This morning, my entry to the ING New York City Marathon 2012 was accepted! I was guaranteed entry via my participation in the 9+1 program, which outlines that you get guaranteed entry if you run 9 qualifying NYRR events plus volunteer for one NYRR event. You must do this within the year prior to the race.

Here are my Garmin stats:

This is my first race, much less RUN, since the Philly Marathon in late November. I ran with my legs feeling slightly drained about 1.5 miles in! However, I felt generally good. I was running with or around Martha for most of the race, letting her set the pace. She was great! She’s a natural talent like her sister, having only taken to running very recently. We did 8:46s with a final mile at an 8:07 pace. Martha was a superior sprinter and took off before seeing the finish line as we rounded onto 72nd Street!

I was feeling soreness after the race, which is understandable but I was still a little surprised. Ah well! I look forward to getting running back into my life in the new year. Not there just yet!

Photos coming soon. Check my Photos page at the right.

Unofficial Garmin Results

I wasn’t really sure what would happen in this race. Last year I also did NYC-then-Philly. While at the time I made a PR for NYC (but about a minute), I actually ran the easier Philly race slower than NYC (by about a couple minutes). Then, my training had diminished because I was working long hours and when I got off work, I chose to spend time with my girlfriend over training. Also, between the two races, only did one (slow) training run of about 8 miles. This year, having no girlfriend, the conflict of interest was eliminated, making for more regular training despite a hectic work schedule. I also managed 4 training runs between the two races, including on 12.27-miler. The overall result was that I was fitter this year than last year, but I still wasn’t sure if I would run Philly as fast as NYC, or faster, or what.

My original goal for Philly was to run a sub-3:00 marathon. I knew that was not likely in the cards, so I rewrote in my head my goal to be sub-3:07:32, meaning my goal was to beat my best Philly time and run my faster marathon ever. A secondary goal was to at least do a sub-3:10 (which would coincidentally qualify me for the Boston Marathon 2013), and a tertiary goal was to run at least better than my recent NYC Marathon time of 3:13:49. I wasn’t sure what was in the cards.

For this race, I strategized to hold back a little in the beginning. The day before, I printed out my Garmin results for the two marathons last year and the one I ran a couple weeks ago. I folded the results so that the splits were all lined up. Then I studied them. I was looking for trends. At what mile do I tend to slow down? At what point in the races do I lose steam? Etc. I tried to remember these trends so that I could make running calculations when I was out today. They definitely helped. I started to slowly realize that I was able to maintain a competitive pace, but I also knew I needed to push as much as I could at the end.

You may have seen the posters that read simply “Keep Calm and Carry On.” For some reason, that motto came into my head early in the race, and I used it to help steady my breathing and keep me from “race panic” in hillier areas that taxed my breathing. The other motto was more like a command, one that I heard someone say rather forcefully early on in the race: “Let’s go!” I decided to tell myself that to see if it could excite me as it did early in the race. (It seemed to help a little bit, but it didn’t seem to endure. It seemed to take a few seconds for my body to respond to the command.)

In studying my race results today and comparing them with my NYC results, I noticed some interesting effects of the different courses on my body. For one, NYC’s bridges do a number on my body. Essentially, they are draining, zapping my energy and sending me eventually into high-7:00s and 8:00s. At the same points in today’s race, which didn’t have really anything like the bridges of NYC, at least late in the race, I was maintaining a fairly even pace, and that pace was able to endure. In Philly today, none of my splits were greater than 7:40, which is just incredible to me. It’s the bridges and late hills of NYC that send me into the 8:00s.

My body held up today. I was at the start line a bit concerned, having just had a bathroom concern develop (the kind that could lead to in-race embarrassment), and having noticed that bouncing would probably trigger. I also had to pee slightly. I was less concerned about the pee sensation, because I’ve learned that a slight pee sensation goes away for me in races. However, the other sensation struck fear in me. I bargained that if it happened, I wouldn’t be embarrassed, and it would be a valuable experience. But, Eureka!, it never developed! At some point early in the race I forgot about the sensation and I was fine.

