50000+ Pheidippideses in New York

Tomorrow, Sunday Nov 1, New York City hosts the annual Marathon, famously known as world's largest Marathon.  Ever since Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens bearing news of defeat of the Persian army more than 2500 years ago there has probably never been a bigger line up of Marathon runners. Pheidippedes supposedly ran about 40 km nonstop, with no aid stations on the way, upon arrival at the Athenian assembly announced "We have won" and then collapsed and died. Since that time the Marathon has been a singular touchstone of human endurance. No wonder, Marathon has been a part of the Olympics  from its very first modern version in 1896.

The distances in early Marathons tended to vary around 40 km.  The current standard is 42.195 km which came into being in a somewhat arbitrary fashion. This distance was born in the 1908 London Olympics when the royal family wanted the race to start at Queen Victoria's statue at Windsor Castle and to end at the 'Royal Box' in the stadium.

Tomorrow is the big day in New York City.  Last year there were 50,530 finishers with an average finish time of 4:34:45.  Here is some useful information if you would like to watch or check out the status. The race will be telecast on the web http://abc7ny.com/ and on broadcast channels ESPN, ESPN3 and possibly others. Race starts in multiple waves with wheelchair division starting at 8:30 AM, pro women 9:20 AM, pro men and wave 1 at 9:30, and ending with wave 4 at 11 AM. Live tracker for all runners and the leader board will be available at http://liveresults.nyrr.org/e/NY2015#/tracker

Some big guns to watch  -

Men: Nick Arciniaga (US), Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico), Stanley Biwott (Kenya), Kevin Chelimo (Kenya), Lelisa Desisa (Ethiopia), Gebre Gebremariam (Ethiopia - past champion), Geoffrey Kamworor (Kenya), Meb Keflezighi (US - past champion returning in Masters this year), Wilson Kipsang (Kenya - defending champion), Daniele Meucci (Italy), and Krishnadas Kootale (okay...not yet :-)

Sponsors TCS have flown in two runners from home country India. Karan Singh and Arjun Pradhan, the top two Indian finishers from Standard Charterd Mumbai Marathon. Karan will be targetting 2:17 to qualify for the Olympics. Arjun has set a goal of 2:22.

Women: Christelle Duanay (France), Buzunesh Deba (Ethiopia), Priscag Jeptoo (Kenya - past champion), Mary Keitany (Kenya - defending champion), Sally Kipyego (Kenya), Sara Moreira (Portugal), Jelena Prokopcuka (Latvia - two-time champion), Caroline Rotich (Kenya), Laura Thweatt (US), and Tigist Tufa (Ethiopia)

Interesting Marathon trivia:

The oldest marathon finisher - Fauja Singh (British - age 100) finished the 2011 Toronto Waterfront Marathon taking 8:11:05.  Because he could not produce his birth certificate from his rural birthplace Beas Pind, Jalandhar (from 1911) his age could not be verified and his record was not recognized by the governing body World Masters Athletics.

Youngest Marathon finisher - Budhia Singh (Indian - age 3) ran 65 km from Bhubaneshwar to Puri in 2006. Apparently, he had completed 48 Marathons by the age of 4. He was temporarily banned from running by child welfare due to risk to his life.

If THEY can run, WE can run!

Have a great weekend.


P.S. I took a break last week to recover from three half Marathons in the three prior weeks and to give some well-earned rest to my left ankle. I am back to my three runs this week.

Let's science the sh*t out of your breathing

Okay, now that some of you may have seen the movie The Martian I'll level with you on the title.  When the buzz was on about the movie, a friend forwarded a clip from director Ridley Scott's storyboard which was a simple cartoon with a sphere representing Mars and the words 'Science the shit out of Mars'. I thought that phrase would make an excellent title for a post I wanted to write here analyzing breathing, of course with the hope that most of you would not see that cartoon and take the title as original, not a copy which it is in reality.  Last week I watched the movie, and to my dismay I saw that Ridley Scott actually used the phrase in the movie also -  Matt Damon (astronaut Mark Watney) who was abandoned by his teammates thinking he was dead collects himself after the initial shock and is determined to survive in the hostile martian environment.  After a quick survey of the situation, he goes 'I'm gonna have to science the shit out this.'  It seems like that phrase is the most popular line in the movie.  Even so, at the risk of being utterly unoriginal, I will still use the line here anyway.   By the way, if you get a chance, do see the movie. Jim Green, who is Director of Planetary Sciences Division was so impressed with the book and the movie that the movie received a lot of NASA 'support' and involvement throughout its production. Jim held a science conference call on The Martian this Tuesday, which I missed because it was during regular working hours. I plan to watch the recording. I must admit, just for the record, that I didn't find everything in the movie palatable. For instance, the atmosphere looked too dense for Mars, and the gravity also looked much stronger, more like Earth's. You can nitpick even more, but in spite of these, I found the movie very enjoyable. Tara was with me and, even as a self proclaimed science hater she thoroughly enjoyed the movie. In fact, she was mad at me, she still is, that we missed the first two minutes where the exact set up of the accident was shown which led to Mark getting separated in a sandstorm and the crew taking him for dead.

Alright, enough of the movie. Let's get back on track and start sciencing the sh*t out of your breathing.

