november project

10/30/2015: Morning Workout, November Project, 6:25 a.m., Bethesda Fountain; NYC Marathon Thoughts

/ Jim McEvoy / 1 Comment

I’m going to break this entry into two parts: This morning’s November Project NYC workout, and my random marathon thoughts.

But first! Bib and newly-tagged NYC Marathon shirt! Soon to have my name and (possibly) blog URL tagged on it:

November Project NYC Marathon

Woot! Neon is the way to go!

NP_NYC Workout at Bethesda Fountain

So . . . Paula Radcliffe, Bart Yasso, Desi Linden, and Dean Karnazes worked out with us this morning. What?! No big deal. Also, Brogan Graham, one of November Project’s co-founders, pounded out burpees, push-ups, dips, lunges, and bear crawls with us because #justshowup and #whatisthis. We also had lots of people in town from other Tribes for the marathon. Just awesome to see so much NP love this morning!

Bethesda Fountain

Bethesda Fountain, much brighter than it was this morning.

The workout consisted of two phases: During phase 1, we broke into two large groups. Both groups began by doing 20 burpees. Then Group 1 lunged through the terrace near Bethesda Fountain in Central Park while Group 2 bear-crawled. At the end of the terrace, everyone ran up a flight of stairs and then bunny-hopped up a second flight. Then everyone did 10 push-ups, 10 dips, and then back to the beginning for more burpees. Repeat for 20 minutes.

Bethesda Fountain Terrace

The gorgeous terrace.

Most of us NYC marathoners took it easy, and I got to do push-ups with Brogan and meet some members of the NYC Tribe that go to the 6:28 a.m. Wednesday workouts (I’m generally a 5:28 a.m. guy). There is something wrong with me when I think that 60 burpees is an easy, pleasant way to start the day.

Phase 2 of the workout was a “burnout.” Essentially, everyone not running the NYC Marathon started at the Fountain end of the terrace, did four or five burpees, and then ran through the terrace, up the stairs, down the stairs, and back to the start. The rest of us lined the terrace and cheered them on. It was wild! Each interval was timed, so if you didn’t make it back to the start in a set time, you joined the cheering squad. We went through seven or eight rounds before the final round, which was just crazy. NP_NYC’s Jason “won” the burnout, with Rob a few steps behind. NP co-founder Brogan also put forth a strong showing, demonstrating the meaning of “leading from the front.”

Marathon Thoughts

I’ve written race previews about my other recent races, but the NYC Marathon needs no introduction. I outlined the course in my pace strategy post, and all of my posts about training have essentially been about training for this race. I believe that, considering my injury which kept me from running between April and June 25, I trained as well as I could, and I am ready to run a solid race.

Of course, doubts have crept into my mind. During my 22-mile long run, I felt the burn in my legs at mile 21. I also did not log tons of miles, peaking at about 50 miles in my peak training week. These two facts could lead me to be concerned that I am not ready to run this marathon as fast as I want.

But poo poo to them! I have to remember these things as well:

  1. During those early weeks of marathon training in July and August, I was still returning to running after injury.
  2. During that return period, with the support of my doctor and physical therapist, I was biking upwards of 100+ miles per week as I prepared for the NYC Century Bike Tour.
  3. Also during the pre-return and return period, all the hours I spent in the pool, which, combined with my time on the bike, helped me build a solid aerobic base on which to begin marathon training.
  4. My solid performances in the Bronx 10-Mile (6:02/mile pace) and Staten Island Half (6:10/mile pace, with a strong sense that I could have run slightly faster if not fearing for my life on the boardwalk).
  5. Maybe most importantly, all of the love and support I have received from my family, friends, girlfriend, NP_NYC, coworkers, and what I might call the Spirit of the Universe, or, in a less spiritual sense, the feeling that I’m not in control of the world, and that my lack of total control is OK with me.

More thoughts to come tomorrow. For now, happy Friday and, if you can (I’m having a hard time), think about something other than the NYC Marathon.

Happy running, everyone!

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!

10/21/2015: Morning Workout, November Project, 5:28 a.m.: It’s a Long Fly Ball!

/ Jim McEvoy / Leave a comment

Taper time is slow time. With no workouts on Monday and Tuesday, I almost didn’t know what to do with my life. The next 11 days before the NYC Marathon are going to drag!

Good thing I had November Project NYC to enjoy this morning.

I woke up at 4:30, strapped on my workout and bike gear, and rode over to East End Avenue and 86th Street. I crossed the 72nd Street transverse in Central Park and rode up East Drive to 84th Street, and then across to the East River. I had never visited the Park that early, and it was dead quiet. Eerily quiet, especially after Sunday’s 22-mile run through the crowds of beast cancer walkers. Once I returned to the City streets on the East side, however, cars flew past and I had to wait at stop lights. At 5 a.m. What a contrast.

The workout

In honor of the Mets’ strong postseason run, our workout was baseball-themed. We broke into teams of six or eight, and then split into groups of three. We then played two “innings” of baseball.

Top of the 1st

Group 1 began by running suicides on the basketball/hockey court next to our staging area. Each “player” started on the base line, ran to a line at the top of the key, did a pushup, ran back to the baseline, then to the center line, did two pushups, back to the baseline, then to the far key, three pushups, back to the baseline, all the way to the far baseline, four pushups, then over to the benches next to the court for four dips, and then back to the baseline. That scored one “run.” Repeat for 7.5 minutes.

Group 2 began by running a grotto/stair loop with one burpee to cap it off. That scored one run. To score a second run, each player had to run two stair loops and do two burpees. For a third run, three stair loops and three burpees. Repeat for 7.5 minutes.

Bottom of the 1st

Group 1 and Group 2 switched workouts.

November Project NYC

Scoring runs before the sun.

Top of the 2nd

Group 1 returned and performed suicides, but did squats instead of pushups, and step-ups on the bench instead of dips. This was supposed to last for 7.5 minutes, but we somehow kept going for over ten.

Group 2 returned and performed grotto/stair loops, but did Coopers (a burpee with straight arms and a higher jump) instead of burpees.

Bottom of the 2nd

Groups 1 and 2 performed the opposite workout.

The “winning” group was the group that scored the most “runs.” That happened to be my group, “Go Blue,” with 81 runs, one run ahead of the second place group. We won a pumpkin! I

Overall, it felt great to be outside in the near-60 degree weather. it was also fun (in a sadistic way) to do suicides, something I haven’t done since high school hockey practice. I definitely held back in order to preserve myself for the marathon, but I felt tired and ready for a nap afterward. Riding my bike home after the workout felt good. I ran about 3-3.5 miles throughout the workouts.

At lunch I hit the gym later to stretch and to do some core work. I generally follow this core routine, and threw in a 75 second plank for good measure. My stretching included moves to stretch my piriformis, IT bands, hip flexors, quads, glutes, and hamstrings. Definitely do not want any injuries creeping up before the marathon!

For the rest of the week, I will be running another 15-18 miles (including a longish run of 8 miles on Sunday), and spending the rest of my time reading recaps of past NYC marathons, race strategy guides, and trying not to talk excessively about the marathon. Woot! So pumped.

Happy running, everyone!