At times in the last hour or so of the race, I really tried to push myself a bit, especially on the downhills. While I probably succeeded to some degree, I wasn’t able to really drive down my time in a significant way (like bringing myself down to low 7:00s). My pace felt slow but constant, but I really couldn’t get my body to speed it up into a sprint. As the race went on, I was starting to see that I had about 5 minutes in the bank–that is, 5 minutes ahead of a 3:10. I knew some of that would be used up in the later miles, but it was seeming to me that I would probably finish around 3:06. It was only toward the last mile or so that it was getting a little dangerous, and it wasn’t until I rounded the slight turn and saw the finish line that I knew that my dream of beating my PR was just out of reach. I did, however, manage a sprint at the end that felt like about 90-95% of my maximum speed, so I finished strong despite just missing my PR.

During this race, I was fearful of the cramps that flirted with my calves in NYC. To guard against them, I decided to consume a quart of coconut water the day before in order to load my body with potassium. To see what it might aid me, I consumed 1 ibuprofen an hour before the race, and one Gatorade Prime 15 minutes before. I also tried better to hydrate myself, taking water and Gatorade along the course at probably 80% of the stations. I consumed somewhere on the order of 6 PowerGel or Clif Shots, but with the PowerGels I actually dialed back the caffeine just a little bit. More importantly, I tried to strategize my use of them. I wasn’t exactly sure how long my body would get a bolster from their ingredients, but when I predicted a hill (like the one near Drexel, or even the bridge about a half-mile before it), I consumed a Gel in hopes that it would kick in at the hill and help me out. Also, I made up a strategy in the race to take Gatorade in stations and then try to pick up the pace coming out of them. The theory was that I would want to slow down so don’t do that, and by the time I’d tired from that pickup the Gatorade would kick in and rescue me, allowing me to keep up the pace. It seemed to work out, at least as a nice idea.

The 3:00 pace team passed me around Mile 10. However, the 3:10 pace team never caught me. They weren’t that far behind me (when I was getting back onto the bridge in Mile 17 area, they were just leaving the bridge), but I was a little concerned that they were close enough if my pace dropped off. Fortunately it didn’t.

I realized based on what I wanted to say that I was a little disappointed that I didn’t make a PR with this race. But as the day went on, I realized I was shocked I did so well, considering that I also ran so well at the NYC Marathon two weeks prior. It was cool to be able to do this. Elizabeth also ran this race and did incredibly well (running a 3:15 and some change), and her boyfriend Chris ran the half-marathon and surprised me with his awesome finish time of 1:51:06.

Photos coming soon!

* Update^11/7/2011: This is the official time. Yesterday, the unofficial time was reported as 3:13:50.

To view my splits and pace, visit http://trackmyrunners.ingnycmarathon.org and click Select Runners then find “Benjamin Hauck.” Then click my name to show my results.

Here are my Unofficial Garmin Stats:

First off, what ideal weather. The start was around 46 degrees, and the race warmed up only to about 52 degrees by the time I finished a minute shy of 1pm. The sky was sunny and the wind was light, except at a few points like on the Queensboro Bridge (crosswind), as well as when I was coming back into Manhattan from the Bronx (headwind). I wore a thin running singlet, shorts, and compression socks, and I was comfortable without ever feeling cold. I tolerate cold really well and even get warm really easily. Note that last year it started around 41 degrees and I did the whole race shirtless!

My first half of the race was quite impressive to me. I started only about 36 or so seconds after the gun went off, which made it easier to interpret my progress as the clock went on. I managed to pull off a half-marathon in 1:29:15, which probably is my second fastest known half-marathon time. (I probably did a half faster in the Philly Marathon 2009, but I don’t know the time.) By that time in the race my pace was 6:49, creeping up very slowly from a 6:40 5K pace. After the half was done, that’s when my energy started to change and my pace more noticeably crept up. I didn’t hit a 7:10 pace until Mile 22 was done, which is still quite respectable to me and had I kept that pace up, I would have finished with a 3:10 marathon or better. However, knowing I had some long, slow grades ahead of me on 5th Ave. and in Central Park, I didn’t think I’d be able to sustain my pace to achieve my goal.