Of all the parameters that signify endurance, probably the single most important one is known as VO2Max. This is just geek speak for the Maximum (Max) Volume (v) of Oxygen (O2) that one can consume in a minute. The higher your VO2Max the higher your capacity for long duration hard work - that is, your endurance.  They use this metric to study physiological response of astronauts to long stays in space to understand how their ability for hard work is affected when put in a weightless state for a long time.  The same metric is used by coaches in various sports, and especially in running.  There can be some variations depending on the situation. For example, a lighter runner can work as efficiently with a smaller VO2Max as a heavier runner who has a higher VO2Max because the heavier runner needs to carry more weight because he has a heavier body.  So in the context of running, usually the metric as it relates to body weight,  VO2Max per kg of body weight, is used. In contrast, in the sport of rowing where the rower doesn't have to carry himself like a runner, it is the absolute volume that matters.  In any case, the amount of oxygen you can intake and transport to your muscles is the key factor in long duration endurance sports where you spend a lot of time working aerobically.  When working aerobically, you continually produce energy by taking in oxygen using your lungs which is then pumped out by your heart through the arteries and transported to the capillaries that reach your muscles. The muscles then use the oxygen to generate energy to do work. In anaerobic work, on the other hand, you are using stored energy in your muscles. Stored energy is limited, but when you have it you can use it for powerful or short duration bursts such as sprints. You won't be able to sprint for a long time because your are withdrawing from stored energy which is limited.

When you train yourself for endurance, your aerobic capacity increases, which is to say your VO2Max goes up so that your capacity to perform long duration work (e.g., long runs) increases. When we run, do we always consume the maximum volume of oxygen? No. Typically, people run at a certain fraction of their VO2Max.  We can run harder or easier by working at a higher or lower fraction of  our VO2Max, but generally at a certain level of effort we are performing at a certain percentage of our VO2Max. Your running speed has a linear relationship with the fraction of VO2Max you are working at. Let's say your VO2Max is 50 ml / kg / min (50 milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute) and your running speed is 300 meters / minute when you work at VO2Max. Then at 90% of VO2Max, which is 90% * 50 = 45 ml/kg/min, your speed will be about 90% * 300 = 270 meters / minute. When you run at 50% of VO2Max, you attain a speed of 50% of your speed of VO2Max. This is a direct linear relationship.

So what happens when you train and improve your VO2Max? Let's take an example. Let's say your VO2Max is 50 ml / kg / min and your comfortable effort level is at 80% of your VO2Max. At that effort level you will be consuming 80% * 50 = 40 ml of oxygen / kg / min.  That corresponds to a running speed of 80% * 300 = 240 meters / minute.  Now, let's assume that by training yourself you've raised your VO2Max to 60 ml / kg / minute.  Your comfortable effort level would be 80% of your new VO2Max, which is  80% * 60 = 48 ml / kg / min. That is a 20% increase over 40.  So now at 80% VO2Max your running speed will be 20% higher at 288 meters / min.  Alternatively, when you run at 240 meters / min you will achieve that speed at a lower level of effort.  Makes sense?

What does all this mean to your breathing when running?  Simple. You should breathe in such a way that you maximize the volume of air you intake in a minute.  Oh, by the way, as an interesting side note, the body's urge to breathe is more an attempt to get rid of the waste product Carbon Dioxide (CO2) than an urge to intake oxygen.  The body is quite comfortable with about 4-5% of CO2 in your lungs. But when you start running, your muscles produce much more CO2 than when at rest. When the body senses an increase above the normal 4-5% range you breathe harder to get rid of the excess CO2. It is the increase in CO2 that makes you breathe harder. Not the drop in the amount of oxygen. In fact, if oxygen were to be insufficient, you will simply pass out. We are fortunate that before that happens, the increase in CO2 drives us to breathe harder reducing CO2 buildup and increasing the O2 content in our lungs.

The air we breathe has plenty of oxygen. So all we need to do to deliver the maximum amount of oxygen to the muscles in a given amount of time is to intake maximum volume of air in that amount of time.  How does this translate to a breathing rate?  Let's again take an example of a runner who takes about 180 steps per minute (if you take fewer steps per minute, you should practice and get it up to at least 180 - probably a good topic for another "science the sh*t out of" post in the future :-) Let's say you breathe in for four steps and breathe out for four steps (a 4-4 rhythm). You are taking deep breaths and you'll probably move about 4 liters of air in and out of your lungs in every inhale-exhale cycle. How many breath cycle do you take in a minute?  That would be 180/8 = 22.5 cycles moving about 22.5*4 = 90 liters of air in and out of your lungs in a minute.  If you are working hard that is not very much.

Let's look at a 3-3 rhythm. Now you are breathing a bit faster and so the depth of each breath is a bit less. You'll probably move about 3.5 liters of air in and out of your lungs in every cycle. That would translate to 180/6=30 cycles yielding 30*3.5=105 liters of air in a minute. This gives you a lot more oxygen than the 4-4 breathing rhythm. Now let's look at a 2-2 rhythm where you inhale for two steps and exhale for two steps while taking the same 180 steps per minute. You are breathing a lot faster now which will reduce the volume of air further to about 3 liter per breath. At the 2-2 rhythm you get 180/4=45 cycles of breath in a minute moving 45*3 = 135 liters of air in and out of your lungs, which does an even better job of ventilating your lungs, reducing CO2 buildup and increasing oxygen intake.  A faster breathing rate of 1-1 drastically reduces the volume of air you can take in and also increases the portion of breath that moves through your mouth which doesn't get involved in O2 and CO2 exchange,  further reducing the efficiency.

