New York City Marathon 2009 Race Report

New York City, 9:45am
Temperature: 54°F, 49% humidity, wind 5 mph variable

Background:

Last year I had to sit out of NYCM with a sfx. It was nice spectating but as I saw others running I could not help but feel sorry for myself.

I could defer my entry so I was in for this year. Two years of entry fees would make this marathon cost me $340 odd in entry fees... A bonus was that this was the 40th anniversary of the NYCM. I was going to run even if I had to crawl!

Goals:

My goals for the run were modest. I wanted to finish and I did not want a new PW (3:45)...

Race day:

My alarm clock did not factor in DST so I was up at 2am and my sis dropped me the train station at 4am. The first train was at 5am. So I waited at the Valhalla station as it rained outside. My assigned shuttle bus was from the Public library (and I was assigned a time of 5:30am - there was no way I would make that). Thankfully, all they checked to get runners on the bus was the bib number... The organization was pretty spot on. I did not have to wait for a bus and the ride was comfortable. The bus got us to Brooklyn at 8am...

I killed time at the Verrazano bridge... Victor got in around 8:30am. After several texts/calls we finally managed to hook up. The drama was compounded by the fact that my new cell phone was defective.

Race:

The start was quite a melee with people jumping barriers etc... Running through the Verrazano Bridge was awesome. I stopped to take several pictures. I had intended to take pictures all through and soak in the experience that is the New York City marathon!

mile 1: 9:07
mile 2: 8:21

It was here that the cheering crowds got to me and I abandoned my original plan of a 3:45 finish... I started wasting lesser time picture-taking and started working towards a sub-3:30 marathon... If I could go back in time for sure I would not have done this :)

mile 3: 7:58
mile 4: 7:54
mile 5: 8:03
mile 6: 7:42
mile 7: 7:47
mile 8: 7:59
mile 9: 7:56
mile 10: 7:35
mile 11: 7:59
mile 12: 7:50
mile 13: 8:05

I hit the half on track for a 3:30 but that was that...

mile 14: 8:07
mile 15: 8:34

I've often heard people talk about their experience going through the Queensboro Bridge. The quiet of the bridge broken by the deafening roar in Manhattan! This is a place where a lot of people also start struggling. Unfortunately, my struggling began here too...

mile 16: 9:30
mile 17: 8:36

As I ran on First Ave, I heard someone call my name. It was an old running buddy from CRC (Daniel). He breezed by me :)

mile 18: 8:56
mile 19: 9:01
mile 20: 9:39

My quads were just tired (perhaps not recovered sufficiently from St. George) and basically I did not really have the will to suffer. There was not much at stake except for the PW which clearly was not motivation enough. I walked quite a bit and ran some in-between. When I ran I was moving at a decent pace so a little more motivation would have gotten me to keep running all the way through :) The last 10k after all is a mind game.

mile 21: 10:00
mile 22: 9:51
mile 23: 10:06
mile 24: 10:19
mile 25: 9:11
mile 26: 8:16
mile .22: 2:56

Time: 3:47:21

OA: 10028/43660
Male: 8314/28485
Div: 1338/3973
Bib #: 11060
10k: 00:50:42
15k: 01:15:14
20k: 01:39:41
25k: 02:06:13
30k: 02:33:43
35k: 03:04:12
40k: 03:35:09
Pace: 08:41

The death march to pick up your bag post race is one of the toughest things I've had to do. It was surely tougher than running the marathon :) I found Victor post-race. Unfortunately, he had a bad day too and did not come close to his BQ. I met up with my sis, bil, neice and nephew for Ethiopian food (they had come to cheer me but as expected did not get to see me).

I was pretty satisfied to get my NYCM finish! I needed to run this once and cross this off my list. I don't think I'll be back at least for another 10 years :)

St George marathon 2009 Race Report

6:45am, St George, UT
Temperature: 43F-59F
Humidity: 23%-19%

Background:

I had started thinking about running St. George when Jon visited me in Seattle and told me that he and HH would be running it for sure this year (Ironically, I could not get to meet them during the weekend :( ). Then at the Mardi Gras 'thon, I found out about everyone else committed. There was no way I wanted to miss out :p

At St. George 2007, my right knee gave way at mile 24. I could not run another step. I had to walk 2.2 miles to the finish. That experience is something I will never forget. I had wanted redemption on this course - a course which is fast but difficult/brutal when not appropriately trained. Unfortunately, my training was non-existent (averaging less than 20mpw with no speed-work). The one thing I got right is that most of my runs included long, steep hills.

