Own 26.2: Chicago Marathon 2013

Lara K

My thinking of what my fall 2013 marathon was gonna be started off last year. Even though I have said that I wouldn’t want to run the Chicago Marathon until they push the race date back a week or two (given the bad luck the race has had with warm weather in the last few years-thank you global warming!) in the midst of commotion about a certain other big-city marathon and their emotional “baggage,” I got to thinking “you know, Chicago was really the best-organized marathon I have ever run. If the only thing that didn’t go right was the weather, well, you can’t blame that on the race director.” 

I loved the race when I ran it in 2010 and wanted to get another shot at it under (hopefully) better conditions. And so my marathon choice was made. 

It wasn’t all so easy, I had to make sure I got registered first. I had a feeling the race would sell out fast, given that things with NYCM were still in limbo and I’m sure people wanted to make sure their fall marathon plans were set. So ever-so-neurotic me just kept hitting refresh on the registration page a few minutes before it was supposed to open and jumped on it as soon as I had the chance––like that, I was in. However, not everyone had it so lucky, as they had to suspend registration with 15,000 slots remaining due to multiple server crashes, and then hold a lottery for the remaining 15K slots. Does this mean the future of the Chicago Marathon will totally go lottery? Let’s not think about that right now…

But who knew that registering would be the easy part compared to the training. Yep, was not my best training cycle between multiple Heatpocalypses, some personal conflicts and a coupla bouts with illness during the peak mileage month...well even though I got in my long runs (many thanks to the NYRR LTR’s we pacelead, the Palisades Run and last but not least-the 3 Bridges Run!) overall mileage took a hit and I had to accept I was gonna go into this one a bit undertrained and that there would be no PR or BQ on 10-13-13. So I set my goals for the day-enjoy it, finish sub-4 (keeping up my streak) and don’t wind up in the med tent. There. Done.

So my time in the Windy City leading up to race day was great, just as it was 3 years ago. Friday I got into town and hit up the expo...got my bib, got a Chicago race shirt (or 2 or 3) for me to wear for post-race celebrating––a little superstition I have (ask me if you want more details!), got a picture at the Nike booth with me holding my bib and the background claiming that I “own 26.2.” Well played Nike. Well played. And during the course of the day, I was called out for jaywalking by a few locals who shouted “Why doesn’t she have to wait for the light?” I called back “Because I’m a New Yorker, that’s why!”  You can take the girl out of New York, but you can’t take New York out of…

Saturday was team bonding day!! OK, not quite. I met up with our “Flyer on the Fly” Angela G, who now resides in Chi-town. I had a lovely brunch with Angela, her husband and her little girl. Then Angela, her daughter and I hung out in Millennium Park and caught up while watching her daughter play (her little girl is gonna be quite a runner someday!) before we scoped out the start and post-party area at Grant Park––was nice for me to have a sneak preview for the next day. 

With Angela G
And Baby Makes Three

The evening brought carbo-loading with Flyers Adam M, Francesco P and James M at Rosebud Theater District––and the restaurant was very prepared for us with a special “marathon” menu (I had a feeling something was up when they asked if it was a pre-marathon dinner when confirming the reservation!). 

Anyways, food and company were good, we discussed everything from how to get to the start the next morning to how to be “in training” for the Wall Street Run...ok, guess you had to be there for the latter ;-) We then went our separate ways to prep for the next morning. I got my race “costume” and shoes ready to go, and got my appropriate 8 hours sleep (ha!)

At Least My Race "Costume" Got a Good Night's Sleep

At 5 AM I awoke to the sound of “Roar” by Katy Perry coming from the clock radio. Nice song to start the day, I took it as a good sign. I then listened to the rest of my “marathon morning mix” while doing my pre-race prep, then headed out the door at 6AM to get my pre-race Starbucks (Pikes Place w/ vanilla––it’s my “thing”) and head over to Grant Park. 

How nice it was that the starting area was a 10-15 minute walk from my hotel––no 3-leg trip to get to the start :) As this was the first World Marathon Major in the U.S. after Boston, you can bet security was upped. They added security checkpoints just to get into Grant Park––with an “express” line if you didn’t have a bag to check––but even with the bag, it wasn’t long of a wait at all. 

I made my final preparations, checked my bag and headed to Corral C. Thankfully this time, there were several checkpoints for the corrals meaning less bottlenecks. (In 2010, there was only one checkpoint for the seeded corrals and a huge bottleneck, meaning I got to my corral after it was “closed” and had to scale a fence to get into it!) 

