second half.

Prestart/Staten Island:

I did not have too much of an issue getting to 6:45 AM ferry, although I did cut it kind of close and had to take a cab from the Manhattan side of the Williamsburg Bridge to the Staten Island Ferry.

I had a little fun at in the Marathon Village, because I ran into a former coworker and we pretty much chatted the entire time. Time seemed to fly by. Next thing I know, it was the final call for baggage drop and I did not even get to stretch as much as I wanted too. However, I knew that I was running this marathon just to do it rather for any time.

Staten Island (start):

Wave 2, Corral C

Right at the start, we started to feel light rain drops and I thought the rain would be great or a complete disaster. Basically, the Verrazano Bridge is the only part of the marathon that is on Staten Island. To be perfectly honest, running this marathon is the only time that I cross this bridge. Obviously, I felt strong during this part, because it was the beginning of the marathon. Although I think I should have moved to a higher corral, because these folks were FAST. However, it made me a little more competitive during this chunk of the marathon . . . except while taking selfies.

Brooklyn (Miles 2-13.1):

To be perfectly honest, running in this borough is really fun for me, because the crowds are so pumped up (probably because it was fairly early in the day). Running through Brooklyn, has to be the most interesting part of this marathon because:

  • it's at the beginning, so you have fresh legs.
  • a large portion of the the marathon is in Brooklyn.
  • you run through so many different and diverse neighborhoods (e.g. Bay Ridge, Greenpoint, Park Slope, Williamsburg) in the borough.

This part was a little bitter sweet because I live and work in Brooklyn. However, I will not be working (at the end of the week) or living (at the end of the month) in Brooklyn. Running-wise, I was doing pretty well (for me) of running a 9:30 min/mi pace. Is it me, or do people like when race routes have a lot of turns? I do not why but I seemed to get re-energized for every turn in the course, because I knew we were getting closer to the halfway point with every turn.

Queens (Miles 13.2-16.5ish):

Even though I never officially lived in Queens, I always felt like a Queens boy. By living on Roosevelt Island, I frequented Queens, especially Long Island City, pretty much every weekend.  I really loved the views of Manhattan from the Pulaski Bridge - it was quite inspiring and fascinating that I live in this great city.

At this point, my job was done. I think once once I hit the 13.1 point on the Pulaski Bridge my mind (and body) kind of checked out.

I definitely had to walk a few blocks in Queens and I pretty much walked most of the Queensboro Bridge, which is the toughest part of this marathon for me. I really tried to run the bridge, but my right inner thigh was cramping up, really badly. On the bridge, I actually had to stop and stretch for a bit. But, I was not going to let this bridge take me out. As I posted on Facebook, "Man, fuck this bridge." (yes, I was texting and posting on Facebook after the 13.1 mile mark).

Manhattan, Part I (Miles 16.5- 20ish)

This section probably is the most popular part of the marathon, because of the sheer energy from the crowds upon entering Manhattan. Plus, when most people hear "NYC", they automatically think of Manhattan. Actually this portion of the marathon held a special piece in my heart, because my daily commute (when I was a postdoctoral fellow at Weill Cornell Medical College) involved walking from the Queensboro Bridge to E69th Street along 1st Avenue. HA! I even greeted a group of spectators who were offering "shots" of beer. Yes, I took a couple shots of beer and they were delicious!!!

Entering Manhattan was the turning point of the marathon for me. I pretty much coasted through Manhattan without any care for time. I tried to alternate between running ten blocks, then walking two blocks. Pretty soon that became run 5 blocks then walk 5. That became run whenever the hell you feel like it and grab free candy. For me, this marathon was fueled on Skittles, Jolly Ranchers, SweetTarts, and Twizzlers. Phew, this is getting long. At one point, I was running this thing like Jade from "America's Next Top Model". You know they episode where the models had to ad lib a CoverGirl commercial. Yes, I watch too much reality TV.

The boogie down Bronx (Miles 20ish-22-ish)

C'mon is this damn thing over?!!! You breeze through the Bronx so fast that you really do not have a chance to take in this borough.

