NJ Ultra Fest 50k, Sussex County, 24 March 2012

Finish time 7:11:47

Since this was my first-ever 50k, I had gotten pretty nervous in the days leading up to it, mainly wondering if I had trained well enough.  But races wait for no one, whether you’ve trained well or not, so I made my way to the starting line bright and early.  

The weather was perfect, in the 50s (and overcast most of the day), and there was no long wait in a corral before we started.  We gathered around for instructions just a few minutes before start time and ran when we heard go.  The course was a 10-mile loop that consisted of a short out-and-back, a long out-and-back, and a circular route through the Sussex Count fairgrounds.  We had been told that there had been rain several days before the race, but the course was mostly dry thanks to our warm, dry winter.  

That was true, but…

Over the course of the day and the hundreds of feet over the trails multiple times, the damp areas of the trail turned into muddy bogs that expanded and expanded and expanded…  By the end, there was a large area on the far side of the loop that had to be carefully navigated in order to avoid your entire foot being sucked down into dark thick mud.  There were several smaller areas that were the same and a couple of small jump-able puddles became large un-jump-able puddles. There was also one large water crossing and several bridges shored up by strips of plywood to navigate.  Otherwise, the trail was made up of an old road and we ran over packed grass a good deal.  It wasn’t a terribly difficult course, but it was a constantly changing course.

The race itself was well-supported, with a full aid station at the far end and a water stop in the middle.  Each loop ended with a run through all the campsites (and applause) on the fairgrounds, then through a building where your time was logged.  At that point runners had the opportunity to eat/drink and use the restroom—a REAL restroom!    

I enjoyed running.  Everyone was so nice.  We were passing each other head-on and so many people told me “Good job” or “Looking good.”  I’m still not sure if this is typical ultra etiquette or if I just looked haggard enough that people wanted to encourage me, but I tried to return the favor and urge other people on.  My legs and feet stayed fresh longer, probably due to softer surfaces.  However, I did have an IT band issue at mile 15 that made it excrutiatingly painful to run for several miles.  By mile 20 it had settled to a dull ache, so the last loop was actually faster than the second one when I was limping part of the time.  I nearly stepped on a snake, I tripped over a tree root, and I will now for sure lose one toenail, maybe two.  But I finished fairly strong and I am looking forward to trying this distance again.  In the meanwhile, I need to do some much longer trail runs.

All finishers were given really nice medals, a tech shirt, and fleece jackets!!!  Of course, it’s too warm to wear it this year, but I surely will next winter.

Things I learned:

1)  Trail conditions can deteriorate quickly and unpredictably.

2)  Orange Heed tastes like watery baby aspirin and it is NASTY.

3)  A little Coca-Cola near the end of a race is a good pick-me-up.

4)  DNFs are common in ultrarunning and I need to suck it up that I will have some.  

5)  When you get tired in a trail run you can’t shuffle along like you do on the road; you still have to pick your feet up.

6)  Sunburn is likely when you’re on the course for hours and hours.  Wear sunscreen!

7)  Beyond 26.2 miles, your entire arms will be hurting along with everything else.

50k runners getting last-minute instructions

Running across the fairgrounds headed for the finish

All done!

Awesome stuff!

Thanks to my precious husband for photos and video!

Cherry Tree 10M, Brooklyn, 19 February 2012

1:45:32 finish

I still love this race.  I fell in love with it in 2010 and I still love it.  This year we had perfect weather, maybe even a little on the warm side, and a new start line.  We also had a fabulous giveaway:

I had been telling my husband recently that I needed a hat with a bill and that would cover my ears (for snow running, if we ever have snow again).  Well here it is!  Last year we got ear wrap thingies and I literally wear mine all the time…like, nearly every run all winter.

The race itself was fairly uneventful.  I had run ten miles the day before, so my legs weren’t exactly fresh, but I was treating the race more as a training run so I wasn’t too worried.  I had a goal time of 1:50 and came in under that.  The finish line seemed slightly less well-organized than in the past, but it could be because I came in so late.  I also wasn’t able to go back to Bishop Ford High School this year for the post-race hot chocolate and festivities; I literally arrived, ran, and left.

Last year this lake was mostly frozen over. You can see it here.