Once in the corral, I saw Adam and we just chit-chatted while waiting for the start––though I got to the corral with at least a half hour til the start, the time seemed to pass quickly. They had a moment of silence for Boston, but then a couple of faux pas. The microphone kept cutting out during the singing of the national anthem, but the runners filled in the gaps :) After that there was supposed to be a flyover which we heard...but didn’t see, as it looked like the planes missed the target. The wheelchair racers were off and so I knew it was going to be our turn soon enough. 7:30 AM and the start of the race marked by the playing of “Born to Run.” Three minutes later, I crossed the start, with the city of Chicago awaiting me.

And We're Off and Running!

OK, I absolutely love the first half of this marathon. From the get-go, it’s a lot more lively than NYC, where you don’t intercept the cheering crowds until mile 3. Loved running through the streets near Magnificent Mile and the Loop and up LaSalle. I was smiling and just having a blast. Instead of my Flyers top, I was wearing a throwback 2008 Team USA tank...and it was just magical hearing people cheering “U-S-A! U-S-A!” Pacing––I was doing pretty good so far, consistently between 8:45-8:55...ok maybe not “go out at 9 minute pace and see what happens” but I felt good so I went with it.

Mile 6 in Lincoln Park, Flyer David G passed me trying to catch another pace group. He tried to encourage me to go with him but I said no––gotta stick to plan. He thought I’d catch up later, I said “I better not!” Boystown, Old Town, River North––just kept clicking off the miles and soaking up the energy from the crowds (I didn’t realize it at the time, but my first four 5K splits were really consistent!). Over the river, back to the Loop and the halfway point, which I hit in 1:55 and change, so as far as I was concerned, I was more than on track for my goal as long as I didn’t collapse in the second half. 

Mile 14 was the fun “Charity Block Party,” with the streets lined with cheering crews from all the different charities. My favorite were the ones dressed up in dog and cat suits for PAWS Chicago––I tried the give the doggie a high-five but missed. Mile 16 was my first mile over 9 minutes...was hoping this wasn’t a fade, I tried to tell myself to get it together, I just have a 10 mile race left.  Mile 17 slipped a little more...I had to tell myself I was in “single digit miles to go.”  Mile 18 had the PowerGel station so of course I thought of the Flyers and where I’ll be on November 3rd! 

But I was indeed fading. Partially being undertrained was catching up with me. Additionally, even though the weather conditions were relatively cool, there was not a cloud in the sky and the second half of the course is mostly unshaded––and I feel that the sun is like Kryptonite to me in a race. (For what it’s worth, I had the same fade in 2010 when I was much better trained). My pace kept slipping through the neighborhood of Pilsen––even the sounds of “Danza Kuduro” couldn’t perk me up.

I hit Mile 20 just under 2:59-so I knew I HAD to run the last 10K in an hour to break 4. I told myself to just stick to my long-run pace of 9:30’s until we made the turn onto Michigan Ave with about 2.5 miles to go, and just like in 2010, under no circumstances will I walk. That worked for Miles 21 and 22 through the festive Chinatown. Mile 23, I was forced to slow to an almost stop at one of the water stations in order to avoid a collision, and I found it tough to re-accelerate after that. It was around there that I caught back up to David G. “Stick with me!” I called out to him as I passed. I didn’t look back, but I was hoping he would. 

So just like in 2010, Miles 23 and 24 were my slowest miles of the race...felt like survival mode, especially 24. Just tried as hard as possible to not let my pace get into the 10’s, and again not to walk. I thought of the end of the Palisades run, the hill up to the bridge after we exit the park. I didn’t care how slow I was moving then––just stayed in motion and didn’t walk, and tried to do the same now.

Making the turn onto Michigan Avenue felt like a huge relief, I was really in the home stretch. I had a feeling it was going to be really close at this point, whether I was going to get under 4 or not.  At Mile 25 I started to pick it up (and had to fight against a slight headwind!). I wasn’t injured, so no excuses. 

There were some special people I was running the last 10K for––some that I know have endured far more pain than my legs were feeling at that moment, so what's another 2.2 miles. It was time for me to give whatever’s left––whatever "it" may be. Hitting the Mile 25 marker I knew the end was near but I couldn’t coast yet––was still gonna be close (and I just had to think that in 2010, I had been done running by this time...). I saw my time at the “1 mile to go” sign and felt a bit of relief––I think I had it. The 800 meters to go sign was an even more beautiful sight. 

Seeing the right turn up ahead onto Roosevelt Road, and even making that turn, I felt very emotional and maybe almost teared up. Up the only hill of the course––alright, compared to NYC standards not so bad, but at mile 26 on an otherwise flat course!––and made the final left turn to the finish. About 400 meters later, I had finished my 6th marathon and got my sub-4 hour goal with a 3:58:52!