Plus, I was dealing with calf cramps. I’ve never dealt with cramping in my calves before–my first real post-run experience of them was after a long training run about a month or so ago when I was lying in my bed and my left calf went into a 45-second lockdown. The pain was so paralyzing I yelled to my roommate for help!

In today’s marathon, I was afraid full cramp lockdown would happen. Here and there the during the 22nd mile (and possibly sooner–I don’t recall), each of my calves would “grab” a bit as if they were about to contract into a race-stopping cramp. To compensate, I only did what I could think of: I kept my toes and feet pointed up to counteract the movement of the cramp, which surely would have rendered my feet pointed down and stuck. This strategy worked, but it didn’t leave me feeling very secure. From what I know of cramps, they are the result of low potassium and/or the imbalance of electrolytes in my body, so I realized I also needed to get Gatorade into my system. Gatorade was available every mile but I wasn’t confident it would help me. I’d already had what I thought were plenty of electrolytes in my system from having a PowerGel every 5 miles, then eventually every 4 miles. I’d also consumed some Gatorade along the way. Whatever the case, whatever I did was not enough. (Given that my PowerGels had about 50mg of caffeine in them, maybe I was dehydrated by the caffeine?) I did escape the race without either of my legs making it into full cramp, but because of the threat of full cramp (especially when going uphill), I really couldn’t push myself harder for fear of disaster. (An afterthought was to take a banana that was being offered along the latter part of the course. Bananas are known to combat cramping because of their potassium content.)

Fortunately disaster was averted by the time I saw Elizabeth waiting to see me at the “Half-Mile to Go” sign across from 210 Central Park South. I’d looked forward to this for a while, especially as I entered the park, and fortunately we connected hands as I passed her by with a serious expression on my face. I emotionally broke down a moment after passing her, likely the result of seeing someone out there I knew was supporting me. She said I looked strong at this point in the race.

My goal for this race was to run NYC in sub-3:10. Around this point I knew I wouldn’t achieve that, so the point became to see just how fast I would finish. I didn’t push myself very hard upon re-entering Central Park, going only as fast as I could before I felt cramping. It was nice to see, though, that I was going to finish below 3:14. Something about finishing in the 3:13 range to me seems fast, while 3:14 seems somewhat slower. 3:13:49 is what I got.

I emotionally broke down only for a second or two, two or three times on the walk after the finish line. My mood, though, was upbeat and happy, which was indicative for me that I was healthy in running this race. My body felt pretty decent, actually. As I sit here typing this entry at nearly 6pm, 5 hours after I finished, my body is in really great shape. There were no noticeable blisters or chafing. I do have some specific groin pain (probably from the 3+ hours of pounding), and I have a little bit of “diaper rash.” But apart from that, I walked to a restaurant for dinner pretty comfortably and my spirits are still with me. (We’ll see how I am in the morning!) I lost somewhere around 8 lbs. in this race. I started at 176, and when I weighed myself at home I was around 170-171, after having consumed about 2.5 beverages.

I’m pretty happy with how I did. While I didn’t manage a sub-3:10, I did make a major improvement in my NYC PR. I also beat my Boston Marathon time from earlier this year (3:15:16). Today is the second-fastest marathon I’ve run, and probably the hardest course I’ve run.

In two weeks, I run the Philadelphia Marathon 2011. My original goal was to run a sub-3:00. After today and considering how I did last year (I did both last year, too), I’m not really sure I can swing a sub-3:00, even though Philly is a pretty flat course. Instead, my goal is to beat my PR for Philly, which is also my Overall PR (3:07:32). I think I’m within striking range. However, I still have to train. Let’s see how the training holds up. Tune in in a couple weeks!

Dear Benjamin:

Thank you for submitting your application for entry into the 2012 Boston Marathon. Regrettably, we are unable to accept your application due to field size limitations and the large number of applications we received from qualified runners.