Manhattan  . . . Again (Miles 22ish - 26.2). 

Ok let's finish this damn thing. During this part, I was actually getting quite annoyed. I was cranky, wet, tired, and over the whole thing. I feel really bad for saying this. At first, I was getting really annoyed with people continuously saying "you got this KOS".  I wanted to scream out "NO I DON'T GOT THIS. I HAVEN'T HAD THIS SH*T SINCE QUEENS!!!" My inner voice was saying that; but deep down, I was very happy that spectators were still out there cheering us on in the rain. Plus, I did sign up to do this and no one made me do it. However, I did crank up my music, so I would not hear the crowd as much - my arms were super tired from waving and thumbs up'ing.  BTW, my Zumba playlist (songs that I Shazzamed from Zumba class) really got me through the last five miles. I actually started continuously running . . . except when I was texting ;)

I will say that I really enjoyed the running through Central Park, because the changing colors of the leaves looked beautiful. LOL, the BF texted me when I entered Central Park,  and congratulated me for finishing. Umm Buddy, there are still a little over 2 more miles to the finish line.

Post Marathon:

I managed to limp my way to the nearest Crunch Fitness for a much needed date with a foam roller and a shower.

After stretching, rolling, and taking the most painful shower (the chafe was real), I met with some friends to have Mexican food, margaritas, shots, gin n sodas, and a few more cigarettes.

Although I did not have the marathon experience that I wanted, in terms of performance, I did kind of/sort of enjoyed running/walking for the sake of doing it. I did not even know my time until my friend told me at dinner.

Would I do it again? . . . Hell yes!!! But, I would like to train properly for the next go around.

What's on the horizon?

Since I finished the marathon, I can still qualify for NYRR's 9+1 2018 marathon but I CANNOT miss anymore races and I have to register for two more.

Race to Deliver (4M) - Nov 19th - Registered

NYRR Ted Corbitt (15K) - Dec 9th - Registered

So, the only races that I can run are the NYRR Jingle Bell Jog (5K) and NYRR Midnight Run (4M).

Ok, finally done with this report.

 

TCS NYC MARATHON TRAINING WEEK - WHO KNOWS?

Life really has gotten in the way of me updating my marathon training voyage.

I am glad to see that everyone is still, since that Christian numerology Armageddon turned out to be a hoax. For these doomsday prophecies, is there specific time zone that is linked to the end of the world?

So, I am back to training for this damn marathon after my slight hip injury. The
marathon is so close (less than 40 days away), and I'm nowhere near where I would like to be with my training, but one must push through, right?

It was kind of nice to get back into training mode this week. I hope that there will be no more hiccups before November 5th. During my "break",  I did not realize how much I missed running. Maybe I have become jealous about reading about everyone else's training progress, PR's, and race pictures.

MONDAY: Rest

TUESDAY: Zumba and 3 miles

In addition to jumping back on the running wagon, I also got back on my Zumba grind. In my absence, the instructor added a couple new songs/routines, so class was a pleasant surprise. I think going forward (and even after the marathon) that I will run from work to Zumba. I didn't burn as many calories as I normally do (probably because of the three mile run before) but I had a blast, like always.

I randomly found a somewhat new ramen restaurant (Nana Rame) in my neighborhood of Bed-Stuy. I liked the restaurant, but two things kind of annoyed me - cash only and no Diet Coke. In this day in age, there should be no reason for a cash only restaurant if they serve beer, wine, and/or liquor. Nothing will ever change my option about that. The Diet Coke only was a thing because I really was craving one after Zumba class.

Even though the place has two strikes in my book, I will go back because the ramen was delicious and I really want to try some of the restaurant's appetizers.

WEDNESDAY: 20 min elliptical, strength, and stretching.

For strength training, I focused on the back and shoulders.

One thing that I love about NYC is you can go to so many restaurants and bars that you forget where you have been. We visited One Mile House (***), a pub and craft bar on the Lower East Side, for dinner and some beers. The food was just ok; I only had beers the last time I visited. No wait, the truffle oil fries were really delicious.

