Running Through the Night

This weekend I had the opportunity to help a friend on her first 100 mile race--yes you read that correctly. My friend Rebecca is about as tough as they come. She's done three 12 hour races before and had even done 76 miles in 19 hours as part of a 24 hour race. That may sound like a ton of miles (and it is!) but the difference between 100 and 76 is almost a full marathon so she was really going into uncharted territory.

Rebecca came to New York to take part in the inaugural NYUR Great New York 100 Mile Running Exposition. On Friday Rebecca got into town with her mom and boyfriend (her "support crew") so we all went to carbo load with another friend (and pacer) Bobby at Spumoni Gardens. During dinner Rebecca explained the course and her strategy, all while seeming unbelievably calm. We called it an early night since the race began at 5:30am the next morning.

Photo credit: Locusart

The 100-mile course began in Times Square, ran north along the Hudson into the Bronx, east to Pelham Bay Park, south and over the the Triborough Bridge into Queens, west to Flushing Meadows, and south to Rockaway Beach where I was scheduled to meet Rebecca at the Mile 71 aid station. I got there early to make sure I wouldn't miss her which meant I got to observe several runners coming through. A lot of the runners looked really beat up and some seemed a little out of it so I was worried about what to expect from Rebecca.

When she showed up a little before midnight, however, Rebecca looked surprisingly fresh. Although she'd warned Bobby and me that she might be cranky she also seemed in good spirits--especially for someone who had been on her feet for 18+ hours! After taking some time to refuel, use the bathroom, and get the requisite hugs from her support crew, Rebecca was ready to keep moving.

Unlike shorter races, where the pacer's job is truly to keep the pace and push the runner, the pacer's job in an ultra is more about keeping the runner safe, keeping the runner awake, and making sure the runner has everything he or she needs between aid stations.

I had never gone for a run past midnight before, I had never paced an ultra before, and I had never run most of the route I had volunteered for so this was a new experience.  How to describe it? Awesome.

Rebecca was so upbeat the whole time. Pacing her and watching her cope with what must have some serious pain was inspiring. When I passed her off to the next pacer on the Coney Island Boardwalk she was still alert and positive--two things I don't think I could have been after 22+ hours of running! She was determined to finish the race before the 28 hour cut-off and she did, with almost an hour to spare.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go catch up on some ZZZs.

Brooklyn Half-Marathon Race Report

I don't think any race on the NYRR calendar this year has been as hyped up as the Brooklyn Half-Marathon. Well, at 4am on Saturday it was finally time to check out the hype. After a long ride on a 5am local train packed to the gills with runners I arrived at the Brooklyn Museum. I honestly could not believe the number of porta-potties (not all the runners were there yet--soon I couldn't believe their numbers). It felt more like a big city marathon than an outer-borough half. Before I get to the meat of my race report let me say a big hats off to NYRR for putting together a really well-run event.

The start corrals on Eastern Parkway

Somehow I found my teammates though I missed warming up with them because I had to wait in line for one last bathroom visit. After a brief warm-up on my own I made my way to the corrals. There may have been 15000 runners but since I was in the first corral with a bunch of my teammates it was easy enough to find folks. I even saw one of my running buddies, Bobby, who was there to cheer. Unfortunately I missed him on course later.

After a string of local politicians told us to "run smart," it was time for the start. Several of us had decided to go out at between a 1:24 and 1:25 pace. This was pretty conservative given that most of us have PRs several minutes lower. The first mile of the course is a mix of gentle downhill and uphill. I felt okay but not great--it wasn't effortless like the way I felt the last time I PR'd in the half. I passed mile 1 in 6:30 and we headed towards Grand Army Plaza. As I looped back around the circle for mile 2 in 6:23 I was beginning to "feel Boston" in my legs. Still, I was trying to hang with my teammates for as long as possible. That's why I did mile 3 in 6:10.

As we ran around the outside of Prospect Park, I started to convince myself that there was no point in trying so hard since it was clear my legs weren't going to let me PR or even break 1:23. I was running with one of my teammates who had also done Boston and I figured I would stick with him and then reassess. We entered the park and I did mile 4 in 6:28. I knew the only real hill of the race wasn't too far ahead and I think I started slowing accordingly. Miles 5 and 6 were 6:47 and 6:45 respectively.

As the course headed south again I realized I had lost my teammates, though several passed me at this point. I did mile 7, the last full mile in the park, in 6:25. As we exited onto Park Circle I saw several teammates out cheering which was awesome. I smiled and made the turn onto Ocean Parkway. All I could think about was the long stretch of monotonous miles ahead of me. I never felt bad but I never felt the rush that I expect in a race--it never felt like I had truly hit my stride.