Entries from applicants in your age group were accepted through and including the time 3:13:46.

For this first time and in preparation for next year’s Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. implemented a new registration process which was not first come, first served, but rather allowed for a more systematic and orderly application procedure.

Qualifying performances achieved on or after Saturday, September 24, 2011 will be valid for 2013 registration. The 117th Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 15, 2013. However, please note the qualifying standards for the 2013 Boston Marathon have been tightened by five minutes for each age group. To see the new standards, click here.

We appreciate your commitment to your own running, and we encourage you to continue your pursuit of running in a future Boston Marathon.

Boston Athletic Association
www.baa.org

If it weren’t for the humidity and probably the warmth, I probably would have had a PR. The temperature was above 70 degrees with nearly 100% humidity (at 8:45am it was 73 with 87% humidity, and my heat was at 10:30am), which undoubtedly hindered my performance but fortunately not in a cardiovascularly obvious way. That is, the humidity didn’t seem to bother my body much, even though training evidence suggests it slows me down. I probably felt a little slower than I’ve felt on runs in the park of recent, but my time is respectable for me and probably the fastest I’ve run for this distance all year.

The race was not without some surprises. In the heat before me, the announcer noted right after the start that someone had lost his shoe–how could that be?! We laughed. When my heat started, I almost my shoe! How it almost happened to me was that I was basically at the front and decided to start not-full-speed. This meant sprinters behind me wanted to plow over me. This meant that I had someone step on the back of my shoe, which was just loose enough, which was also traveling forward, which meant I could have pulled the foot right out of my shoe. Fortunately, that didn’t happen! In the last quarter, as I was speeding up toward the finish on the west side of the avenue, a runner decides to high-five an audience member … by steering right in front of me. NOT COOL. I pushed his back at probably a sacrifice of strength, speed, and maybe a second of time (probably not 2 seconds). Word to the foolish: Don’t do that. Especially not in such a fast race, amongst such fast finishers, near the finish line, and without looking. I equate you with a terrorist given how some people train for these kinds of things.

I didn’t bring my Garmin so I don’t have any stats. I did, however, plot out a rough strategy. I decided to take the advice and resist sprinting full speed out of the gate. When you’re at the start line, you actually can gaze down 5th Avenue to see where the uphill begins at 74th St. That is, you can see the downhill ahead of you. It’s like a siren’s song: You want to just fly down it. But after two prior races and other advice about this race, I knew I should resist the urge. So, I let a lot of men fly by me with the decision I’d reel them in later in the race.

I also strategized that in order to do a 5:20, I had to mount the hill (i.e., hit the 1/2-mile mark) at 2:40. When I did that, I thought, Awesome, I’m going to set a PR! I thought this because I was going to speed up for the last 1/2 mile, which is a slight, advantageous downhill.

For some reason, the strategy didn’t completely work. I essentially ended up with pretty even 1/2-miles in finishing in 5:21. What I don’t get is that I didn’t expend all my energy in the first 1/2-mile, so I should have had more than enough energy left for the second 1/2-mile, no? Maybe that guy who cut in front of me had something to do with it!

I did put my all into this race. This year, I raced using a 2x caffeine PowerGel (about 50 mg of caffeine, that equates to), which I consumed with a cup of water about 30 minutes before the race. Given that I put my all into this race – and that I didn’t get to train more specifically for this race given a back spasm from a couple weeks ago – I am pretty satisfied with today’s results. It also shows me that I’m at about the same state of fitness as I was in 2009 when I qualified for the Boston Marathon in Philly, running a 3:07:32. That year, I even had to take about a month off from training due to injury. Today, the only injury I had was a slighly bruised-feeling left Achilles which was not a factor in the race. (I chose to forego aspirin, too, FYI.)

Here are photos from the race. I’ll have a finish video up eventually in the Photos section of this blog – Elizabeth’s boyfriend (who was attending to watch her 5:46 finish!) shot it and will get it to me. Below is a video from the overall race, which is pretty cool.