You can now see why a breathing rhythm of 2-2 is most beneficial.  Most elite runners automatically switch to the 2-2 rhythm when running at sub maximal speeds. Practice breathing the 2-2 rhythm by mentally saying "in.. in.. out.. out.." to synchronize your breathing with your steps. Even when running easy try to get into this rhythm and make it a habit. You will deliver the maximum amount of oxygen to your muscles, helping you go farther and stronger.

Happy running.

If I can run, u can run

Do Women Outnumber Men?

If you are talking about half marathons, apparently in many races the answer is yes. Yesterday's race is a case in point.  Women - 741; Men - 462!

To put this in historical context, for the first time in Boston Marathon history, Kathrine Switzer entered the race in 1967 when it was considered a men's only race.  Mid race, a race official noticed that a woman was running and he tried to physically remove her from the race. The effort was thwarted by her boyfriend who was running with her, and Kathrine successfully finished the marathon heralding a new era for women. Ever since, women's participation in endurance races has been on a growth path, with the half-marathon being a special favorite. Running USA's annual half marathon report for 2014 states -

For the first time in history, 61% of U.S. half-marathon finishers were females (approximately 1,196,000, a record), the highest proportion of any race distance.

Way to go, women!

We had a cold day very uncharacteristic of mid-October. Mercury reading  32 F (0 C) with winds in 10-15 mph taking the chill factor to 27 F (- 2.5 C).   However, the day was bright and sunny and seemed to take the bite out of the cold.  Due to the Halloween theme a lot of people showed up in various costumes from spider man and batman to tooth fairy and easter bunnies.  Historic Morristown is a very charming and beautiful town. The race was organized by Superhero Racing.  Overall, everything was managed pretty well by the organizers.  Tara joined me to cheer for me at the finish line.  We met up with our friend Prathap who was also running. We looked for my colleagues Kshitij and Yan who couldn't be found in the crowd. I left a voice message for Yan.

Left to right: Prathap, me and Tara

The race had a finish line about two miles away from the starting point. The organizers had arranged buses to transport finishers back to the starting area.  I gave a call to Morristown Running Company who were managing the arrangements to enquire if family members will be allowed on the bus, and more importantly, if they can get a ride from the start to the finish line.  They confirmed that family members can use the bus either way.  However, on race day morning the volunteers we saw on the site had no information about buses going from start to finish.  So I advised Tara to look for the buses after the race starts, and take the bus if they allow her. Otherwise, she can stay at the starting area where I will meet her after the race - after a long long wait for her.  Anyway, things didn't go well as we hoped with the bus. After the race started, Tara was told by a volunteer that buses were only for runners.  But instead of waiting at the start area, Tara surprised me by walking her way to the finish line using Apple maps on her phone!  Of course, as all this happened after the race started I wasn't sure where I would find her once I finish - whether at the finish area or at the start area. However, as she is very mature for a tenth grader I was confident that she would be fine.

Kshitij (R) with a fellow superman 

The mood among the runners was very upbeat and joyful despite the cold.  The orange color race t-shirt and the various costumes loosened up the environment unlike in some other races where  most people would seem to be having their minds focused on their own races,  In contrast the atmosphere was very jovial and a lot of chatter and laughter in the air lightened up everyone.  The race organizers had arranged pacers. I could see 2:00 hr pacers a bit ahead of us as Prathap and I waited for the start, and the 2:10 or 2:15 pacers behind us. I was wondering whatever happened to Kshitij and Yan and right about that time Kshitij showed up with a beaming smile! He also had news from Yan that she was still on the road.. oh, well..

The race started in two waves. The first 'wave' was for one elite runner, and the second wave for the rest of us lesser mortals a couple of minutes later.  I was considering two strategies for this race. One was repeating my Staten Island strategy of running easy for half the distance and then taking it up to a moderately hard level for the rest of the way. The other was to attempt to run about five seconds per mile faster and hopefully shave one minute off my Staten Island time of 1:57:54.  In order to do this, I should try running harder from the get go, because if I were to go easy for the first half I wasn't sure I could make up for it in the second half.  I wasn't too afraid to run a bit harder this time as I don't have another race coming up next week.  On the other hand, I thought if I ran too hard early I might run out of steam before the finish line.  Hence, I was split between these two options, but leaned a bit towards running harder, but hopefully below my lactate threshold and also hope I can hang on to that pace for almost two hours. I haven't run a threshold run in a while, and even when I did it was for less than an hour.  I finally decided to stop thinking and let myself loose a bit - in the sense run without holding back too much. That would mean I was going for saving about five seconds a mile.  While these thoughts were going through my mind we had already begun running. It was a bit too crowded when running around corners of streets one after another. I felt like I was running faster than my easy

pace, but I could see the 2:00 hour pacers ahead of me. I wondered if they were going too fast, or I was running too slow despite my feeling that I was running faster than usual.  I decided to continue at that pace for at least a mile to allow the body to warm up and then reposition myself relative to the 2:00 hr pacers.  After a mile or mile and half I started feeling warmed up and the body wasn't feeling like I was moving too fast.  I started feeling stuck behind a large group of folks who were following the 2 hour pacers. At some point just before the two mile mark, taking advantage of some extra space outside the paved road I passed the crowd and the 2 hr pacers. Once past the pacers, there was no congestion and there was a lot of space around the few people in that area. Right at the two mile mark the course took a sharp right turn and things took a bad turn for my ankle. The road was cut and uneven at that location and my left foot got caught in one of the uneven patches pushing my ankle outward. That hurt. It was the same ankle as I have been tending to for a while now. I watched it for a few minutes to see how it was doing. The pain seemed to reduce a bit, and I so I decided continue running.