I even tried this random ass beverage, the Mango Beermosa - a combination of Bell's Two Hearted IPA (one of my favs), mango sector, Jack Daniels, simple syrup, and lemon juice. Since I do not like drinks that are super sweet, I ordered my beermosa without simple syrup. At first it was kind of gross, but you get used to it. Matter of fact, I think that I had three of those beverages, so I really must have liked them. I am still a little confused about the name, "beermosa," because it would imply the presence of champagne.

 

FRIDAY: 8 miles

I'm trying to ease back into my longer distances (although 8 miles is not that long at this point in training). I ran from work (Flatbush, Brooklyn), over the Brooklyn Bridge, and  back into Brooklyn via the Williamsburg Bridge.

*I know that I have complained about this before. NYC really needs to ban cyclists from riding their bikes across the Brooklyn Bridge, because the Bridge is way too congested.*

It was kind of cool running through the city at night; however, I did experience major FOMO. I was out running and other folks were out drinking, partying, and starting their Friday evening social plans. The run was a little struggle, but I enjoyed it. It was a struggle, because I ate lunch kind of late, so my food was not completely digested. During the run, I was quite gassy and I really needed to poop. I held strong, because I did not want to be like the poop-n-run jogger from Colorado Springs (***).

SATURDAY: Stretching

I really wanted to strength train and stretch, but I did not have enough time. I had to go to the lab job and squeeze in a workout before teaching at 12:30. I find that I have to go to the gym before teaching, because I'm either too tired or hungry after class (my class goes from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM). I figured stretching would be more important/productive to my overall training plan, since I did a run the night before and I had a race the next day.

After class, I met up with my beer club (Yes, I am in a craft beer Meetup group) at Lucky (***) in Alphabet City and saw a friend's band play at Arlene's Grocery (***) on the Lower East Side.

SUNDAY: Bronx 10 mile race

The second to last of the NYRR outer borough race series gives you a little taste of the second-most forgotten borough, the boogie down Bronx. I'll write a race report about the race later.

ETCETERA:

In addition to working a full- and a part-time job, having an active social life, and watching too much TV, I decided that I have too much free time ;). To fix this "problem", I am going to be a mentor with iMentor.

iMentor builds mentoring relationships that empower first generation students to graduate high school, succeed in college, and achieve their ambitions. Students work with their mentors one-on-one, in-person and online, to develop strong personal relationships, nurture a college aspiration, navigate the college application process, and build critical skills that lead to college success. Since 1999, iMentor has connected 11,000 students with mentors, through our partnerships with public high schools in New York City, Chicago, the Bay Area, and nonprofits nationwide.

I actually volunteered for this program waaay back in the day, around 05/06, when it was based only in NYC. Now, the program has expanded to several cities in the US. 

 

TCS NYC Marathon Training - Week 8

Theme for this past training week was "Change of Scenery"

This week was pretty productive in my opinion. In my last training summary (***), I mentioned that I was somewhat frustrated with my lack of enjoyment training for this marathon. This frustration could have been the result of boredom, lack of motivation, and/or burnout. To fix some of those issues, I decided to mix up my routine a little bit, and I think that it may have worked. Yay, me!

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: Planned - 5 miles | Actual - 5 miles

Change of Scenery #1

For my treadmill recover run, I visited another Crunch Fitness just for a change, in terms of the gym facility and the members of the gym. Actually (and "secretly"), I made plans to meet a friend for drinks in Williamsburg after my run, and the gym is really close to the bar. Although it was a recovery run, I pushed myself during the last 400 meters of each mile, and it felt grrrreat.

I treated myself to a couple of drinks with my friend. At Sweet Science, one of the restaurant's most delicious beverage is the frozen slushy. They normally come in one color, but you can ask the bartender to give you a tri-colored slush.

A nice frozen treat. 

