new york city marathon

10/28/2015: Morning Workout, November Project, 5:28 a.m., Wards Island: Aggressive Dance Moves!

/ Jim McEvoy / Leave a comment

Hey! Did you know the NYC Marathon is only four days away? Haha, you probably already knew that. But just in case you haven’t read a newspaper, seen an advertisement on the subway, or checked your Facebook feed lately: The NYC Marathon is ONLY FOUR DAYS AWAY!

November Project NYC

Morning crew! Katie, Ashley, Me, and Sarah

For many, the NYC Marathon means increased traffic in New York City. For others, the day has no special meaning. For me, it indicates the culmination of over a year of hard work returning to the sport of running, and a chance to participate in an event I never thought possible. So, when I lined up with the members of November Project NYC to take our post-workout group photo this morning, and half the members raised their hands when asked if they were running this Sunday, I realized just how many people are looking to Sunday as both the celebration of their hard work, and the beginning of the next chapter in their running stories.

Of course, before we got to post-workout, we, you know, worked out. Here’s what we did:

  • Do 10 pushups.
  • Run across the Wards Island Bridge and down to the East River footpath.
  • Do 10 burpees.
  • Run back across the Bridge to the starting area.
  • 30 seconds of AGGRESSIVE dancing (or, if you are Myles, you dance by doing burpees)
  • Run back across the Bridge.
  • 20 mountain climbers.
  • Run back across the Bridge.
  • Repeat for 35 minutes.

I covered about four miles during this workout, and spent my time talking to fellow Tribe members Rob, Jess, and Ian. I also spent a little bit too long on the aggressive dancing portion when John played “Rebel Without a Pause” by Public Enemy because, hey, who doesn’t love bouncing to Chuck D, Flava Flav and Terminator X at 6 a.m.? I also threw up more high fives today than ever before, in part because I could feel the collective excitement of the impending NYC Marathon.

November Project NYC

Amazing! Thank you, Liysa! And yes, those are aqua socks.

At the end of the workout, I received a good luck card from the Tribe, which was so thoughtful and wonderful! I also received a colored safety pin from Liysa, who advised me to pin my shoe so that if I felt beat up and in pain during the marathon, I could look down and channel the spirit of NP_NYC. Amazing! I have already pinned my shoe. Thank you, Liysa! I know you’ll do great on Sunday.

NP Marathon Card Cover NP Marathon Card

NP_NYC is running #Mile7 of the NYC Marathon. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but the Tribe will be loud, supportive, and ready to rock all day. So excited to run through there and throw down lots of high fives and smiles.

I know we’re all tapering and not hitting the roads as much, but despite that:

Happy running, everyone!

Weekend in Vermont! Road Running, Trail Running, Pumpkin Ice Cream, and a Severe Lack of Moose Sightings

/ Jim McEvoy / 1 Comment

I traveled this past weekend with my girlfriend, Melissa, and her parents to their home in Wardsboro, VT, about as far south in Vermont as one can live. We had temperatures in the 50s, likely the last warm days before the snow falls and people trade in their running shoes for cross country skies. We rolled through hills covered in gorgeous maples with leaves turning orange, red, brown, and the occasional tree maintaining its green coverage, and ambled through country roads shaded by tree branches and lined by horses and cows. More importantly, we slept without the subway’s rumble under our apartment. Really beautiful, even if the sun stayed behind the clouds for most of the weekend.

Isabella the dog

Meet Isabella, the cutest dog in all of Vermont!

When I arrived on Saturday, I ran a quick 5.5 miles on Wardsboro’s main road, a quiet stretch lined by cabins on one side and a river on the other. My out route was entirely uphill, and my in route entirely downhill. Even though the occasional car rushed past, I enjoyed the solitude of the run, and the fact that I ran fast on my in trip downhill without pushing too hard. The house, however, was up a steep hill, which slowed me down a bit but reminded me of the many bridges to come during the NYC Marathon.

We then attended the Gilfeather Turnip Festival, at which there were neither turnips nor turnip soup (we arrived too late). We did, however, get to sample some Vermont maple syrup candies, learn about goat cheese (unpasteurized goat cheese is a big thing in Vermont), and visit the bustling Wardsboro government office.

Wardsboro, VT

A might government center.

Later that day we rode to a pumpkin farm, where we ate cider doughnuts and lots of pumpkin ice cream.

Pumpkin farm

Can you tell which one is not a scarecrow? I sure can’t ;).

Cider doughnut

I ate three more of these after my 9-mile trail run, nailing the marathon training nutrition plan.