Pre-race:

The night before the travelling I had "liked" Anu's FB status of her checked in bag missing the flight. That was really tempting karma - the next day I was late for my checkin and I was warned that my bag might miss my plane too (luckily it made it) :( :p [Note to self for future: never tempt misfortune :p]

I reached Olive garden where we were supposed to have the FE only to find no-one there :- Thankfully, I found Chuck and his wife before everyone else came in! One of my regrets of this weekend was that I did not get to spend more time with everyone post-race :(

Morning:

I decided to sleep in and take the 5am shuttle. I ran into a couple in my hotel parking lot who were desperately looking for a ride :goodkarmapoints: It was nice having some company for the drive. The guy (who I ran into post-race) would end-up with a 3:00 in his debut marathon!
There was a long shuttle line which got me a little antsy. I knew how well organized St. George was so I was sure they'd pull it off. We got to the start with about 20 minutes left. This meant there was no time to partake in the campfire and other festivities...

Goals:

I really did not know what sort of a goal to have. So some random thoughts at various points of mental sanity:

- Finish: Could I?
- Not suffer like '07: Could I?
- 3:20: Would sound nice?
- PR: Heck why not when you are being completely unrealistic anyway :)

Race:

mile 1: 7:55 (30s shoe lace stop)
Ugh. Could I not have tied my shoe laces properly before the race started :shakeshishead:

mile 2: 7:44
My left calf was a bit stiff but I knew from prior experiences that it would loosen up by mile 3...

mile 3: 7:36

mile 4: 7:21
mile 5: 7:24
mile 6: 7:19
mile 7: 7:19
I had gotten into a nice zone and was feeling good. I tried to be careful and conserve energy for the hills. I started dreaming about a PR! As the darkness melted away I marveled at the beautiful scenery. In '07 I could not care less!

mile 8: 8:08
mile 9: 7:57
mile 10: 7:46
mile 11: 8:10
mile 12: 7:57
The sun rose as we hit the Veyo hills - beauty and misery side by side... These were not difficult hills - it's just that they seemed to go on forever!

mile 13: 7:39
half: 1:41:34

mile 14: 7:58
Coming off the hills I had started struggling... I decided to take a GI break at the end of the mile :(

mile 15: 9:07 (90s GI stop)
I felt much better once I started running. My HR had gotten a chance to recover. However, I knew that I could no longer get a PR. I decided to play it safe till mile 20 - I did not want a repeat of '07!

mile 16: 7:39
I knew Anu and Neil would be at mile 16. Mentally, this was something to look forward to. I did not want to look like I was struggling when I passed them :) Sub-consciously that made me believe that I was feeling great and that's how I felt for the rest of the race!

mile 17: 7:36
mile 18: 7:42
mile 19: 7:53
Cautiously optimistic while admiring the scenery... Beautiful. The mile 19 hill was uncomfortable but manageable.

mile 20: 7:26 + 0:15 (long)
I was gradually cranking things up! I was generally feeling happy. High-fiving kids. I pointed at/posed for a official race photographer lady. I noticed she got a six picture sequence of that :)

mile 21: 6:57 (short)
mile 22: 7:28
mile 23: 7:11
mile 24: 7:08
I thought a lot about '07 and my walk to the finish. I was glad that I was still running at this point!

mile 25: 7:18
mile 26: 7:35
mile .22: 1:41

A strong happy finish!!!

Results:

Chip: 3:21:23
Gun: 3:22:05
OA: 630/5629
AG: 88/376

Considering the circumstances, I have to be very satisfied with how this race went! This was my 3rd fastest time with my worst training cycle.

Onto NYCM in four weeks :fingers-crossed: After watching the race with a boot last year, I hope I will finally get to run it for the first time this year!!!

Whidbey Island Marathon 2009 Race Report

7am, Whidbey Island, WA
Temperature: 41F-46F, Sunny
Humidity: 70%-63%

Notes(General):
- Quality race T shirt: one of the best I've gotten
- Probably the most challenging course I've run. Even tougher than Seafair because of the late hills. I have no complains however because the course is very scenic and it's pretty obvious from the reputation of this race that it's not a PR course.
- Mile markers were here and there but this is the first course ever that my Garmin measured as exactly 26.22 miles!
- Surprisingly there were some people cheering which is neat for a rural course.
- During the final few miles you encounter walkers and half runners. This can be good and bad. Also, these miles are an out and back so you're just pining to start heading back.
- You see the finish line around mile 17. Ouch!
- I would recommend running this marathon for the satisfaction of completing a difficult marathon.