You'll never catch me like this anywhere else!

All along the course, there were a lot of families and children cheering the runners.  Young kids looked very excited to see their superheros running in the neighborhood.  The course took us through some very nice views of Morristown and neighborhood. The scenery varied from downtown Morristown to residential areas and finally a very beautiful few miles in the Loantaka Brooks Reservation.  I kept chugging along at a harder than usual intensity.  After the residential areas which had some ups and downs, and of course a lot of residents who were cheering the runners, the course took us along the railroad tracks. I
wasn't sure where exactly we joined the tracks, but the course took us across Convent station and eventually left the tracks on its way to the very nice Giralda Farms area.  After Giralda Farms we entered Loantaka reservation which was quite a change of scenery.  The change from a suburban view to the thick wooded surroundings was very striking. Fall colors had already arrived and the course was paved with colorful tree leaves. The course here  looked like bike trails.  Miles 11 and 12 were in the reservation winding through the woods. I was feeling the miles by this time, and wondered if my decision to run a bit hard from the get go was a good idea. I was feeling fatigued, and felt like I was struggling.  Right around that area, I thought I didn't see the marker for mile 11 so I wasn't sure if I was running mile 12 or still on mile 11. I came across a fellow runner and asked if we passed mile marker 11. He seemed to think he saw it.  I had no reason to suspect he didn't, and that means two more miles to go and I kept at it.

I was only occasionally paying attention to my running form and breathing, for some reason. I was feeling tired, perhaps due to the hard running or perhaps I was running and breathing sloppy. Since I was still able to talk to a fellow runner, or crack a joke to some volunteers who were guiding us in the right direction through the winding course in Loantaka, I presumed I must be doing alright. Oh, by the way, to add some fun to the race, the organizers had arranged for 'zombies' to hide in the woods. Some of them tried to throw a scare as unsuspecting runners passed by.  There were several zombies, both male and female, hiding in the woods. I kept looking for them and whenever I spotted one, I made a shotgun with my hands and fired a shot at them making a loud pop with my mouth. That was fun.

Eventually, the course left the zombies and Loantaka Reservation. We could now hear the public address system at the finish area.  It was still probably one more mile to the finish line.. the longest mile of the race.  I kept at it.  There were people at street corners cheering the runners, instead of zombies trying to scare.   As we entered the finish area there were lots of people - families and friends, cheering their loved ones who are coming to the finish line. I started wondering if Tara made it to the finish area or she was still at the start area. I knew that I must've made good time . So instead of pushing still harder toward the finish line, I decided to look for Tara behind the ropes where families stood on either side.  Finally, I heard her voice call out 'Dad!! Dad!!' just moments before I crossed the finish line.

Yan after finishing her  first half marathon

I tried to catch my breath as Tara ran towards me.  We walked back and picked up the finisher's medal.  That was three half marathons in three weeks (Yay!) My legs were feeling stiff, but not as bad as last week. A banana, a bagel and a bottle of water later I did some stretches as I waited for my friends.   Soon, Prathap joined us, with all the excitement of finishing his first half marathon. Tara and I were so happy to share that moment with him.  We missed Kshitij at the finish line, and were not sure of the whereabouts of Yan.  Since my phone died along the way I had no way to contact either of them from the finish area, nor did I know if either of them had called.  After waiting for a while, the three of us took the bus back to the start area where we had parked our cars.  The bus was full of superheros and other characters who were happy after finishing a good half marathon. Later in the afternoon I learned that both Kshitij and Yan successfully finished the race. On the right is a happy picture of Yan after her finish,

I did good on time - 1:55:33 which was 2 minutes and 21 seconds faster than last week in Staten Island. Pace was 8:49 per mile as against 9:00 last week.  That is definitely faster than I wanted to run. No wonder I was feeling more exhausted than I was prepared for!  I should really consider running easy and relaxed next time.

If I can run, u can run.

Morristown half

Just a quick line to let everyone know that two of my colleagues, a friend and myself successfully completed Superhero Halloween Half Marathon in Morristown today (Sunday). Need some rest tonight. I'll post more details tomorrow. Hang tight, till then.

Looking forward to tomorrow's race

I skipped Wednesday's run after Sunday's race as I didn't want to put too much stress on the body before the third half marathon tomorrow. That is three in three weeks. Sounds cool. I did go for a run - the usual 10K - yesterday, though.  Did that at a higher intensity than usual. I wanted to check my maximum heart rate. I ran at a fast pace for the first 2-1/2 miles and then ran hard every uphill in an attempt to see how high I can get my heart rate. The highest I got was 179 which was much lower than what I was thinking I would see. Perhaps I didn't try hard enough. I will try again. But 179 does seem like some sort of benchmark as I got the exact same number in the previous race also. May be that is my max rate. I intent to make one more attempt.