We hit the trails on Sunday, and I did a 9-mile trail run in Jamaica, VT, while Melissa and her parents hiked . The trail was only about 3 miles long, so I ran out, back to the start, out again, and then ran a short distance back to my crew. The trail was mostly flat with a few steep uphills and, like the road, was bordered on one side by a river. I tried to keep the run easy, but made it up and down the trail in about 19 minutes each time. I felt great at the end, though, and as the marathon approaches, I’m happy to get in some hard runs close to marathon pace if only to train my mind about how that pace feels.

Jamaica, VT trail run

Looking super dorky on the trail.

Jamaica, VT trail

View from the end of the trail.

After my run, we hiked to the end of the trail and up a dam. Atop the dam, we surveyed the land, enjoyed a snack, and took some pictures. The views were incredible, and I cannot wait to return in the winter and cross-country ski down the trails.

Jamaica, VT trail

Halfway up the dam trail and feeling good.

Jamaica, VT dam

View from the top of the dam.

Aside from some pushups and core exercises, those runs comprised my workouts in Vermont. We spent the rest of our time attempting to go to flea markets (which were all closed due to the overcast and slightly rainy weather), eating homemade turnip soup, and watching horror movies, including “Plan 9 From Outer Space” and “An American Werewolf in London.” I left Vermont feeling exhausted but relaxed and ready to conquer another week, although disappointed that we did not see any moose.

Jamaica, VT trail

And of course, what trail hike would be complete without a trail ride?

Vermont moose

Seriously, behold the majesty of this stuffed moose! See how much larger it is than the deer in the background? Amazing.

NYC Marathon in FIVE DAYS! My schedule for the next few days looks like this:

  • Wednesday, October 28: November Project NYC 5:28 a.m. workout on Wards Island, and 7 p.m. shakeout run in Central Park
  • Thursday, October 29: 3-4 mile run in Central Park, with some stretching and core work at the gym. Also, Happy Birthday, Katie!
  • Friday, October 30: Potential NP_NYC 6:28 workout at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park
  • Saturday, October 31: 2 mile run followed by epic Halloween party on Long Island, followed by all the sleep
  • Sunday, November 1: NYC Marathon, all the cheesecake, all the parties, all the sleep.

So close!

Happy running, everyone!

NYC Marathon Strategy: Two Guides and Thoughts

/ Jim McEvoy / 7 Comments

(Mentally prepare yourself for Jim’s comic overthinking of his race strategy for the NYC Marathon)

If you’ve checked out my Training Plan, you know that I break my running down into weeks, with each week starting on a Monday. As such, I’ve only done one workout this week because I’m tapering for the NYC Marathon on November 1, 2015. Because taper time is slow time, and because I want to keep writing about training and running, and finally because my brain is fixated on the NYC Marathon, I’m going to write about the preparation I’ve done in the time off my feet.

That preparation includes reviewing strategy guides discussing how to pace through the NYC Marathon. I haven’t run a marathon in approximately 11 years. I ran two in college (Ocean Drive in March of 2004 and the Marine Corps Marathon in October of 2004), and did not prepare with any particular plan for either. This time around, however, I have run and trained well, gotten stronger and faster throughout the year, and want to perform well on November 1. Hence, the analysis of race strategies prepared by people who have run the NYC Marathon before.

The first guide I reviewed comes from RunnersConnect. It breaks the race down into five sections: Miles 1-2, Miles 3-15, Miles 16-20, Miles 20-23, and the final 5k. It provides the following pacing suggestions for these sections of the course. I have inserted how these suggestions apply to my goal race pace of 6:30/mile (approximately 2:50 overall):