Notes(Race):
- Considering the rain leading up to the race it was amazing that the sun was out for the run. When I started driving at 4am it was snowing!
- The tendon connecting my right ankle began to hurt right from the start. I had no issues with in coming in so perhaps some warming up would have helped. I had considered dropping out but it would just be a hassle to get back to the start and my car at the finish. I did realize that running on would probably result in a few days off from running (I was correct - my ankle was swollen to the size of a tennis ball the day after). I spent some time during miles 3 and 4, trying to stretch out the ankle but that did not really help.
- I ran into some friendly maniacs during the first few miles. I hope I did not offend them by not being able to chat with them since I wasn't feeling that great.
- I had intended to take pics during my run but I soon realized that getting a 3:45 would not be easy and with my ankle issues I did not want to have to stop and start often...
- There were some strong headwinds to contend with especially during the middle miles - no complains however - SUN :)
- I ran into a friend running the half (this was a nice surprise).
- I just achieved my goal of not PWing with 25 sec to spare.


Splits

mile 1: 8:42
mile 2: 8:41
mile 3: 9:53 (-0.01)
mile 4: 9:09 (+0.02)
mile 5: 9:08 (-0.04)
mile 6: 8:17 (+0.02)
mile 7: 8:28 (+0.02)
mile 8: 9:13 (+0.02)
mile 9: 8:41 (+0.03)
mile 10: 8:33 (+0.03)
mile 11: 8:20
mile 12: 8:33
mile 13: 8:52 (+0.07)
mile 14: 6:38 (-0.21)
mile 15: 8:26
mile 16: 9:14 (+0.07)
mile 17: 8:33
mile 18: 8:48 (-0.01)
mile 19: 8:31 (+0.01)
mile 20: 8:27 (-0.01)
mile 21: 8:13 (-0.01)
mile 22: 8:46 (+0.02)
mile 23: 8:55
mile 24: 8:24
mile 25: 8:29
mile 26: 7:27 (-0.09)
.22: 2:14 (+0.07)

Results:

Time: 3:45:24 @ 8:36
OA: 63/282
Male: 51/165
AG: 10/16

Mercer Island Half marathon 2009 report

9am, Mercer Island, WA
Temperature: 46F, Cloudy
Humidity: 76%

MI:
- Well organized
- Expensive for a half marathon ($60) with no medals
- Scenic but hilly course
- Local Seattle area race
- Mile markers are incorrect
- Only water and no sports drink on course. I don't care but the for $60...
- Finish food was iffy





Before the run
- I had a DNS due to injury last year. Ran a 1:37 in 2007.
- Had a sore right quad and left calf going into the run

Run
- Chuck spotted me limbing during my warm-up and asked me to start a bit slower.
- Felt decent all through
- The "off" mile markers had me incorrectly optimistic. I had though I would get a PR.
- Saw Chuck at the finish line.
- Very nice post-race party at Dan's!

Splits:
mile 1: 7:12 (-0.02)
mile 2: 7:20
mile 3: 7:04
mile 4: 6:56 (-0.01)
mile 5: 6:58 (+0.01)
mile 6: 7:08
mile 7: 7:06
mile 8: 7:07 (-0.01)
mlle 9: 7:04 (-0.01)
mile 10: 7:26
mile 11: 7:02 (-0.01)
mile 12: 7:23
mile 13: 7:12
mile .11: 2:06 (+0.16)

Results:
Chip - 1:34:59 @ 7:15
Clock - 1:35:18
OA - 151/1619
Male - 124/820
Div - 29/124

TTRC St Patrick's Day 10k Race Report

10:45am, Yorktown Heights, NY
Weather: 46F, 50% (Sunny)

Random thoughts:

- Well organized
- Reasonable entry fee ($20 single, $35 family)
- Convenient late start (10:45am), with an earlier 2 mile option
- Difficult course: Hills and some trail sections: Not condusive to a PR
- Markers may have been inaccurate
- Two loop course in FDR park
- Free beer at the end
- Raffle at the end, along with a grand raffle prize of a trip to Ireland
- Results posted very quickly along with some pics.
- All in all a fun race

mile 1: 6:40 (+:04)
mile 2: 6:50 (+:05)
mile 3: 7:01 (+:13)
mile 4: 7:02 (+:03)
mile 5: 6:52 (+:05)
mile 6: 6:40 (+:13)
.22: : 1:34

Final: 43:31 @ 7:01
OA: 26/211
Male: 24/127
AG: 5/25

Skagit Symphony Smelt run 10k 2009

I had not been able to get past my official 10k PR of 43:30 at the 2005 Malden Rotary 10k for a while... I don't run too many 10ks and I seem to run into all sorts of obstacles when I do run them (heat, hills, humidity...).

