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: Run Rock n Roll New Orleans

DATE: FEBRUARY 06; 7:30 AM

DISTANCE: 13.1 MI

PLACE: LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN, NEW ORLEANS, LA

WEATHER: 41F (I COULD BE OFF BY A COUPLE OF DEGREES) 

OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: 2:18:15 / 10:34MIN/MI

FINISHERS: 4,687

SWAG: TECH T-SHIRT

Since I have ranted a few times about the near last-minute course change, I’ll leave it alone (for the most part) in this race report. To quickly recap, the race organizers changed the course that would have taken us along the Mississippi River and through the French Quarter to a course that pretty much had us run around Lake Pontchartrains

RACE EXPO:

Grrr! Originally, I had a direct flight from NYC to New Orleans, but Delta canceled that flight. The idea was to go to the expo directly from the airport to pick up my crap head over to my inn. Since I was rebooked on a later flight out of NYC with a layover in Atlanta, I did not arrive in New Orleans until the end of the day.

Overall, I thought the folks at Rock n Roll did a decent job with the expo because I really did not have any issues getting my race crap and taking a few pre-race pics

A LOL moment at the expo: Who goes to a race expo and is like: While I’m here, let me pick up a set of knives? Since we were in the Deep South, I’m surprised that there was not a vendor selling guns and ammo.

Pre-start to Start:

I was very appreciative that Run Rock n Roll had shuttles taking runners (and their guests) from New Orleans Central Business District (CBD) to the race’s start on the University of New Orleans (UNO) campus. Because of the original course, I booked a place that was about a 0.5-mile walk from the start. However, for the new start at UNO, I had to walk about 2 miles to the Convention Center to catch the shuttle to UNO. I did not mind that walk too much because I figured that could serve an easy warm-up.

The calmness of Bourbon St. at 6:30 am.

I am glad that I got my life together and woke up early enough to walk to the shuttle area in the CBD. After meeting someone from one of my FB running groups, she told me that she spent $65 bucks on an Uber from the French Quarter to UNO’s campus. Put it like this, a regular cab from the airport to the French Quarter is about $36

Quick comments about the course:

While I am somewhat of a fan of courses with a couple of turns or a U-turn here and there, this course had way too many tight turns (at least 15) in my opinion. In the original course for the full marathon, which was canceled, this section was supposed to be about 6 miles of the marathon. Also, the original half marathon course was not supposed to pass through this section of the city. Basically, the organizers crammed a 13.1-mile course into a 6-mile stretch of a marathon’s course.

Because of the multiple turns, there were a lot of in and out components of the course, which is not a bad thing IF there is enough space for runners going in and coming out.

I saw a couple of nasty falls because some folks would run in oncoming “traffic” to pass other runners but ended up colliding with people running in the opposite direction.

There were several points where you either had to make a hard turn or a U-turn depending on the race (5K, 10K or half marathon). While I knew that I was following the correct arrows for the half-marathon, there was that lingering thought of not making the correct turn and was running the wrong course. You know, kind of like thinking that you left the stove on after leaving your house. I guess this is not a problem within the first few miles of a race, but it drives me crazy having to “think” about a course when I’m 10 miles into a race. Like most folks, I just want to worry about finishing.

One good thing . . . I think. There were not too many potholes in this course. Because of the high water table in the area, New Orleans is notoriously known for its potholes and crappy roads in general.

Mile 0 – Mile 5:

Average pace: 10:45

I felt pretty good going into the race; however, I was pissed with myself during the first mile. The forecast called for high 30F temps so I wore a short-sleeve tech shirt under a long-sleeved tech shirt. About a half of a mile into the first mile, I was getting very hot. While the temps were in the high 30s, we were in direct sun so it felt warmer than it actually was. This meant having to stop and take off my long-sleeve shirt. Since my bib was on the long-sleeve shirt, I had to take off the bib and reattach it to my short-sleeve shirt, which cost about three minutes. Normally, I attach my bib to my running shorts just in case I have to take off or add a layer. I think that my vanity has gotten to me because my official race photos are not as good when I have the bib on my shorts compared to when my bib is located on my shirt/upper torso. Also to make matters worse, I dropped two of the safety pins and had to spend some time on the ground looking for them. Forget finding a needle in a haystack; how about finding a safety pin in the grass?

Once I got my bib situation under control, it was more or less smooth sailing. Actually, I take that back. The first two miles were very tough because there were a lot of walkers, so I spent some time and energy weaving around people. I probably have mentioned this a few times, but I think race organizers should have a walkers’ lane for the first three miles of 5K+ races. While folks will not put themselves into higher corrals if they are going to walk, maybe they’ll stick to a lane dedicated to walkers. Or . . . am I giving people too much credit?

Mile 5 – 9:

Average pace: 10:45 – I thought that I ran this segment way faster.

At this point, I believe that I was getting into my groove with one exception – BATHROOM break. Before the pandemic, I do not remember taking pee (or poop breaks) during a half marathon. This probably was due to the limited numbers of public bathrooms in NYC so I just learned how to really hold my pee and poop during my 10+ mile long runs. Fortunately, the wait times for the portapotties were very short. Although the lines were less than a minute, we all know that the breaks add up. Also, for me at least, it takes me a few moments to get back into my groove after taking a potty break.

While running this segment, I did enjoy the views of the lake and some of the Mardi Gras-/New Orleans-themed flair.