Valentine 5K, Prospect Park, 12 February 2012

28:31 finish, 5k PR

Two PRs in two weeks in a park that I could never imagine running fast…it’s a 2012 miracle.  I registered for the Valentine 5k on a whim, because I found out it was part of a race series and I was already registered for the other two races.  (If you run all three you get a bag.  I’m a sucker for schwag that isn’t a t-shirt.)  

Race morning was COLD.  C-O-L-D.  The high (for NYC) winds meant windchills in the low teens and I didn’t even come close to getting warm until halfway through mile three.  At that point, what did it matter if I warmed up?  I just ran as fast as I could and beat my former 5k PR by four seconds.  Yeah, it’s not much, but when you’re me and you don’t train for speed, it’s a big deal.  lol

This was a Brooklyn Road Runner Club race and they did a bang-up job.  Check them out here.  They put little heart stickers on our bibs, which I thought was a nice touch. :)

Race Times

3/24/2012, NJ Ultra Festival 50k, 7:11:47

2/19/2012, Cherry Tree 10M, 1:45:32

2/12/2012, Valentine 5k, 28:31

1/28/2012, Brrrooklyn Hot Chocolate 10k, 58:50

12/4/2011, Join the Voices 5M, 46:48.37

11/20/2011, Philadelphia Marathon, 4:50:17

10/9/2011, Staten Island Half Marathon, 2:19:11

5/21/2011, Brooklyn Half Marathon, 2:19:13

4/3/2011, Urban Environmental Challenge 10k, 1:14:35

3/27/2011, Colon Cancer 15k, 1:34:29

2/20/2011, Cherry Tree 10M, 1:40:49

12/11/2010, Peter Rabbit Cross Country 3m, 29:45

11/7/2010, NYC Marathon, 4:47:34

9/26/2010, 5th Ave. Mile, 7:34

7/3/2010, Lamesa Jubilee 5k, 28:35

6/24/2010, Wall Street Run 3M, 27:57

2/21/2010, Cherry Tree 10M, 1:52:40

12/6/2009, Joe Kleinerman 10k, 1:04:09

11/22/2009, Race to Deliver 4M, 38:49

9/26/2009, 5th Ave. Mile, 7:43

9/20/2009, Queens Half Marathon, 2:29:23

7/18/2009, Run for Central Park 4M, 42:17

6/13/2009, NYRR Dash 10k, 1:11:36

5/31/2009, Japan Day 4M, 41:39

5/19/2009, Wall Street Run 5k, 29:47

4/19/2009, Run as One 4M, 45:11

11/27/2008, Turkey Trot 5k, 31:20

11/8/2008, Run for the Barrio 5k, 31:38

9/27/2008, Race for the Cure 5k, 31:05

9/13/2008, Mayor’s Two-Mile, 19:54

8/2/2008, Paul & Mike’s Excellent Mile, 9:07

7/19/2008, Las Fiestas de Amarillo 5k, 35:09

Brrrooklyn Hot Chocolate 10K, Prospect Park, 28 January 2012

58:50.02 finish, new 10k PR

This was an awesome race, and not just because I ran it faster than expected.  

I’ve been looking for opportunity to run races that are NOT organized and hosted by New York Road Runners, so I’ve been paying attention to races posted on NYCRuns.com.  Steve Lastoe, who runs the site, also directed this race, which is part of a three-race series called the Freeze & Fuhgeddaboudit Series.  There were some problems with timing, mainly that the NYCRuns brand new timing system didn’t work, so the race was turned into a “fun run” at the start line.  No matter, because I was still going to race it!  Most everyone was running with GPS anyway and the small number of runners meant the finish line clock was nearly dead on.

I’ve had some very good short training runs lately, but I didn’t expect to run as well at this race—or come close to a PR—because of the hill in the northern end of the park.  It kicks my butt every time I run there.  It helped that the start was directly at the bottom of the hill and I was fresh for the climb during the first loop.  With the exception of the minutes I was climbing the second time, I felt good the rest of the race.  I made a point to not look at my Garmin and to go more by effort.  I’m wondering now, of course, if I could have pushed it even a little more.

After the race we were treated to hot chocolate that was DELICIOUS.  I really mean it was DELICIOUS.  I think I might start having hot chocolate after every cold weather run.

**A side note:  This was my first race outing as a member of the Prospect Park Track Club.  Maybe that made me faster.

I don’t know where this delicious chocolate-y goodness came from, but I wish I did.

We got mugs for this race!

I met this really nice guy while waiting for the bus and helped him get to the park for his first-ever race. He finished in a very respectable 1:01!