* I finished before Lance Armstrong, but I didn’t “beat” him as it wasn’t race.

This evening I ran with Lance Armstrong and maybe 100 or so people for about 4 miles on Lance’s 40th birthday as part of his “Fight Like Hell” The Run concept announced over Twitter. His tweet originally read:

Hey NYC! – how bout a “Fight Like Hell” Twitter Run? Meet at Nike Town (57th St) @ 6pm this Sunday. 4-5 miles thru the city. #fightlikehell

I heard about it from the frontpage of Yahoo! yesterday, cancelled my evening plans, and decided this was an opportunity of a lifetime to run with someone who does slightly inspire my marathoning. Lance’s first marathon was a sub-3:00, which is something I hope to do by year’s end. There was a particular significance for me to be able to have this run as part of my training. The tweet was later updated with a new starting place (under the globe in Columbus Circle), and there is where I waited in the cool temps from 5:30pm until Lance showed at 7:22pm.

Below are my Garmin stats. Keep in mind that I forgot to turn off my Garmin at the end, probably for about a minute and a half. If you view my run in the Garmin Player, you’ll probably see where I forgot to turn it off. I suspect in my last .79 I was going around a 6:25 pace.

The opportunity was so cool. The sucky thing was that Lance showed up an hour and twenty minutes late, but I held out because I wanted this story. We were accompanied by one “Security” cyclist leading the pack (a group of VIPs along with Lance started at Niketown on 57th and met us in Columbus Circle as they exited Central Park), and also with us were about 4 cyclists in the bright Livestrong yellow, dragging skiffs of advertisting for http://faceuptoit.livestrong.org. In Columbus Circle was had a humorous police escort whom we were supposed to follow, but no one listened to him and we started taking off down W. 60th St. The road in this area has uneven pavement so I was careful to watch my footing but I was also trying to figure out, “Where’s Lance?” I hadn’t seen him yet! We turned left only 9th Ave. and went down a block or so before turning right down a steep hill, past 10th Ave., and eventually making it to the West Side Highway, where a large group of people were waiting to cheer us on. By this time I’d figured out where he was–basically leading the pack but with a lot of people keeping pace with him. Even taking photos while running!

It was manageable chaos. We were barrelling through intersections when we had red; we were trying to keep runners from entering the actual highway rather than running on the bike path; we were trying to avoid collisions with signs and other pedestrians using the bike path. It was dark out and tricky but a blast. (Why did some of the runners and cyclists yell “Pull!” when we went through pedestrian crosswalks?)

It was on the bike path along the West Side Highway that I suddenly realized I had primo real estate for this run. I was running right beside Lance Armstrong! For some time it was myself, a female friend he was talking to, then Lance. I chose not to say anything (I didn’t really have anything to say anyway), and just focused on soaking in the experience. Soon I realized though that my pace was faster than theirs, so I just accepted that and decided to unleash my pace. I ended up getting in front of Lance and the others, running just behind and alongside the Livestrong cyclists. I chatted briefly with a 3:11 NYC marathoner about his strategy for running it that fast (“Run the course” and “weekly speed training” were what he advised) then I soon pulled in front of him! I must say I’m not THAT great of a runner, but I had to take in this experience of leading the pack.

I was at the head of the pack or very near it toward the end of our time on the West Side Highway before we turned left onto W. 26th St. From there we took off up W. 26th St., eventually made our way to 25th St., then back to 26th St. where we passed a long line of ASSSSCAT audience members at the UCB Theatre. I wished I knew someone to say hi to in that line, being toward the head of this group of night runners! From there I confirmed we’d be finishing on 5th Ave., and I kept up my pace as best I could in that long straightaway.

For that last leg, it was basically just myself and another runner and the Livestrong cyclists. The other runner was usually a few strides ahead of me, then I would pass him at an intersection when he was slow and I would find my way across. He’d then overtake me. Around Broadway I said to him, “Don’t let me beat you!” but by the time we hit 5th Ave., we turned left against traffic to find where the finish would be. I made it to W. 27th St. where there was a truck with baggage … and the run was done. I got there first. I’ve never been in a position like that before. And I beat Lance Armstrong. I guess I get to say that now, though with lots of asterisks and qualifications.