 

Wednesday: Planned - Zumba and Weight lifting | Actual - Zumba and Weight lifting

Change of scenery #2.

Last week, I mentioned that I wanted to mix up my Zumba class because the routines have been come too predictable in my Tuesday class. I visited another Crunch Fitness in Crown Heights to attend a different Zumba class. Man, that class was so much!!! It's not that the Zumba class in Crown Heights was better than the one in Ft. Greene. The classes were just different in terms of music, choreography, and instruction. The Crown Heights class has some abdominal components to it, because my obliques were sore the next day. Going forward, I think that I will alternate Zumba workouts between Crunch Fitness in Fort Greene (Tuesdays) and in Crown Heights (Wednesdays).

Speaking of Crunch Fitness. Although I liked my Zumba class, weight lifting was not a productive as I would have liked. I think that this Crunch Fitness Express is so poorly designed, because there is no room to lift. Plus, the equipment is so close together that you are literally on top of each other; it scares me to death doing bench presses. During prime time hours, you have to work in your sets with 3-4 other people. It makes no sense when you have three people waiting for a single incline bench. I'm one of those folks who likes to do supersets back to back, targeting two muscle groups while lifting (e.g. bench press set followed by back row, dumbbell curl followed by tricep dips). Doing these supersets is pretty much impossible at this Crunch location. During that workout, I lifted for only 20 minutes because I was getting annoyed and frustrated.

My Lame Attempt at a Workout

 

Conclusion:   I will visit this particular gym only for Zumba and simple cardio work. 

Thursday: Planned - Six 800 meter intervals with 90 second recovery | Actual - Five 800 meter intervals. 

Man, how do early risers do it? I woke up at 5 AM to do my 800 meter interval run, and it was very "painful". I woke up early to do this workout, because I had plans to see "Aladdin" on Broadway later on in the evening. It felt nice doing some speed work again, but it was not so nice at 5:30 AM. Since I am not used to waking up that early, my body was super exhausted and I could not finish the last interval set  - my body was "one and done". After this workout, I realized that I really have to stop skipping out on these interval and hill workouts. During the racing season, I know that my body will thank me for these workouts.

Slappy the Seal and I

Clearly, the early start affected me later on, because I feel asleep during "Aladdin." Do not worry, I am pretty sure that I know how the show ended ;)  Yes, money well spent.

Friday: Planned - Static Stretching | Actual - Not a d*mn thing.

I kind of had a "fat boy" day on Friday. After a very long (and useless) day at work, I had a HUGE craving for fried chicken and made a nice trip to Popeye's. One just "reopened" in the neighborhood!!! I kind of lost my mind, because I ordered chicken tenders, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, AND french fries. Yes, I ordered two sides of potatoes . . . and I'm not ashamed for doing so.

Saturday: Planned - 5 mile race | Actual - 5 mile race.

NYRR  Team Championships - I will post a race report later.

Sunday: Planned - 12 miles | Actual - 12 miles.

Change of scenery #3.

I decided to mix up my long run by running over the Brooklyn Bridge and through the West Side of Manhattan. Originally, I wanted to run 6 miles into Manhattan and 6 miles back to Brooklyn. OMG. I feel in love with this run so much that I decided to keep going along the West Side for the entire 12 miles. It has been a while since I have ran along the West Side Highway. I believe running the Manhattan Half-Marathon, two years ago, was the last time I did this.

Brooklyn to Manhattan

Brooklyn to Manhattan

This run was so amazing, I felt strong and energized. I did not think that I would have been able to pull it off, because of the 5-mile race the day before. I think the combination of the nice weather (mid 70's) and the scenery of lower Manhattan and the Hudson River really made the difference.

Some pics from the run:

After my run, I rewarded myself with a nice pint of Shocktop ale and a burger (I passed on the fries) at McKenna's Pub. My beer tasted like pure nectar from the gods, but the burger was not so great. ;) McKenna's is a somewhat shady bar, BUUUUUUT it has 2-4-1 drinks all day and music from the 90's and early 00's rule the jukebox.