Otherwise, I'm taking rest before tomorrow's half marathon in Morristown.  Tara wants to come along and watch.  It'll be nice to have someone from the family watching or cheering at the finish line.  Two of my colleagues and a friend are also planning to run tomorrow. That'll be fun.  The weather is going to be somewhat cold at 34 F (1 C). There is also a freeze warning. I hope there won't be any ice on the road.

The race is expected to be very colorful with lots of costumes and all due to Halloween. I will post a report after the race. Stay tuned.

If I can run, u can run

Staten Island: My Second Half

View across the Hudson as the runners waited

The Staten Island Half Marathon was an entirely different experience from Central Park.  Beautiful scenery across the Hudson river of Downtown Manhattan, gorgeous view of the Verrazano Bridge, and an excellent segment on the boardwalk.

I had a busy Saturday.  I had to work on something all day, and then had volunteer work at the observatory during the night.  I left the observatory a few minutes early in the night and got home around quarter past eleven. Staten Island doesn't have a lot of parking spots. So my first task was to make a list of parking lots and garages in the area.  I also quickly checked NYRR's website for any last minute announcements. There was indeed one - that the race will start 15 minutes late at 8:45 in the morning, and an extra ferry has been arranged at 7:45 AM from Manhattan to St. George Terminal Staten Island for the runners. That is the last ferry to take if you are coming from Manhattan.  My worry wasn't the ferry. It was car parking.  Last year there were about 10000 participants. When I did a quick search of the number of parking spots in the area, that came to about 2100. That right there was my worry.  Even if I assume that about half the people come from New York, that still leaves about 3000 people potentially left without parking spots!  I figured that driving all the way to Manhattan, finding parking there, and then taking the ferry to Staten Island is a bit too much to do and decided that I will drive straight to Staten Island and look for parking. If I am able to find parking then I will run. If not, I will return home. That was the plan.  And so I went to bed at around 12:30 to catch some shut eye and wake up at 5 o'clock or so for a start at 6.

Beautiful view of Verrazano bridge along the course

Long story short, I got one of the last few parking spots in St. George Courthouse which was about 10-15 minutes walk from the Ballpark where I needed to pick up my bib.  NYPD officers had blocked all traffic in and around the area. So the walk was easy.  Once I picked up my number and t-shirt, I did what every other person did - joined a long line for the urinal!  Thirty minutes later I was at the start.  Since there was a 5K race at 8:30 I had a 'front row' view of the race start. This was a smaller race of about 1500 runners, as against about 8600 for the half marathon.  Since I was right in front, I got to see the young fellow who sang 'God bless America..." in such a lovely voice.

After the 5K start I went off looking for my corral.  Due to the large number of runners and the relatively narrow street at certain points the race started in multiple waves. I think I was in the third wave, or it could be the second.  There were pacers like last time. The 1 hour 50 minutes pacer was at the front of my corral. That time is a bit fast for me according to my calculations. However, since this course is flat I thought I might make it and toyed with the idea of keeping up with the pacer.  Finally, I decided to stick with my own plan, which is to run at my own pace and see where that takes me. I planned to run at a moderate pace most of the race as I didn't want to get too exhausted at the end. I figured I will run at a moderate and comfortable effort at least for half the distance and then switch to moderately hard to hard for most of the remaining distance if not all of it. I didn't want to push too much as I haven't really done a tempo run after I hurt the ankle more than a month ago. So my hardest during the long part of the course after the first half would be at a level of effort which will allow me to talk, but it would be hard to do so - which is the definition I use for the range moderately hard to hard.   Oh, and by the way, this time I am armed with a hi-tech gadget - a running watch and heart rate monitor. I had only run one short run with it, but decided to take it along anyway. I also set heart rate zone alerts on the watch to alert me when I fall below zone 2, or go above zone 3 based on my maximum heart rate (Max HR). There was an element of guess in this calculation as the gadget was using a calculated rate for Max HR as I hadn't measured the actual rate for me.


The weather was gorgeous -  54 deg F and a light breeze. Bright and sunny.  Since this is mostly a flat course, and as the NYC Marathon was only three weeks away, I expected to see some serious running.  And I wasn't disappointed. As the start horn went off people took off.  I decided to take it easy for the first 10-15 minutes and then take it to a comfortable pace half the distance. As they say, the pace at which I can recite the national pledge.  If I am able to sing the national anthem, then I need to speed up :-)
The view all along was so nice and the fresh breeze so energizing that I didn't realize as I passed one mile after another.

The first few miles were along Bay Street going southward.  There were many local residents cheering the runners. At certain locations there were musicians playing instruments which made the environment very lively.  At some point I overheard someone say that he was going to walk up the hill, which was a cue that there was a minor challenge coming up. I changed my gears and got ready for it.  Tackle the hill before it tackles you, right? 

It didn't turn out to be a big challenge and I got back into my usual breathing rhythm pretty quickly. Moreover, there was a downhill just after the top of the hill which helped relax a lot as I didn't want to exert myself so early in the run. Somewhere around that section the course went in an underpass and the runners were having fun shouting and clapping making echos. Not to be left behind, I also displayed my prowess and gave a couple of coos which echoed very nicely from the ceiling above. 