Based on my recent tempo runs it did look like I was in shape for a new 10k PR so I signed up for this race. I felt hopeful that I would be able to maintain a 6:30-6:40 pace...

As usual I started off a bit fast. Jason who is way faster than me was behind me for a bit. For the middle miles I ran with an elderly guy (perhaps 55+) who went on to leave me in the dust :) My excuse I had not still recovered from my tempo run on Thursday (still sore)... That did tell for the last couple of miles when my legs just felt dead. From mile 4.5-5.5 my pace had dropped to the 7:15s amidst a headwind and a slight climb before I picked it up.

All in all:
- A nice course
- Very well organized
- Nice cause
- Good post race food (cake etc.)
- Fun run

mile 1: 6:23
mile 2: 6:30
mile 3: 6:37
mile 4: 6:41
mile 5: 6:50
mile 6: 6:53
mile .22: 1:36 @ 6:43

Time: 41:30 @ 6:40

Valentine Marathon 2009 race report

10:30am, Olympia, WA

Temperature: 35F-45F, Cloudy

Humidity: 87%-68%

I had intended to run this race before I got on-board the Mardi Gras Marathon train. I have never run two marathons within a week so this was a new experience. The only person I had confided in was David (since he posted the team thread on privacy I figured he could be trusted ).

My recovery from MG went pretty well. On Wednesday, I ran a PR on our monthly 2 mile time trial so I knew that I was good to go. If I didn't feel good at any point I would have dropped out and called this a long run (Olympia is just a 75 minute drive from home).

The Valentine marathon is a very low key race. It was pretty much the anti-Mardi Gras Marathon

- The race was not chip timed

- There were less than 60 full marathon runners.

- There were no mile markers. Just some chalk signs and boards for the turn-arounds for the 5k, 10k, 10 mile and half marathon races.

- My most vociferous supporters were 2 dogs barking at me. In fact since the course was open to traffic for a bit and there were some rude drivers honking at us to move out of the way.

- It was an out and back course.

- It was bucolic. I liked seeing the horses, ponies, cows...

- You'll likely be running on your own for most of the race. I did get some Maniac company towards the beginning but that was soon gone.

My race

- When I walked out to the start in just shorts and the MM singlet I noticed that people were staring at me (everyone was bundled up). They guilted me into donning a cap and gloves. My first instinct was right. It ended up warming up and these two just ended up being a burden.

- It was nice having the runners for the other races until they had to turn around.

- I felt in control of my pace all through. My goal was same as the MG marathon. 3:40-3:45. Greater than 3:45 would be a PW. Less than 3:40 would make it tougher to call it a train-through marathon. All the miles > 8:20 were because I was stopping to take pictures. I've come to accept that photo-marathoning will cost me about 3 minutes in stopping time per race. However, I feel it's worth making sure I get clear shots of things I care about.

- Seeing the majestic Mt. St Helens in the back-drop made my day. I stopped for a few seconds on both ways to take pics.

- Given that this was an out and back course I was more focused towards running without stopping in the second half

- I saw a guy with the words "Old guy pass with compassion" on his back

- The two things that mattered to me were spot on - accurate and clearly marked course. What remains to be seen is if they post an accurate finish time.

mile 1: 8:19

mile 2: 8:32

mile 3: 8:17

mile 4: 8:13

mile 5: 8:32

mile 6: 8:30

mile 7: 8:13

mile 8: 8:23

mile 9: 8:17

mile 10: 8:18

mile 11: 8:15

mile 12: 8:23

mile 13: 8:25

half: 1:49:39

mile 14: 8:15

mile 15: 7:52

mile 16: 7:53

mile 17: 7:55

mile 18: 7:54

mile 19: 8:26

mile 20: 8:30

mile 21: 7:42

mile 22: 7:50

mile 23: 7:48

mile 24: 7:55

mile 25: 7:33

mile 26: 7:35

Time: 3:34:13 @ 8:10