Mile 9 – 13.1

Average pace: 10:00

Surprisingly, I felt pretty strong during this segment. Looking at my post-race time and comparing the Mile 5-9 and Mile 9-13.1 segments, I guess that I was not THAT strong. At this point, the race was becoming tricky because of the 5+ turns in this segment alone. I was thrown off because my watch said that I was at/near Mile 12, but I did not see a Mile 12 marker so I assumed that the watch’s GPS was off. I’m so hard on myself because I did not consider that I could have already passed the Mile 12 marker. After all of the mental back and forth, the Mile 13 marker was the next thing I saw. I guess we did not have a couple of U-turns remaining, but I didn’t really get an opportunity to push the last 1.1 miles of the race.

Post-Race Thoughts:

While I did not perform as well as I wanted to (or as well as I thought I did), I did run a bit better than my last few half marathons.

• New Orleans (Feb. ’22): 2:18:15 Could I give myself a time of 2:15 since I had to deal with my shirt and bib issue during the first mile?

• Fred Lebow (Jan. ’22): 2:22:23

• Madrid (Oct. ’21): 2:30:15 For this one, I was very hungover and drunk.

• Va Beach (Sep. ’21): 2:31:39

I even took the medal out to get involved in some New Orleans shenanigans – a post-race brunch and a riverboat cruise.

RnR has lost its mind. ;)

LOL! Y’all want me to sign up for next year’s races when you: 1. canceled the original race for which I registered; 2. completely changed the half marathon course a couple of weeks before the event?

Playlist:

Since I was running in New Orleans, I just had to include some New Orleans Bounce music from my college years during the very early 2000s

Up Next:

Love Philly Run Half Marathon is the next bad boy on my list. For my 2022 resolve to run intention, I am planning to run either a half or full marathon each month.

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

Race Report: Joe Kleinerman 10K

DATE: JANUARY 8; 8:00 AM

DISTANCE: 10 KM

PLACE: CENTRAL PARK, MANHATTAN, NY

WEATHER:  22F; 10F WITH WIND CHILL  

OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: 59:07/ 9:31 MIN/MI

FINISHERS: 4,503

SWAG: LONG-SLEEVE SHIRT

Image courtesy of NYRR

This race is held in honor of Joe Kleinerman, who was one of the founders of New York Road Runners and worked for/with the organization until he died at 91 years old.

Woo Hoo! My first race (hopefully of many) of 2022, and boy was it a cold one. The night before, I was quite nervous because the forecast called for 22F temps. I HATE running in subfreezing weather. Actually, NYC had a small snowstorm a few days ago, and I was afraid that the course would be super snowy and/or frozen. That said, the city did a pretty good job of clearing the course prior to the race.

Since this was my first race of 2022, I did not have any real goals going into this one. Well, my main goal was to perform better than last year’s Joe K 10K. To be perfectly honest, I could not have done worse than last year. For 2021’s Joe K 10K, I was dealing with lower back and GI issues – I vomited while running last year’s race.

I think that I’m just doomed to arrive late to races. The plan was to wake up and walk to the start, which is about 20 blocks from my apt. The morning of the race, I was all set to walk to Central Park, but my bowels said otherwise because I had to take a huge dump right before leaving the apartment. Luckily for me, the M1 bus (which is never around when you actually need it) was arriving just as I was leaving the apartment.

By the time I arrived to Central Park, the race had already started. Fortunately for my slow running ass, I was placed in Corral I and managed to hop into the race once I saw some fellow Corral I runners pass. I guess having a high corral placement is good for my tardy ass because you have about 15 – 30 minutes after the gun before reaching the start line.

Random thought: I guess running is a popular New Year’s resolution because the field seemed VERY packed for this race.

Random rant: Why don’t people go into their correct corrals? Ok, if you are placed in Corral I, but know that you have an injury or doing the race as a fun run, why not move to a higher corral? What’s the point of starting with the faster runners, if you plan (or have) to walk within the 1st 400 meters?

The 10K course is fairly straightforward – one outer loop of Central Park, which has been named Ted Corbitt Loop.

Besides the proximity to my apartment, I love races that start near the 102nd Street Transverse because the biggest climb occurs within the first mile. I will admit that I struggled with the first climb because the field was really crowded, and it was hard to move around. This struggle probably was a good thing because it prevented me from going out too fast. Also, it took me a little bit of time to get used to running with so much clothing. Because of the cold weather, I wore: an undershirt, a thermal tech, a tech T, a long-sleeve tech shirt, regular undies, two pairs of tights, shorts, calf socks, gloves, a gaiter, and a skull cap.

Around Mile 2, I was feeling some tightness in my hip flexors. I’ll admit that I have not been the most faithful with my daily running workouts, stretching, and foam rolling. My screwups like this are good because they will remind me about the importance of my daily stretching and foam rolling. Other than the slight tightness, I felt pretty strong throughout the race.

It was cool seeing my running group’s second cheer section around Mile 4-5. Also, it was awfully nice of some group members to stay out in the cold and cheer for us.

This location was purrrrrrfect because they set up shop right at Cat Hill (another climb). See why I did the purrrrrfect thing? I think this gave me some momentum to start fartleking to finish up the race. However, I think that I went too hard during my fartleks because I ran out of juice for my final 400m sprint. Wait, that’s partially true. I could not sprint too hard because I was boxed in between a few runners that were pretty much over the race and a huge snowbank. It was either: 1) be rude and push my way through the runners or 2) slip on some ice and snow. I didn’t do #1 because I’m a nice person or #2 because I did not want to injure myself. I figured that I have plenty of races for a strong finish.

LOL, I took this selfie because a finisher (not the folks who boxed me in) next to me said that I was “glistening”, and I wanted to know what the hell she was talking about

As a way to celebrate my first race of 2022, the hubby and I had some tacos and margaritas for dinner.

Next Race:

FRED LEBOW HALF MARATHON – JAN. 23