From Brandonsmarathon.com: Re-Inspired

While I was composing my race race report from the Achilles Hope & Possibility 5 mile, I had a difficult time expressing my thoughts about seeing the disabled athletes competing in yesterday's race. Brandon expressed my thoughts and emotions much more eloquently than I could. With his permsission, I am sharing his entry.

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Re-inspired
 Yesterday was the Achilles Hope & Possibility 5 miler in Central Park. The famous, Ari and I had arranged to meet at the registration tent prior to the race and to run the event together. Achilles Track Club, for those who may not know, is an organization who holds as it’s mission statement: “Our mission is to enable people with all types of disabilities to participate in mainstream athletics, promote personal achievement, enhance self esteem, and lower barriers.”. I am no stranger to achilles and have been there to cheer on many of their athletes before this event and have also been passed by one of their Iraq War veterans in a race!

Now, to say that I was “re-inspired” by this event is not entirely true. I think that, to be “re” anything, one needs to have lost their initial drive. I have not. However, as I stated in my articel last weel entitled, “Time”, I have been struggling with the amount of my life my training must take up, but lacking the time to allow it to do so. This weekend, I found myself renewed. On Saturday, I went on a 5.5 mile run in the morning, then headed out to rehearsal. Following rehearsal, I headed home and went on a 30 mile ride down the West Side Greenway (my first time on that route in a while). Knowing that I had an event the next morning, I looked forward to that soreness that makes you feel alive, like your body is working again.

The next morning, I went to the event in Central Park. First, walking through the parking area in front of Tavern on the Green, the amount of high-tech wheelchair gear was amazing! The amount of high end wheelsets on those chairs could almost surpass the wheelsets on überbikes at a triathlon. As I walked toward the registration tent and looked around, the people there, some with mental disabilities, some missing a one or both legs or arms, I began to think. What if I wasn’t sore that morning because the part of me that should be sore was missing? Would I still be there? What is I couldn’t walk to the start, but had to use my arms? Would I still be there?

These athletes were there because they are just that, athletes. No matter what, at the end of the day, they were not letting some small thing like being a double leg amputee stop them from going out and using what God gave them. The wheelchair start went off before the main pack, and it was incredible to see these athletes, some of whom were forced to go backward in their chairs, due to their condition, just smile the whole time.

As Ari and I got to about mile 4 (holding down about a 7:15/mile pace), the heat and humidity began to kick my ass a bit, I said to Ari, “I’d like to go on the record and say that I am officially no longer having fun.”. Once I got home and had the chance to reflect it made me realize how thankful I was to have been able to toe the line with the athletes from Achilles. So, to each and every one of the member of Achilles Track Club, thank you! I would also like to say a special thank you to the veterans who were there running. You have given of yourself with an unconditional love for our country and I am eternally grateful. As long as I have breath, I will defend and honor the sacrifices you have made for our freedoms.

Thank you

Race Report: Achilles Hope & Possibility 5 Mile

After last week's rain-out, I signed up for today's Achilles Hope & Possibility 5 Mile race in Central Park. The mission of the Achilles Track Club  is "to enable people with all types of disabilities to participate in mainstream athletics, promote personal achievement, enhance self esteem, and lower barriers" (mission statement courtesy of the Achilles Track Club Website). I remember when I taking te NYRR Running Classes, there was a blind runner who came every week and ran with a guide. He would line up next to me in the 7:00/mile group and run the intervals with everyone else. It was pretty amazing.

Brandon and I planned to meet in Central Park and run the race together at a 7:30 pace. We've met once before in person but we were both looking forward to running together. Before the race, I did a short video interview with Brandon. We then made our way over to the start and lined up between the 7:00/mile and 8:00/mile signs. The disabled athletes had their own start at 8:20. At 8:30, the horn went off for the able-bodied runners. 

The first mile took us around the south end of Central Park. Brandon set a fast pace,finishing the first mile in 7:01. 

Mile 2: This is the part of Central Park I dread the most. The Boathouse marks the beginning of Cat Hill. Brandon didn't know why it was called Cat Hill so I pointed out the Cat staring down on us as we're running up. Just past the crest of the hill was the mile 2 marker. We finished in 7:15.

Mile 3: features the rolling hills of Upper East Side from the Guggenheim Museum to the 102nd St. Transverse. No mjaor problems here, we finished in 7:09.

Mile 4: I'm not sure what happened here. Brandon mentioned that the humidity was getting to him. We must have slowed our pace. Because we crossed mile 4 is 7:30.

Mile 5: Mainly downhill but we didn't push the pace too hard. The finish was just north of where we started on 69th St. We finished mile 5 in 7:22. 

Before I get to the official stats, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the disabled athletes. These men and women are such an inspiration. We take it for granted that we are able-bodied and can pound the pavement day in and day out. Seeing athletes in wheelchairs, who are blind, amputees out on the road with me was such an inspiration. Good for them for not letting their disablities get in the way of their passion. Any time we'd see a disabled athlete on the course we would shout words of encouragement.