And I was all too happy to stop running, so I know I left it all out there. Not only that, I was walking vveeeerrrryyyy slowly through the post-finish area. But finally I got my medal, food, drink and MOST importantly––BEER!! Yep, Chicago gives everyone a nice-sized cup of Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale just after the finish. They know how it should be done, we need to rehydrate and replenish our carbs :) Thank god I had that, it made my wait for my bag a bit more tolerable. Probably the only thing that I feel the race could improve on in future years, it seemed that almost everyone with a 9xxx bib number finished in 4 hours and they weren’t staffed enough for the flow of runners. 

After what seemed like forever, I retrieved my bag and headed over to the “27th Mile Post-Party”, where I hit up the Goose Island tent for another 312 (all runners have a free coupon on their bibs that they can redeem at the beer tent!). Was a beautiful afternoon to sit down and stretch out on the grass of Grant Park, sip my beer and enjoy the day. Later that day was more celebratory beers and burgers, the following morning was some celebratory Chicago deep-dish pizza, and before I knew it, I was at O’Hare on my way back to NYC. 

Even though this was not a PR, I was still very happy with the outcome. I accomplished what I set out to do.

• Enjoy myself. As I mentioned before, I was loving the first half, and even when I was fading in the second half, I was actually thinking “I want to run this one again!”
• Finish in under 4 hours. I kept my streak intact––all my marathons have been sub-4 (well...except Boston 2012, but that doesn’t count due to the 85 degree heat, right?).  And the crowds were so supportive––”you’re killing 4 hours!” in the middle miles, “you’re going to break 4!” in the last mile.  Something about it felt so special, maybe that’s why I always wanted to pace the 4-hr group back when the Flyers paced the More Marathon (or the 2-hour group in the half!).
• OWN the race. Didn’t start too aggressively, dug majorly deep in the final miles, finished in great spirits. At the risk of sounding traitorous to NYC, something about Chicago just feels like it’s “my” race.

NYCM’ers––you’re up next! Your turn to own 26.2. Good luck on 11/3/13––see you at mile 18!

-Lara K.

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A Tale of Two Sundays

Julie W and Lara K

From the Blogmaster: This blog post was co-authored by Julie W and Lara K. -Dave K

INTERNATIONAL LOVE -- 

THE "PEEPOLZ MARATHON" REPORT

LARA
Marathon Sunday.  Although we couldn’t have guessed it a month, or even a week out, it would really be a day like no other.

Having taken the “semester” off from marathoning, I expected to spend the day once again, volunteering at the Flyers PowerGel station, and maybe even running a few miles with a teammate.

But the events of October 29th changed everything.  I’m not gonna rehash things here.  You all know how things played out.  And on that Friday evening, emotions ran the gamut from acceptance to relief to anger to just maybe feeling a little lost.  I wasn’t even running the race, but I felt them all with you.

Then my awesome Flyer teammate Julie W posted on Facebook:

“I have a proposition...an impromptu marathon in Central Park on Sunday. Four loops just like the old days. We can dedicate it to the hurricane victims or to Laurie H. or whatever feels right.”

That was exactly what the doctor ordered.  And from what was witnessed through various social media channels, many many others seemed to be on the same wavelength...

So I headed to the park on Sunday, honestly a little apprehensive...based on what I had witnessed over social media the few days prior, quite a few people may have been taking some of the lyrics of David Guetta’s song Titanium a little too seriously... ”Stone-hard, machine gun.... Fired at the ones who run..."

Would we be welcome, or met by hordes of protesters and the like?  I need not have worried, as Central Park was absolutely MOBBED with runners.  Many wearing their orange NYCM race shirts.  Many wearing their race bibs.  And probably many wearing what they would have worn for the race as well.  And there were no jeers from the crowd, only cheers.  Restored all faith in humanity for me :)

Running Through a Cheering Tunnel

So at Engineer’s Gate, Julie said a few words of thanks to everyone before we all set off at the symbolic start time of 9:40 am (if you’re not sure why that’s symbolic, the answer will be later in the story ;-) )  In the early going, Julie had International Love by Pitbull playing on her iPod, which I felt was very appropriate for the day.  