NYPD officers were standing guard all along the way to make sure even pedestrians do not cross the street while the race was on. I'm pretty sure this must've inconvenienced some residents, but all the people I saw on the sides seemed to welcome and cheer the runners.   I grabbed a cup of Gatorade from a fluid station around mile 4 or so and took a bathroom break as I saw a few that didn't have any wait. That was probably after mile 6 or so. The busy street was behind us by now.  There were no ups and downs at all. This part was flat for as long as I could see. Although I couldn't see the sea, I could sense that it was close on my left,   I was also taking swigs at my bottle every now and then, and had already taken an energy gel by that time - just to make sure I don't run out of carbs. Running after a night of short sleep used to worry me before, but the last two experiences seem to show that energy is more important.  Around this time,  the course turned eastward towards seashore and the boardwalk. Things were going as per plan and I turned up the dial a bit. 

Somewhere around this time, my watch had started beeping  alarms that I was going above the limit I had set. I checked how I was feeling, and didn't find anything unusual or uncomfortable. Anyhow, I eased things a bit, but after a few minutes at that level, it didn't seem like the right intensity. So I went back up the notch again. In a few minutes the watch started complaining again. I checked the screen and it was showing 167. As I was feeling perfectly fine, I decided to ignore its complaints.  The run on the boardwalk was very very nice. I focused on my cadence and form and tried to maintain a good clip for what seemed to be two or three miles on the boardwalk, but I am not  sure as I didn't see any mile signs.

It seemed like everyone was enjoying that segment. There was a young girl who worried me a little bit that I might trip on her. She used to be behind me and occasionally she would speed up a bit and slowly move up past me, slowly, very slowly, and then drift in front of me a bit too close for comfort. I was afraid that I would trip on her. So I would move away from her, and then after a little while she would again slowly sneak up on me from behind and again drift in front of me. This went on and on for a long time. The only other thing that was going on was the constant screaming of my watch as it tried to persuade me to ease things down to the level I had set. At some point when I checked the heart rate was 171 or so, but as I was able to talk at that level I didn't want to dial things down.  I wasn't sure if I could turn off the alarm in one or two swipes, or if it really required me to go through the settings menu. Either way, as I didn't want to waste any time trying to turn off the alarm I decided to ignore it.  It kept screaming at me nevertheless like a nagging child. It did help a bit at times, as I occasionally approached another runner trying to pass him or her, the watch alarm would go off with perfect timing which worked like a signal and they cleared out of my way.

A short while after we got off the boardwalk there was a long climb up which was somewhat challenging. Interestingly, I didn't see too many people walking up that hill. It seemed like almost no one was willing to sit down and bargain with that one. It was the hardest part of the run and it was really nice to see people battling it out and conquering that challenge running rather than walking. I'm sure everyone knew that there is no shame in walking, and it is often wise to walk than run, but then why walk when you can run?

Somewhere around that point, we got back on to Bay Street where the race started.  From here it was mostly downhill. By now, my legs were kind of beginning to feel the miles they covered.  However, I kept a good pace wherever I could get a bit of 'gravity assist.'  Since this part of the road was also often uneven I was watching my steps. I didn't want to get injured and throw all the hard work away.  I did see two or three people who were unable to complete - two were limping as they suffered some sort of injury and  pulled out within the first few miles. The third one was a lady who seemed to have had cramps or something two or three miles before the finish line,  and a NYPD officer and a NYRR volunteer were helping her out.  The officer was calling for ambulance, and he shouted at the runners asking if anyone had water. One of the runners from behind shouted back that he had. That was truly nice. He was willing to give up his water and possibly not beat his personal best or whatever he was targeting. Instead, he clearly showed that compassion to a fellow runner is more important than his own personal goals in the race. At those final stages of the race when so much of his preparation running up to the race and the effort in running the race up till that point were all boiling down to the next 10 or 20 minutes that lay ahead of him, he remembered that at the end of the day this is just a run. He set a great example and sent a reminder to everyone that who we are and what we do for one another defines us more strongly than anything else.

The last half mile or so seemed unending. It was narrow and winding and at every turn I thought I would see the finish line, but it never seemed to come. My legs were feeling a bit stiff, but I didn't really notice it - strangely, though, I can remember it now looking back.  Finally, the ballpark entrance showed up after another turn and the soft turf of the ground gave a much different feel to the feet. Eventually, the turf gave way to a dirt patch before the finish line, which was the home plate of the ballpark.

I wasn't exhausted as much as stiff on the legs.  They were feeling tight in places I never felt tightness before.  I dragged my legs picking up some Gatorade, a bagel and an apple, and came down on the turf. A thousand other finishers tending to their feet and legs, or just crashing on their back. I finished my drink, ate half the bagel, and started my attempts to get my legs back in working order by doing some inner thigh and outer thigh stretches. It is more appropriate to say that I tried to do those stretches rather than I did, because the legs felt so stiff.  I think I had a taste of what it might feel like after a full marathon. I do think, though, that a lot of the stiffness and soreness I have from this run has to do with the fact that I have not run flat courses. So a different set of muscles must have been activated this time - muscles that I've not been using.