Join the Voices 5M, Central Park, 4 December 2011

46:48.37 finish

I finally broke the curse of the five-mile race.  This was the fourth I registered for and the first I actually ran; I got sick before the other three races.  I must still be experiencing some extra fitness from marathon training, because I actually ran a lot faster than I expected to.  

I really loved this course.  We started by Tavern on the Green (former), then headed south around the bottom of Central Park, up Cat Hill to the 102nd Street Transverse, down West Drive, with a finish on the 72nd Street Transverse.  It doesn’t hurt that I’ve run this same loop multiple times with Achilles, but leaving Harlem Hill out of the equation and the mostly downhill last mile was awesome.

This race was a fundraiser for Voices Against Brain Cancer, in honor of the late NYRR president Fred Lebow (1932-1994) and all others who have fought brain cancer and brain tumors.

Post-race awards at the bandshell.  That’s Tony Danza in the blue shirt to the right of the blue wall.

Philadelphia Marathon, Philadelphia, 20 November 2011

Philadelphia Marathon Race Report (in which Norma falls apart in the second half)

4:50:17 - 2 1/2 minutes slower than my first marathon, while shooting for 7:00 minutes faster

Despite regular hill training, hills tend to be my downfall in any long-distance race. That held true today. The first half has two pretty good hills, but short. The entire second half was a series of rolling hills, with at least one fairly steep, long hill. By mile 18, my hamstrings were becoming a problem and I was having trouble getting full leg extension because they were both so tight. I had to stop a couple of times to stretch and the final three hills I just gave up and walked up, then ran down the other side. I’ve got to figure out something when it comes to hills. They generally don’t bother me, so I’m assuming this is an imbalance that shows itself when fatigue sets in. I’m only slightly disappointed, because I know there’s a learning experience in every race and I just like to run, even when it sucks.

Cons of Philly Marathon

Nightmarish course. It has way too many turns and three complete turnarounds— turn around and go the other direction in the span of a few feet. The entire second half is an out-and-back. Running a marathon is as much mental as it is physical and seeing runners come at me for nearly seven miles only exacerbated the hill difficulties.

Water stations were completely unpredictable. I admit I had only perused the course map in the weeks leading up to the race and I didn’t really look at it until the day before, but I’m used to long distance races having water stops at every mile, or at least at regular intervals. Water stops were as follows (estimated distance, since none corresponded to the actual mile markers):

• 2 miles
• 3.5 miles
• 5 miles
• 7 miles
• 8 miles
• 10 miles (+ gel)
• 11 miles
• 13 miles
• 14.5 miles
• 17 miles (+ gel)
• 18 miles
• 20 miles
• 21 miles
• 22 miles (+ gel)
• 24 miles
• 26 miles

This clearly shows that locations are not chosen for runner needs. At the very least, there needs to be a sign before each water stop indicating where the next water stop is, so that you can plan better. Had I known that I would be running up to 2.5 miles between drinks of water, I would have brought my own. (Good lesson for next time.)

Gatorade should be in GATORADE cups and water should be in plain cups.  Every. Single. Time.

At one point, the porta-potties were across a street that was open to traffic, so runners had to wait at the light to cross to go to the bathroom. That’s not great.

Number of runners = less than half that of NYC; width of streets = less than half that of NYC (MAJOR crowding first eight miles meant lots of bobbing and weaving). Of course, half the runners were doing the half marathon, so crowding became a non-issue once they veered off to their finish.

Didn’t hear “Eye of the Tiger” one time all day.

Pros of Philly Marathon

There was a lot to look at. The first 7ish miles are in Center City, then you move through University City (with a vibrant Greek row) and past the zoo into some really pretty parks. From mile 11 you are running alongside the Schuylkill River, which is also pretty. Philadelphia has monuments everywhere, so there were lots of those to look at, even if you don’t have time to stop and see what they’re for. There are also a number of museums and we passed a couple of cemeteries I wouldn’t mind going back to see. The start/finish line is in front of the art museum and the “Rocky” steps. The Rocky statue wears a race jersey.

Early start. I’d rather start early and be done early than start late, even if that means the risk of some pretty cold weather in November.

Low-key crowds. This might be a con for some people, but I prefer a quieter marathon experience.

Wide open finish chute/meeting area. No long lines! Family can come right up to the finish!

Your name on your bib!

Great medal!

High-fived the mayor at the finish!

Waiting for post-race pictures.

Saw Hal Higdon at the expo. Thanks Mr. Higdon for great training plans!

Staten Island Half Marathon, Staten Island, 9 October 2011

2:19:11.02 Finish

I PRed this race by two seconds and change, but I hated this race, I’ll be honest.

It started with a ferry debacle, in which a small boat arrived at the terminal and a couple thousand runners (including me) were left behind and had to wait on another boat.  Surprisingly, I crossed the start line just about 15 minutes late, which wasn’t as bad as I expected.

As for the race itself…

First, no one expects an October race in New York City to be pushing 70 degrees.  Second, the out-and-back course was hilly and in full sun.  Third, there wasn’t much to look at.  There were some pretty stretches, like through Ft. Wadsworth and Bay Street.  (Bay Street also had some cheering crowds.)  But there were long barren miles through an industrial area (with a lone DJ) that weren’t great.   

I pushed through it and as I mentioned, PRed just barely.  Still, the logistics and course make it unlikely that I’ll run this race again.  

Runners took pictures of the Statue of Liberty on the way to SI.

Volunteer, Achilles Hope and Possibility 5M, 26 June 2011

I hadn’t volunteered at a race in a good long while, so when the Achilles Hope and Possibility 5-miler was posted I decided to sign up.  It seemed fitting since I’ve been volunteering with local Achilles International athletes.  

I had never been a course marshal before, so that’s what I chose from the list. Course marshals are posted around the course every couple hundred feet or so. They make sure runners stay inside the course and look out for runners who need assistance of any sort.  And marshals get to cheer and encourage everyone who passes by.  :)

My assigned area is also in the narrowest part of Central Park.  At first it seemed idyllic, but then when the bulk of the runners came through, it became nerve wracking.  There simply wasn’t a way to keep everyone on the course.  

But because I was within a mile of the starting line, my job was over fairly quickly.  I think I was only at my post about 90 minutes.  That gave me plenty of time to head over to the finish line and cheer on the runners wrapping up the race.  I also had time to watch the kids races, which I’ve never done before.  

Volunteering is always fun - if you’ve never done it, I encourage you to try it at least once.  And the Achilles race was very inspirational; lots of excellent and courageous athletes of all abilities.  I suspect I’ll be in Central Park for this race again next summer.

Kids lining up to race

Anthony Edwards was there

First Trail Training Run

Staten Island Greenbelt white trail

After saying I was going to do it for several months, I finally did complete my first-ever training run on a trail.  If you’ve been following along, you know that I did my first-ever trail race back in March in the Bronx’s Van Cortlandt Park.  

I planned to go back there to do a couple of training runs after buying my super duper Brooks Cascadia trail shoes, but it’s actually not that easy to get to Van Cortlandt Park.  Most of the trains run local anyway on weekends, but between race day and now, there have been several weeks that 1 has not run at all on Saturdays and Sundays.  (The 1 train is the only train that goes to Van Cortlandt Park.)  

So, while perusing the interwebs, I happened across a map of Staten Island on a site called RunYourCity.  I had NO IDEA that the Staten Island Greenbelt existed!  Here’s part of a map:

All of those colored lines are trails!  I did a quick check with MTA and discovered I could take a bus from my house to the far south end of the White Trail in under an hour, so on Memorial Day that’s where I headed.

The White Trail, where it begins on Hylan Blvd., is mostly grass for at least a quarter mile, then it begins to turn into dirt and dirt/rocks.  I ran five miles and enjoyed myself immensely, although there were some challenges:

1)  The trail was broken up in several places by roads.  This part of the Greenbelt juts out and runs through residential areas.  It took real concentration to remember how to get back.  (Thank you Garmin!)

2)  It had rained the night before, so the grass at the beginning of the trail was wet.  Which meant my feet were soaked within a few minutes and I ran the entire trail in sloshy shoes.

3)  I was completely unprepared for the aftermath, which included a number of bug bites and scratches up and down my legs and arms.  I have resigned myself to being scarred from trail running.  And I must learn coping strategies for the severe itching that accompanied these bites and scratches, despite taking Zyrtec and Benadryl.  

I still plan to run Van Cortlandt, but I’m very excited about finding these Staten Island trails and I’m anxious to run all of them.  Here are some links:

Staten Island page on RunYourCity

Full Staten Island Greenbelt trail map (pdf)

Staten Island Greenbelt Conservancy