Now on to the official stats:

Official time: 36:55

Pace per mile: 7:23

Overall place: 216

Gender place: 178

This race marks the end of racing season for me until September at the earliest. I will increase the distance my weekend long runs but not the intensity. I will also continue to go to Nike Speed most Wednesday evenings. But won't drive myself crazy if I miss a session. 

After the race, I gave Brandon a lift home. We chatted a bit about his training for Ironman Wisconsin, Kona, Lance Armstrong, and the Tour de France. Nice running with you buddy!

Wednesday Night Speed Session 6/24/09

Last night's workout was a "ladder" workout: 800m/1200m/1600m/1200m/800m. Before we started Coach Kate said we'll be running the first 3 intervals at 5k pace and the last 2 at 3k pace. The goal was to help work on our strength at the end of a race when we are feeling tired.

Here's how the workout unfolded:
800m: 3:30
200m recovery
1200m: 5:11
200m recovery
1600m: 6:56
400m recovery
1200m: 5:06
800m: 3:24

This workout kicked my ass. I was so tired at the end that the run back to Paragon felt hard.

It was a pretty soupy night in NYC and the humidity started to affect my asthma. It was quite a chore running the last 1200 & 800 faster than the first. But I did it and that's all the matters.

Fantasy Baseball Update

I know June isn't over, but so far it has not been a good month for me. I had high hopes at the beginning of the month. I started June in 2nd place and feeling good about my team. As-of this writing, I'm in 6th, 9 points behind the leader. My offense has been in a slump as-of late. Beltran and Span are on the DL and Adrian Gonzalez has cooled down after his hot start. The holds true for my pitching. I finally dropped Dice-K, Lowe, Edwin Jackson, and Jurrjens have not been pitching well. My only bright spot is Matt Cain. He 9-1 with a 2.28 ERA, 76 strikeouts, and a 1.21 WHIP. I think I also have 1 or 2 saves the entire month. There's still a lot of baseball to be played, it's not even the All-Star break yet. I'm hopeful that things will turn around and I can finish in the money.

McMillan Running Calculator

Many of us use the McMillan Running Calculator to determine race times based on other race times. Usually I find this tool pretty accurate however, after last Wednesday speed workout I'm not so sure what to think. 

Last Wednesday we did 5x1000m at 5k pace (the intervals are the circled splits). Pacer Joe paced us through the workout and said that each of the intervals were right around 7:00/mi pace.

Just for kicks, I entered my 1000m split time into the McMillan Running Calculator to see what the actual 5k pace was. 

Now, McMillan lists 5k as 5000m. This is where I get confused. when I entered 4:23 as a recent 1000m time, McMillan determined that is equivalent to a 8:18 5000m (see picture left).

Who's right? Pacer Joe or McMillan? I find it hard to believe that the Nike pacers would be off by that much. Am I using McMillan wrong?

Happy Father's Day

I was supposed to run the NYRR 5mi Father's Day Run Against Prostate Cancer this morning. I woke up around 5:00 to start getting ready and heard the pitter-patter of rain on my air conditioner. Right then and there, I decided not to go into NYC for the race. I tired to go back to sleep but I couldn't. In the past, today would have been one of those days where I would not have gotten any miles in at all. Fortunately, my wife's gym was running a special where she could add a family member for $10 extra per month. So this morning, I went to the gym at 7:00 and ran a 10k on the treadmill.

I'm OK with the decision not to race. I've had a stressful week at work and I haven't been sleeping well. Last thing I need is to get sick from hanging out in the rain before the race. If I have nothing planned, maybe I'll run next week's Achilles Hope and Possibility 5mi My parents, brother, sister-in-law, and niece, are supposed to come over later for a BBQ. I'm praying the rain will hold off so I can cook outside.

Lastly, Happy Father's Day to all the fathers who read this blog. Enjoy your day!

Wednesday Night Speed Series - 6/17/09

I had a very stressful day at work today. I am in the home stretch of a huge project and we are trying to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Tonight was one of those nights where I wanted to get on the track on release a lot of the tension from the day. Fortunately, Coach Kate, had an aggressive workout planned for tonight, 5x1000m with only a 200m recovery.With the short recovery pacing was the key. The goal with every speed workout is to run each interval at or just around the same pace. The other thing is, Kate is really pushing the intensity and encouraging all runners to push their limits and get people to move up a group.

On the way to the track I thought about running with the 7:30/mi group to ease my way back into speed work. If you remember 2 weeks ago I had a hard time with Fartlek run. I also ran a pretty fast race at the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge last Thursday and I will be racing a 5 miler this Sunday. Pacer Joe was leading the 7:00/mi group tonight and he encouraged me to run with the faster group. I'm happy I did. I ended up having a great workout.

The intervals are numbers 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11. After tonight's workout, I have a good feeling that I'll run a good race this Sunday. If anyone who reads this blog will be running this Sunday, please let me know. I'd love to meet some of you.