For the quantitatively minded, this is what the numbers show. I was surprised that my finish time of 1:57:54  was so close to the one last Sunday which was 1:58:16. In terms of pace, this run was exactly 9 minutes per mile whereas the previous one was 9:02 per mile!  I had another minor surprise from this run.  NYRR showed split pace for various distances. It seems like I ran almost the entire race at a consistent pace of around 28 minutes per 5 K.  First 5 K was run in 28:18, second 5 K exactly at the same pace in 28:18 down to the seconds! (I can guarantee that I don't have that much precision and control over my pace.) The third 5 K was 30 seconds faster at 27:48 and the next 5 K at 28:05 seconds. I find this interesting. Perhaps, my focus on a certain level of perceived rate of exertion combined with the mostly flat course resulted in a fairly constant pace. I don't think it can be true, as the feeling of exertion can vary based on fatigue during the run, but I can't think of any other explanation.

That's all for tonight. I am taking rest and recovering before the next half marathon this Sunday. I have some ways to go.

Enjoy your day.

If I can run, you can run

Quick word: Staten Island Half

Just to say quickly that I finished the Staten Island Half Marathon today. I need to take some rest and also catch up on sleep. I'll write more about the race tomorrow.



Thanks!

If I can run, you can run

Must Do Anti-Injury Stretches - Quad stretch

I had more aches and pains than usual after the race on Sunday, but two days of rest and I was fully recovered. I was back on the road again yesterday (Wednesday) on my regular schedule. Today is a rest day before tomorrow's run.

Quadriceps are one of the core sets of muscles involved in running. Hence, every runner's routine should contain a quad stretch.  You can do the following stretch standing or lying on your side on the ground.  The standing version is more 'portable' as you will probably be more comfortable doing the lying version indoors.  Choose whatever works best for you.

Stand on your left foot with the right hand resting on a wall or a tree for support. Bring the right heel up close to the buttocks. Grab the right foot with the left hand and pull the leg up and back toward the left shoulder. Don't press the heel into the buttocks. Pull the left foot up as if you were going to touch the shoulder blade with your heel. Hold for ten seconds. Lower your leg. Repeat with left heel. Do five sets.  That's all there is to it.

Do your stretches regularly and enjoy your runs injury-free.

If I can run, you can run.

More Must Do Anti-Injury Stretches

My first half-marathon experience

The morning was windy and chilly.  I got there before 7 o'clock well in time to pick up my bib and race T-shirt.  It wasn't as crowded as I thought.  Stats show about 4394 finishers.  2266 men and 2128 women.  It is always nice to run in Central Park. Very nice crowd, great volunteers, and excellent race organization as usual by New York Road Runners.

The race started exactly at 8 AM.  As I had been planning, I wanted to take things easy and not get caught up with the crowd in the race.  As my corral was at a higher elevation than the front line I could see the elite and front runners take off as the start gun went off.  Quite soon, my corral was briskly walking and started running within a few moments.  Apparently, rest of the folks had different plans. Almost as soon as we crossed the start line people ahead of me were running away from me faster and faster, and people from behind me were passing me, first in dozens and then in hundreds. That was more like a 10K pace or even faster for the general fitness population.  This reminded me of a scene in the movie Hidalgo. There was this big desert race of a 1000 or 2000 miles. As the start gun went off and the crowds cheered, the horses took off on a gallop. Our rider Mr. Hopkins cautioned his horse Hidalgo, "Ease up brother. Let them go. Never beat them in the quarter-mile."

I decided to stick to my plans, but it was kind of hard to tell at what pace I was running. Moreover, since I had started hydrating well over an hour and half before the start, and the toilet stop was more than half an hour before, the thought of finding a port-a-john started occupying my mind.  At mile 2 I did see a couple of port-a-johns, but I felt like I could carry on for a little more, and didn't want to stop that early in the race.  The race is two full loops of Central Park, and then an extra mile and some more. I wanted to go on an easy pace for one full loop and a bit more, but I was feeling that I was running faster than I wanted to. Perhaps the crowd was pulling me along with it.  I kept a steady pace at a moderate intensity and tried to keep my mind off what other runners are doing.  After the initial few miles I didn't notice too many people passing me. It seemed like things were settling down for everybody. Soon after, I started noticing that I was passing some folks who had started puffing and panting. That wasn't surprising considering the fast pace at which a lot of people took off.  This is the part in the movie where Mr. Hopkins tells Hidalgo, "What did I tell you, little brother? Go back to work now."

One of the things that makes Central Park interesting is that you see a lot of different people. Different kinds of people.  Although the race doesn't allow it, I watched a lot of young mothers and some fathers running on the other side of the road pushing baby strollers.  They may be living in the neighborhood - probably upper east or upper west side. You can see some really fit and athletic types, both men and women. At least one face strongly reminded me of someone on TV or movies. Today there were a couple of guys on a strange thing which look like skiis on rollers.  Perhaps they are training for winter. They had these 'roller skiis' on and were pushing skii poles, weaving from left to right and right to left on and on. I'd never seen this before. I once saw a NY fireman running with us on a race. You might think what is so special about a fireman running. Nothing special, except that he had his entire gear on - long overall which I think is heavy and fire-resistant, helmet, thick boots and oxygen cylinders on his back!  That must be a lot of weight! However, the strangest thing I had ever seen on a run happened today.  There was one guy who was passing by. He was a registered runner with a bib number.  The bib was pinned to a small flap of cloth on the back which was sort of tied around his waist. The small piece of cloth with the bib number was flapping up and down his buttocks.  The strange thing is he wasn't wearing any other piece of cloth. He looked completely naked from the back!!  I was assuming, or rather hoping, that he probably had some sort of coverage in the front. This was an absolutely stunning, or shocking sight. No shirt, no shorts or trousers, and no underwear you can see. As he was running, his bib was flapping up and down on the back as a piece of paper would flap in wind, fully exposing his bare behind.  And guess what, this is really cool about the crowd, they didn't give a hoot!