 

Favorite tunes from the run: 

Goals for the upcoming week:

  1. I do not know, I think that I may do a trail run next weekend.
  2. Core work, because the folks at Runtastic sent me this email. 

 

 

TCS NYC MARATHON - TRAINING WEEK #7

Theme for this week: UNFULFILLED

MONDAY

I completed a simple 5 mile treadmill run. Mondays are supposed to be my recovery runs BUUUUT I did not do a long run on Saturday. Maybe, I recovered from being lazy all weekend. ;)

TUESDAY

I attended my Zumba class and did static stretching. I think that I may take a break from this particular Zumba class for a couple of weeks. I have been pretty religious with attending this class, but the routines are becoming stale. Do not get me wrong, I love the instructor but I like a little more variety in my life. Perhaps, I will try another Zumba class at a different Crunch Fitness on either Monday or Wednesday. I wish that Zumba instructors would add 1-2 new songs to a class every 2 weeks or so, just to keep the routes interesting and fresh.

Even though I was slightly unfulfilled with my Zumba class, I still did a good job - in terms of staying in my peak cardio zone for the majority of the class.

WEDNESDAY

No running, because it was my Bu's birthday.  It's spelled "Bu" because that would be the Spanish pronunciation of "boo". We went to The Ten Bells and Estela on the Lower East Side. The Ten Bells is one of the few places that I have given a five-star review on Yelp. Estela is supposed to be one of the top 50 restaurants in the world. To be perfectly honesty, I do not get all of the hype for this place. The food was really good, but the portions were kind of small. It is one of those places where you spend about $200 bucks for dinner (including wine), but you need to get a slice of pizza on the way home. Although the food at Estela is nice, it is a restaurant that I only plan to visit once a year.

Estela

THURSDAY

I ran the NYRR F-U-N 5K Run in Central Park. Brief summary, I ran faster for this race than i did for NYRR's F-U-N 5K run in Prospect Part. 

FRIDAY

Nothing because I was lazy and crabby. I really tried to hit the gym but I just could not drag myself there after work.

SATURDAY

Long run day!!!! I did an in-and-out 11 mile run from Bed Stuy to the Lower East Side and back. When I started the run, I was so unmotivated and indifferent to it. However, I got into my groove once I hit mile 3. I'm a little shocked that it took me so long to get into my groove. Being tired, in my opinion, was part of the problem. Although the run was kind of fun (and much needed), I was kind of disappointed that I had to walk a little bit on the Williamsburg Bridge. The run aside, I will say that the weather was very conducive to running. It was cloudy and windy, and I believe that the temperature was in the low 70's. After the run, I combined some body weight exercises (tricep dips, squats, push ups, lateral squats, and lunges) with my post run stretch in Saratoga Park. Although I felt like crap before the run, I am really glad that I went through with it.

Some pics from the run. 

SUNDAY

In earlier posts, I mentioned that I wanted to incorporate more strength training into my routine. I proposed to do strength training at least 3 times a week (body weight training or lifting weights), but I have been failing with this component of training. Alas, it felt really nice to pump some iron and workout different muscles. For this workout, I focused on legs and arms.

My exercises

 

Hopefully, I will continue to incorporate my strength training going forward.

SONGS OF THE WEEK

For some reason, I really love finishing my runs to Shakira's "Sale el Sol". The song is about a breakup, but the sun will rise after the storm. It's a perfect theme for struggling through and finishing a run.

GOALS FOR THE WEEK

  1. Really get on track with monitoring my eating habits. I have been somewhat of a pig this past week by eating at Burger King two times. Plus, I really want to prepare my own food for the week, as a way to eat healthier and to save money.
  2. Sign up for some more NYRR races. As of now, I have completed two races and I have registered for three races. I need to register for four more races in order to meet the conditions for the 9+1 guaranteed entry to the TCS NYC Marathon for 2018. This year's marathon counts towards the 9+1 program, but I want to have an extra race, as a buffer, in case I do not finish the NYC Marathon in November.