I had thought the truck was going to give us shirts and waters (just an instinctual thing to expect something after a race) but I learned quickly that wasn’t the case when I put together the bags and the VIP runners. I then saw a horde of people at a building entrance just behind me: It was Lance finishing. What was going on?, I wondered, and I went over. He was signing a shirt but quickly he moved indoors and that was that. “Fight Like Hell” The Run was done.

I sprinted to the subway station nearby (I was soooo loose and springy!) when I realized my Garmin was still on. When I looked over the stats, I was pretty happy. I’ve been faster in my life, but I got up there in speed pretty easily. I managed my third mile in 6:25, after having run a 6:31 and before that a 6:48. And consider that this morning I did a 10-mile run at a 6:53 pace! I haven’t done a 2-run day in quite some time, and when I did last, I didn’t pull off something so speedy on BOTH runs.

So there you have it. Thanks, Lance and Livestrong. That was cool and very exciting.

- Ben Hauck

My slow start was partly because of a delayed race start (police hadn’t cleared the roadway just yet), which meant I felt a bit queasy, intestinal, and urinary. The feeling stayed on my mind in the first couple miles or so, when I started to convince myself to take my mind off the sensations so that I could dedicate the mental energy to running. It worked, and I distracted myself from the thoughts and feelings.

Around when Elizabeth hit the 6-mile marker, she was on a turnaround and shouted my name; I eventually got to that point and roughly calculated being about 2 minutes behind her. I figured it would take about 4 miles to catch her if I shaved off about 30 second per mile (I had been averaging about 7:40s up to about then), and fortunately my body performed, giving me splits between 7:08 and 7:14 regularly. That was an awesome feeling. However, I never saw Elizabeth after she shouted my name. That surprised me given her level of training: She’d basically not run in two weeks except for last week’s race, and her last long run was 12 miles around a 7:40 pace in heat. I was expecting she’d tank at some higher mile and I’d catch her in my faster pace, but it never happened. She’s really gotten fantastic.

When it got to the finish, I set my sights on passing a person about 90 feet ahead of me. In the last stretch, I was right next to him, and I still had juice in my body. I wasn’t going to really sprint until the last turn, and then I did. I had to squeeze between two side-by-side runners (narrowly missing an accident!) and charged toward the finish, just after hearing my name called.

I was so impressed by my run in this race. I started slow but I believed I could get faster, and I did get faster … and I was able to sustain faster. And when it came to the end, I was able to get fast again (even though I started to fade a bit around mile 10). I beat my time from last year (which admittedly was much hotter), and I managed a respectable pace.

This new course was much better than last year’s. Last year’s had us out for a bit on the parkway, which wasn’t fun for me. This year was all within the park, and while we covered some of the same ground twice, there were turns to keep it pretty interesting, and enough of the race had a slight downhill (which I used strategically to go faster). The only real uphills were the overpasses, which were short and quickly mounted.

Here are my unofficial Garmin stats (you can see the course is like spaghetti!):

Elizabeth ran with her boyfriend Chris, too. Elizabeth actually came in 2nd overall for women! While I overtook her in the beginning and thought she wouldn’t catch up given an injury she’s been dealing with, she officially “spanked” me (literally and figuratively) just after the 1-mile mark before the turnaround in Astoria Park. I never caught her. I think she ran about 10-seconds per mile faster than me, whose cardiovascular system currently isn’t as developed as hers. Hopefully later this summer I’ll get my chance to “spank” her!

It was a small, fun, and even funny race. Beside the entertaining announcer, the race just suddenly started out of nowhere when we were lazily chatting. And we were off! I didn’t know the course so it was a bit like running in the dark, but it was a short race so that wasn’t too daunting. The opening hill seemed to have a longer downhill, which spelled a long uphill on the turnaround toward the end. The heat was about 87 degrees with 60% humidity maybe–thick but not impossible, especially for this distance.