Miles were passing by. NYRR volunteers kept cheering the runners. This is one of the very nice things about running in NYRR races. There are a lot of volunteers cheering the runners. Sometimes general public, or families of runners stand on the side with signs and placards.  I finally joined a toilet line between miles seven and eight. It seemed like a long time, but it looks like the toilet stop took about 2:15 to 3:15.  But I ended up running the next mile about 30 seconds faster, so the net effect of the toilet break was probably 1 min 45 sec to 2 min 45 sec.

I kept pushing the ground behind me at a steady pace.  Central Park has many twists and turns and climbs that come up just around a bend. Even after running there several times I do not fully remember what to expect after which bend. So to be safe, I assumed there is a hill beyond what is visible, and adjusted my pace and effort accordingly. I did know I was running faster than usual, but took care to not over do it.  After about 10 miles the ankle started feeling the strain but I kept the pace as it didn't feel too bad. Moreover, I was planning to not be too conservative after mile 10 as there is only 3.1 miles (5 K) to go.  I was, however, cautiously saving some energy for a steep climb I was expecting after mile 11 or 12.  Mile 11 passed and mile 12 marker also passed. I ran carefully expecting the climb at any moment behind the next bend on the course. Slowly, it started looking like there is no climb anywhere. I probably climbed it without realizing, or I was mistaken (I didn't think so). Around the last section sometimes they keep a sign, instead of saying mile x, or 1/2 mile or whatever to finish, they keep a sign "Run Like Hell".  I didn't see that sign today, but once I saw that spot I knew there was no more hill.  I sped up looking for the finish line. In this section there are ropes on either side of the course behind which families and friends stand cheering their loved ones who are on their last lap to the finish line.  I could see the finish line some distance ahead. Suddenly, as if from nowhere a young fellow in his 20's or early 30's got ahead of me, his elbow brushing against me as he got ahead from behind. He probably didn't realize that in the energy and excitement of seeing his family.   His family was cheering him and taking his pictures.  Well, that's all fine and dandy, I thought, but now that he got his photo opp overtaking me I'm not going to let him beat me to the finish line.  He may have heard as I uttered the words, "Let's do this," and surged ahead. I could feel he surged as well, but didn't feel his presence after a few moments. I did have the energy to keep my lead till crossing the finish line.. That bit of friendly competition added to the excitement in the end.

I finished with a time of 1:58:16.  I'm happy with the result.

Good day.

If I can run, you can run

Getting past "to run or not to run"

Weather really took a turn over the last couple of days.  It was rains, windy with rains, and rains with stronger winds over the last few days. The picture above is today's skies. It is very windy. All this before hurricane Joaquin passes by on Sunday (tomorrow).

Yesterday (Friday) was a regular run day.  Morning was dark due to clouds and rain, and the wind was howling.   I took one peek outside, and the bed started looking really really attractive.  However, as I mentioned some time ago, even on good days if I start thinking about the run first thing in the morning my mind has a tendency to pull away from it.  To run or not to run is not a question I want to ask first thing in the morning. If I do then most often the answer is going to be no.  However, if give myself a few minutes before getting up, give a few gentle stretches to my body while still in bed,  and then make myself a cup of tea, then I normally bypass the question of to run or not to run. I give myself a good one hour to slowly ease into the day reading emails and the morning news as I sip my tea. I am now thinking what should I wear for the run.  So don't think, especially too soon after waking up.  Give your mind time to leave the bed behind.  Give your body a hot drink to feel some warmth and time to really wake up. Then, just lace up and get out. You'll be happy you did.

I took easy on the run, partly because I didn't want to fight the 20 mph wind too much, but more importantly I wanted to give an easy time to the sensitive ankle although it's been feeling much better, much much better recently. Last but not least, Sunday is a big run in New York City. My first half-marathon. Although I want to take that easy as well, I don't want to go into the race after a hard run on Friday. It is going to be very windy and likely raining as well, due to the hurricane. Race starts at 8 AM Eastern time. In case you've nothing better to do you should be able to see my status during the race at the following link -

http://liveresults.nyrr.org

Other than that, I'm taking it easy today and I am feeling well rested.  However, I want to be cautious tomorrow and not get caught up with the crowd and do anything crazy as I have two more half-marathons coming up in the following two Sundays. I'm hoping that these races will give me some good experience running a long distance race at my pace in a varied crowd.  They should be good stepping stones in my preparation to the marathon next year.

More of the same

More rains from this evening thru Saturday afternoon. Sunday brings rain from a different weather system - the hurricane Joaquin (Wah-keen). Latest forecasts are leaning towards an offshore path for the hurricane, with forecasts for tomorrow into Saturday tending toward rains with stronger winds. Tomorrow and Sunday are run days.  Just relaxing tonight. Some ice on the ankle.

Have fun with your runs.