Month: June 2010

Head Up & Yoshimi #1

Today’srun in Central Park was awesome. I did 8.11 miles in 58:47, my first time this year at that distance under 1 hour. My pace was 7:15s–awesome, too! The weather helped a ton: It was 76 with only 25-30% humidity. Here are the deets:

Some things to report from today’s run:

– I practiced keeping my head up as opposed to down in this run. It seemed to help me keep speedy or speedy up rather than get bogged down by “visual friction” that comes with watching the pavement.

– When I walk, I have a bit of a limp in my right ankle area. It goes away when I run. At least mostly: I still have to be careful. Before the run I had 1 ibuprofen, which may have helped.

– I listened to The Flaming Lips’s album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, my favorite running album for Central Park. I have it pretty well synched to my runs such that I can figure out if I’m behind or ahead. I found out I was doing pretty decently in this run based on how I synched with the course.

– I ran in late afternoon. It was perfect running weather.

– When I started the run, though, I felt as if I was in slow motion. I immediately thought it had something to do with the beef I’d had at lunch on set. I ate a nice helping of it. I figured digestion was going on.

I hit the gym for abs, glutes, arms, back, and a little bit of chest after the run. On to see fireworks in the park!

3am Eternal

Today I woke up at 3am, worked for 15 hours, and still got in an 8-mile run! Here are the stats:

I also almost did this distance in under an hour, which is my goal! I managed 7:24s in the dark of Central Park in ~80-degree heat with 67% humidity which was bearable. I did the run in 1:00:08, and almost no doubt do I have a faster time in me, both in this weather and in better weather.

I don’t have much time to write this entry (obviously), but as for injuries, my legs were a little “limpy,” particularly my right leg, on which even during the day randomly I had to limp for about 20 seconds. But that went away. And I felt pretty strong. I felt as if I was managing a pretty fast pace. I even passed some runners (who only eclipsed me as they sped to their ends).

That’s all for now! I need some rest!

Pushed & Gained

This morning I completed the Achilles Hope & Possibility 5-Miler in Central Park. It was 77 degrees at the start, overcast, and about 65% humidity. I tried pushing myself today to do better than last weekend’s 5-mile race. The course was a different direction than last weekend’s course, and that course may have given me an advantage with a beginning fast downhill. Despite that boost, I felt I raced faster, a push that showed in my official results: I ran the 5-miler in 35:07, equating to doing 7:01s.

Unofficial Results per Garmin:

Since I completed my long run a little more than 12 hours before, I was still a bit sore. My right leg felt a little injured but warming up helped it. By race time, it seemed ready to go.

With a lot of disabled athletes on the field, the race was a bit like an obstacle course. There were runners in wheelchairs, runners with blades, blind runners, and runners with an assortment of disabilities, and passing them made me a little nervous out of fear I might knock one down or trip one up. In the end, a older blind runner with his 3-man guide crew overtook me in the last couple of miles and I never caught him. That’s a testament to just how disabled a disabled runner may be: Not very! 😀

But today’s results showed a gain in my training. I pushed myself and maintained a better pace over the course. I got my first mile out in 6:38 (N.B. there was a downhill beginning), and other miles were pretty fast, including two other miles done in sub-7:00s. My official pace is slower than the pace my Garmin measured (6:59s), which is a little disappointing but what can you do but get better. After the race was finished, I set to my mind to hit the gym, but mounting the subways steps, I decided against it given how tired my legs and brain felt. I eventually grabbed much-needed nap.