Below are the unofficial Garmin stats.

The weather was pretty decent this morning. It was sunny and not that humid (it said 68% but felt better than that) at around 72 degrees. Generally I felt good apart from a little grogginess from sleeping with melatonin and getting up a little early. I biked to Central Park and I could see that my legs had gained some definition. I happened to sit down right next to Jessica Ecklund when I was putting on my bib and D-tag; Jessica and I did a film together some years ago, and separately her husband and I are friends from acting and running. (Her husband Jimmie is sort of one of my running role models!)

I had a feeling I’d do pretty well today, and I made sure I kept up my pace. I decided to push myself a bit today, and I felt a first mile under 7:00 was a possibility. Sure enough, it happened (around a 6:40), so then I thought I need to keep my pace up so I don’t burn out. I managed around a 6:48 for the second mile–I lost 8 seconds but still not back. The third mile is the toughest on this course, and I slowed to about 7:23. I did the math and the 23 seconds didn’t completely erradicate my first two miles’ savings, but I needed to make sure I sped up in the last mile. Fortunately, the course is more cooperative, I was up for the task, and there’s my infamous final sprints. All came together and I was able to pick up some speed (though noticeably I couldn’t simply barrel on in that last mile), and I pulled off around a 6:44 final mile. I even got a pretty great sprinting finish this time, finishing in the middle of the mat with no one crowding me and no one overtaking me (at least from what I recall). I saw my old co-worker Jono working (as usual) at the race, and he said a lot of people finished I think around the 23-minute mark, given all the track clubs’ participating today.

Here are my unofficial Garmin stats:

What’s funny to me is that 7:34s is exactly one minute per mile slower than what I was running back in late April! I pulled off 6:34s in a race only a few months ago.

However, I am getting stronger. I still am carrying about 3 more lbs. of weight than I’d like, but it’s been a good week for fitness. That I ran 8+ yesterday probably didn’t help my speed today, but the race atmosphere compensated by giving me some decent splits. I got in a sprint at the end … and just inside the sixth mile my “totem,” Ming, zipped by. I laughed out loud! He shows up in my races at the funniest times.

Elizabeth ran the race, too. I think this is the first time she actually beat me. “Creamed” is probably a more appropriate term. She managed 43:07, or 6:58s. She had a tough race herself, but still it was an impressive job.

Here are my unofficial Garmin stats. Photos will hopefully but up in a few weeks on my Photos page.

The start of the race was about 70 degrees with moderate humidity. Overall it was warm but good running weather. I set out to keep an even pace and not push myself. Generally, I did just that, though I did start to push just a little bit toward the end, eventually leading to a super-fast sprinting finish that had me overtake some people far ahead of me. I ended up doing “considerably” better in this weekend’s race then last weekend’s. Not really sure why other than maybe my mental game improved a bit. I’m feeling that my cardiac system needs strengthening, particularly my heart from pumping oxygenated blood into my system as I run.

I biked to and from this race (just like last week), which is an enjoyable tradition. Nothing much to report for this “race,” though. Just another “race” in which I didn’t (truly) race!

My Unofficial Garmin Stats:

Obviously, these aren’t the kind of results you’d expect from someone who qualified again for Boston by doing Boston just two months ago. These results are the result of sitting for hours and hours of late as I tweak code for website designs I’ve been working on. My lack of cardiovascular support was to be expected.

Because of that, I didn’t set my sites on any very high goals. I roughly aimed to do 8:00s, but more in my mind was to not race, and instead just run, and run slow at that. I think I achieved those goals as I didn’t get competitive with other runners and I let floods of people pass me. I did get out one of my famous sprinting finishes, fists pumping like a machine and all.

My Garmin died just before the race, probably the result of missing the charging contacts. I wasn’t upset, though. In fact, a lack of Garmin may have helped me stay focused on my non-competitive goals. Here are manually entered stats:

Here is my confirmation: