Yonkers Half Marathon

13.1 Miles
2:09:39 Time
9:54 Pace

My official/ranked time was 2:10:05 and the net time was 2:09:39.

My prior road half PR was 2:17:41 (Yonkers 2010, the only road half I had run prior to today.)

I finished strong.  I really finished strong.  I ran a negative split (see comments below) and the last two miles were the best miles.  I feel I just took off, and I was flying by people at the end.  I went in thinking I would just take it easy and not really care how I was running.  I didn't want to run too hard and risk injury or worry about recovery time because of New York.  Then I got warmed up and I was feeling good, better than I had been feeling recently.  I figured let's see what I can do.  I was worried that I would crash toward the middle but other than it went really well.  When I was told I was at mile 12 but I thought it was mile 11, that helped give a big boost.  I don't think it was quite mile 12 though because of how much longer it took to finish.  I felt great when I finished and had no problems eating or anything, unlike how I felt when I ran this last year.

I don't think my body was in top shape because I ran Friday and Saturday, but I gave a great effort today.  I probably could do a little better in better shape but a PR is a a PR.  A big boost of self esteem.  Then my self esteem was reduced when I was talking to this young woman who ran it in 1:57.  She said it was her first half, she did her 1 ten mile run, a lot of treadmill running and barely ran for the last two weeks (I think injury or something.)

-Other notes

CardioTrainer had total elevation 361 yards.

Some pictures (including some of the rolling hills Yonkers is known for) http://www.flickr.com/photos/59540935@N08/sets/72157627576121545/

The weather was good.  Perfect actually.  It was like high 40s at first (8 AM start) and then it went up to like mid 50s.  Not too cold or hot for shorts and a tech shirt.

For breakfast, cereal/smoothie, then bagel w/cream cheese/banana/small coffee right before the race.  For fuel I had 3 Cliff Shot energy gels and water at most of the aid stations (there was one at each mile).

-Negative Split information

CardioTrainer had 13.36 Miles/2:10:01 Time/9:43 Pace

Mile 01 09:30
Mile 02 09:49
Mile 03 09:35
Mile 04 10:36
Mile 05 09:58
Mile 06 10:15
Mile 07 06:15 (68% of 9:11)
1st Half 6.68 Miles/1:05:58/9:53 Pace

Mile 07 02:56 (32% of 9:11)
Mile 08 10:01
Mile 09 10:01
Mile 10 10:11
Mile 11 10:06
Mile 12 08:57
Mile 13 08:57
End .36 02:54 (.36 miles CardioTrainer only shows full miles but this should be correct)
2nd Half 6.68 Miles/1:04:03/9:35 Pace

The Labor Day 3/4 Marathon, Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY

4:18:26 Time
19.65 Miles
13:09 Pace

1. 4:18:26/13:09 pace vs 4:34:36/13:59 pace at the Easter Marathon where I also tried 3 loops.

2. Loop 1-Felt great, almost felt like I ran it a little too fast.
Loop 2-Struggled a bit but I saw Louis G (see 4) and he helped pace me and a girl was yelling at people who started walking which also helped.
Loop 3-Started doing the run walk thing, and then more walking. I started listening to music which helped a little. It got a bit ugly but not too ugly. I also saw a women from Stamford, CT by a water fountain (she had a running shirt that mentioned Stamford Volvo) and we spoke about Irene while she filled her water bottle.

3. Overall, I feel beat but nothing painful. My legs were/are burning a little. Just I couldn't run the whole distance, but it's definitely a tough course for someone to run the entire distance. I should add it wasn't as hot as Easter which helped.

4. I saw my Daily Mile friend Louis G, who is the first person I met from this site (2 Daily Mile friends I met before they were Daily Mile friends.)  I saw him ahead of me loop 1 and caught up and chatted and then I picked up the pace and then he caught up and we chatted some more.

5. CardioTrainer has total climb as .4 miles, though I did two loops before and it showed .4 miles and my 18.4 mile road run in July had .4 miles, so that might not be accurate.

6. Labor Day vs Easter times
Loop 1 1:19:44/12:10 pace (time includes 6:52 break after the loop) vs 1:26:29/13:12 pace at Easter
Loop 2 1:28:38/13:32 pace (time includes 6:51 break after the loop) vs 1:27:20/13:20 pace at Easter
Loop 3 1:30:04/13:45 pace vs 1:40:47/15:23 pace at Easter

7. Fuel
Breakfast-Smoothie with protein/nutritional yeast/juices/fruits and cinnamon oat cereal.
Pre race-1 Cliff Shot energy gel and banana.
Race-35-40 oz powdered Gatorade, water, Gatorade perform (35-40 oz each loop), 4 Cliff Shot energy gels, 2 bananas and 3 Gatorade primes

8. Pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59540935@N08/sets/72157627602249492/

 http://www.thelabordaymarathon.com/

The Jamaica Underwear Run in Central Park

From Friday

1.79 Miles
13:43 Time
7:40 Pace

The website says its 1.7 Miles but CardioTrainer had more.

My friend Tracy was suppose to do this event but she canceled and suggested on her blog someone say they are her at registration. This is a free event but it reached capacity, though they don't stop people from running it who aren't registered. With registration however I got a ticket for bag check and free boxers at the end. I was honest and told them she canceled and I would taking her place, and luckily they took my word.

I got to the event a bit early and was a little self conscious to strip. As more people came, it was easier to just to, you know, take your pants and shirt off, and put on my costume. I was able to get close to the front of the start and when the race started I was blocked briefly by two sets of two people holding their arms together and people on my side. After I passed them I was able to keep my pace without worrying about bumping into anyone. It was tough running at the 7:40 pace and I didn't really hold a steady pace based on the CardioTrainer graph. I was really psyched the first mile was 7:03, despite that I took some pics while running.

I slapped hands with the Naked Cowboy when I finished and then someone from the press (or maybe Brightroom) stopped me and asked to get a picture. Then I remembered to stop CardioTrainer (so actually my time might be a little faster.) All in all it was a fun night. Good weather. I also recognized the friend of someone I know from races and I said hello and introduced myself and we chatted for a minute or two. It was neat to run through Central Park in my boxers and see other people in their underwear and costumes as well. Some people in the area didn't care, other people cheered myself and the other runners on which was nice. The tourists were probably confused.

http://www.nyctri.com/Jamaica_Underwear_Run.htm
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=210537628985105
Pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/59540935@N08/sets/72157627366706220/
Youtube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45Da2xR9edA

Run A Muck 5K

3.1 Miles
54:13 Time
17:10 Pace

This was harder than I thought it would be.  I was aware of some obstacles, but you had some tough terrain to deal with and parts of the course were quite narrow.  Luckily, lots of trees made it shady and cool.  I did it with 3 other people, we were runaway brides and grooms.  We ran as part of the 4 person/team costume run.  Lots of fun, I might do another race like this in the future.

Sebago Beach/Harriman State Park, NY
http://runamuckfestival.com/locations/new-york/