My miles on Ocean Parkway went by in 6:33 (mile 8), 6:42 (mile 9), 6:40 (mile 10), 6:33 (mile 11), and 6:38 (mile 12). At one point I saw Matt, one of the team captains. I had run with him earlier and he had gone ahead but a pit stop had lost him some time. I said hi but didn't try to keep up. Instead of worrying about my time I made my goal to thank as many volunteers as possible. At mile 12 there was a large group of Whippets members cheering which was tons of fun.

Before I knew it I was turning onto Surf Avenue for the final stretch. I saw the "800m to go" sign and then it was time to turn onto the Coney Island Boardwalk. I charged up the ramp--probably the only time I passed anyone in the final 5 miles--and could see the finish. The time was getting close to 1:26 and I decided I had to have a finish time with a 1:25 in it so I picked it up and crossed with a net time of 1:25:50. It was my second slowest half-marathon (only my debut race back in 2008 had been slower). I had a really fun time thanks to my teammates--we hung out at the beach afterwards and enjoy comically large beers at Nathans--but had I been running alone I would have rated the day a failure.

As I posted yesterday, it was a true learning experience. I've done some of the toughest workouts in my running career over the past 6 months and run intervals at faster speeds than I thought possible but I've simply done too much. There's a reason I haven't PR'd at any distance other than the marathon since 2010, I haven't been training smart. So now it's time for some serous R&R because I'm ready to run fast and feel good again.

An Incomplete History of the Brooklyn Half

This Saturday is the much anticipated (don't ask me why) Brooklyn Half-Marathon. New York Road Runners has been doing this race since 1981 and even though it's changed in many ways over the past 30+ years, this year includes what are likely the most sweeping changes in the event's history. What follows is not so much a complete history as it is a collection of random facts about the evolution of the race. Enjoy!

The 2006 start on the boardwalk from NYRR.org

In 1981 the inaugural race, which ran along Ocean Parkway, had about 1800 finishers. Back then the race was held in March, a tradition that lasted for more than 20 years. This meant that some years the runners had to deal with snow and ice instead of the heat that is sometimes a problem these days.

In the early days the Brooklyn Half was particularly competitive, attracting world-class runners like Dick Beardsley in 1983 (though he was forced to drop out at the 9 mile mark due to an Achilles injury). 

In 1996, after a showdown between the Mayor's office and then-Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden, the race returned to city streets for the first time in 5 years. The almost 2,250 finishers began on Coney Island, ran up Ocean Parkway, and ended the race in Prospect Park.

In 2002 the registration cost for members was $14, $20 for non-members.

In 2004 the race was moved from March to April and it included an out and back on the Boardwalk before heading up Ocean Parkway. Since 2008 the race has been held in May with it falling as late as Memorial Day weekend in 2009.

In 2009 the direction of the race was switched, with the start on Prospect Park's Center Drive and the finish on the Coney Island Boardwalk near the Parachute Jump.

Will any of this information help you run a better race this weekend? Probably not, but it may help you appreciate the race as a living breathing thing. Good luck to all of you running!

Previewing the Brooklyn Half

I'm a firm believer in the benefits of knowing a course before you race it. There are tons of variables on race day--the weather, how you're feeling, etc.--so anything you can do to make things more certain is a plus. By checking out the course before race day you can get a better sense of the terrain and adjust your pacing accordingly. You can also get a sense of what the tangents are (more on this in a late post). Obviously, when a race is in another city you may only be able to look at maps of the course before race day. When it's in your own backyard, however, it's worth doing a little pre-race recon.

This weekend I had the chance to run the Brooklyn Half course with some fellow Whippets. Since the race is only two weeks away, this seemed like a good weekend to check it out. I've run this race before, back in 2009, but they've changed the course since then and even if they hadn't, three years is a long time.

After a late night in Queens on Saturday, I hauled my butt out of bed on Sunday morning to catch the train to Grand Army Plaza to meet fellow runners. We had a great turn out--probably around 20 people--so we were able to split up into pace groups. It was a little warm but nothing too bad. If it's warmer on race day I'll definitely pack some beach gear for after the race.

I'm not going to summarize the course since you'll get that as part of my race report when I run the darn thing in two weeks. Instead, I'm just going to offer a couple of observations that might be helpful to any of you running:

• The only "big" hill is inside Propsect Park around mile 5. Don't waste you energy here because you'll have plenty of downhill later to make up any lost time.
• Ocean Parkway goes on forever! Don't let that discourage you, just remember that it's actually a net downhill. 
• There's little to no shade in the second half of the course so sunscreen is a must.
• The stretch on the boardwalk is extremely short so don't fret if you've never run on that kind of surface before.
• It takes a long time to get back to Harlem from Coney Island so you might as well enjoy some hot dogs, ice cream, or pizza before heading back.