  1.  Miles 1-2: Go slow! The NYC Marathon begins on the Verrazano Bridge, and the first .8 miles are a steep, steady uphill. Run this mile anywhere from 60-90 seconds over your goal race pace. The final part of Mile 1 plus the entirety of Mile 2 is the downhill portion of the bridge, so run this portion 45-60 seconds faster than your goal race pace, but don’t push yourself too hard (save your energy for the last 10k). Thus, you should finish Mile 2 at about 10 seconds faster than your goal race pace.
    1. For me: I should be hitting Mile 3 at around 13:50 into the race, approximately 50 seconds off my cumulative goal race pace.
  2. Miles 3-15: These miles are mostly flat, so hold back and don’t push too hard through this section. Run these miles at about 10-15 seconds slower than your goal pace, and arrive at the Queensborough Bridge (right after Mile 15) about 60-90 seconds off your goal race pace.
    1. For me: For this stretch, I should be averaging 6:40/mile, which would bring me through Mile 15 in about 1:40.30, about a 6:42/mile pace overall.
  3. Miles 16-20: After the Queensborough Bridge (a tough uphill followed by the inevitable bridge downhill), you emerge on First Avenue, which is mostly downhill on your way to the Bronx. You can make up some time here by running 15-20 seconds faster than your goal race pace.
    1. For me: This brings me to Mile 20 in approximately 2:11:45, approximately a cumulative race pace of 6:35/mile.
  4. Miles 20-23: This section allegedly gets tricky because it involves two bridges and thin crowds. Running 20-30 seconds over goal race pace is OK here.
    1. For me: If I run this section in 20:30 (6:50/mile), I will hit the last 5k at 2:32.
  5. The last 5k: This includes the uphill on Fifth Avenue before the Park, and then the up and down run through the Park, across Central Park South, and then to the finish in the Park. If you’ve followed the strategy, you will apparently be able to run hard through this section, fighting through pain. The strategy guide provides no pace, but I imagine the idea is “as hard as you can still manage.”
    1. For me: If I can push hard, I’ll come through around 2:50, though maybe a couple of minutes behind.

Running and the City also provides an NYC Marathon strategy guide full of useful information about pre-race preparations, how to handle the athlete’s village before the race, and some anecdotal insights about why it’s important to run the first half of the Marathon slower than you might think. She breaks the race down into more distinct parts than Runners Connect does. Here are her pacing strategies:

  1.  Miles 1-2: Run Mile 1 at about 1:30 slower than your goal race pace, and Mile 2 at about 20 seconds faster than goal race pace, bringing you into Brooklyn approximately one minute off your cumulative goal race pace.
    1. For me: I’ll enter Brooklyn at 14:10 into the race.
  2. Miles 3-15: Here, the stated goal is to arrive at the Queensborough Bridge feeling fresh and ready to go. You should run this section of the course at 5-10 seconds faster than your goal race pace. So, overall, this means that by the Queensborough Bridge, I should either be right at my goal pace or slightly ahead of it.
    1. For me: Running at a 6:25/mile pace, I would hit the Queensborough Bridge in approximately 1:36.50, slightly faster than under the RunnersConnect plan.
  3. Mile 16: The run across the Queensborough Bridge can feel tough, with no crowd and a steady uphill, so keep the effort constant while dropping pace to about 20 seconds slower than goal race pace.
  4. Miles 17-19: Here, she breaks it down as follows: Mile 17 at 30 seconds below goal race pace, Mile 18 at 10 seconds over, and Mile 19 at goal race pace.
    1. For me: I should average 6:30/mile for Miles 16-19, coming through at approximately 2:02.30
  5. Miles 20-23: The goal here is to stay at or 5 seconds below goal race pace, despite the bridges.
    1. For me: Averaging 6:25/mile for Miles 20-23 brings me to the Fifth Avenue hill in approximately 2:28.25.
  6. Mile 24: This mile includes the hill on Fifth Avenue, a hill many people have told me “comes out of nowhere and zaps your energy.” RaTC recommends a pace about 20-30 seconds slower than goal race pace.
  7. Miles 25-26.2: Mile 25 has a lot of downhill with some rolling uphill. Try to run it slightly under goal race pace (5 seconds or so). Mile 26 includes the uphill across Central Park South, which might put you at 5 seconds over goal race pace. The final .2 is the steepest uphill of the race, so plan to run it about 20-30 seconds slower than goal race pace.
    1. For me: If I were to follow this plan completely, I would cross the finish line in almost exactly 2:50.

As I’ve never run the NYC Marathon before, these suggestions sound great. I like that they advocate different approaches to the race: It reminds me that I ultimately have to listen to my body and adjust as I progress, and don’t fret if things don’t go my way. Despair invites the fastest path to a poor time.

However, both plans advocate running the first half even slower than you think necessary. The second half of the NYC Marathon is, I’ve heard, deceptively hilly, so every extra gram of glycogen you don’t burn on the first half pays dividends during the second. Both plans also discuss the adrenaline surge that the crowds inject into your running, and implore you to stay within yourself and your pace throughout the race. Ultimately, the goal is to conserve your energy while running a smooth race until the last 10k, when your body starts to feel the depletion of its glycogen and begins to break down.

Today, I’m resting my body. My left foot has a slight pain, so I’m going to let it chill even though I’d love to do a slow run around the Park. I’d rather be physically healthy on race day and slightly less fit than nervous about injuring myself and slightly more fit.

How’re you prepping your race strategy?

Happy running, everyone!