Flyers Ready to Run

The first loop of the park was just taking things in.  All the runners from around the world, whether they were doing 1 loop or 4, for fun or a hard effort, and everything in between.  The spectators on the side cheering their heart out.  Recognized some locals (Brian H!), and many holding the signs they would have held if the show had gone on.  Little bit of a shame they had people running around the finish line instead of through/under it, but I guess some things are sacred :)  

Stephanie T Does a Finish Line Leap

I had the pleasure of sharing the second loop with our Thursday Nite Run leader Michael R, where we had a celebrity spotting of sorts!!  Yep, pasta party speaker Amy Hastings with her running partner Kim Smith were logging their mileage among the crowds in the park!!  (And rumor has it Meb Keflezighi was out running as well!)  Was a cool sight –– the elites wanted to be one of us that day.  And right around the 102nd street transverse was another celebrity spotting –– our very own Pat D playing the bagpipes...not quite the Willis Avenue Bridge, but was great to see him doing his thing :)

Pat D Gets a Thumbs Up from Julie W

My two loops done, I stuck around at Engineer’s Gate to cheer on my teammates going longer, and, well, everyone else too!! Central Park was a party still going strong.  Lots of runners still out and the crowds were as deep as 5th Ave.  Some spectators even had out their own “finish line tape” anticipating their loved ones’ finish.  And eagle-eye Glen W spotted a runner in a “Seoul Flyers” singlet and we had a photo op-see, the Flyers are EVERYWHERE!

To sum it all up, what I witnessed in Central Park on that Sunday was just so much caring and love, and a sense of renewal.  I walked (well, ran) away from Central Park proud to be a runner, and declared on Facebook that “Others may think otherwise, but from what I witnessed today, runners are the best people. ever.”

International love, indeed.

JULIE
A wise man (my father, actually!) once said: 

“You can’t change what you can’t control…you can only change your reaction to it.” 

And although he wrote this to me after the Yankees got knocked out of the playoffs this year, never was this phrase more apt than post-hurricane Sandy. I grew up in the south, land of epic storms, and I actually “rode out” hurricane Andrew in 1992 while in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. However, nothing prepared me for the devastation wrought upon New York and New Jersey by Sandy. Despite having seen thousands of images on the news as well as in person, it still feels so unreal to me.

Another wise old saying is that “hindsight is 20/20”. I’m sure the NYRR staff are feeling that phrase deeply having gone through the “on again, off again” NYC Marathon once Sandy had done her worst. 

Of course, it would have been better to cancel the marathon earlier and save those traveling great distances the headache and disappointment associated with a last-minute cancellation. And they should have anticipated the community’s reaction to going ahead with the race in the face of so much destruction. However, I don’t think anyone really knew the full impact of this storm until days later. And the bottom line is that I personally feel that although they made the decision too late, they made the right decision.

Given the fact that the race was canceled at the last minute, it was understandable that many folks (Flyers and non-Flyers alike) were shocked and disappointed to learn that they would not be running two days later. Once the initial shock wore off, I felt it was time to “make lemons out of lemonade” and hold “The Peepolz Marathon” anyway, Sunday morning in Central Park. 

The idea was simple: 

• Show up at 9:40 (the original start time of the race), 
• Run anywhere between 1 to 4 loops of the park, and 
• Have fun doing it. 

Stephanie T, Julie W and Lara K
Having Fun on the "Peepolz" Run

The idea quickly caught fire and gained momentum, and before we knew it our Flyers had organized not only a sizable running contingent, but a large group of race supporters (complete with a table setup by Glen W and friends).

Glen W with his Table and Friends

I figured there would be others running in the park that day, but I hadn’t counted on the sheer volume, international showing, and number of enthusiastic supporters out there. I literally got choked up walking up to Engineer’s Gate that day, and it was only the first time of many that day I would tear up.

Some of the most memorable moments were the large group of French runners coming in the opposite direction, cheering their hearts out, the Brazilian contingent handing out water along the way yelling “fresh water, no additives or artificial sweeteners…we made it ourselves!”, and the children handing out their Halloween candy to strangers. 

VIVE LE FRANCE!!

The NYC Parks Department had wisely anticipated the crowds, and was instructing bikers to get off and walk their bikes near the marathon finish line. Despite the amount of congestion and need to re-route runners around the finish line rather than through it, things went surprisingly smoothly. And at the end of the day, I think we all came away with a renewed sense of the resilience and determination that makes each of us proud to call ourselves a runner.

INTERNATIONAL AID: 

THE "BAD KIDZ ON THE BUS" TRY TO DO GOOD!

JULIE
For me personally, the only “fly in the ointment” about organizing the Peeps Marathon on Sunday was the fact that I would not be able to join a group of fellow Flyers in Staten Island to aid in the relief efforts there. So, when the opportunity came up through JackRabbit Sports and NYC MORE (Marathon Effort of RElief) to head out on the following Sunday, I jumped at the chance. 

Again, I was pleased to see many of my fellow Flyers were up to the task.  The idea was to bus 500 folks out to three of the hardest hit areas in New York: Staten Island, The Rockaways, and Long Beach. Groups left from three of the JackRabbit locations, and those leaving from the UWS went to Staten Island. We had four buses going to this location, and each bus was dropped off at a different site deemed most in need based on their inquiries the day before. 

Julie W and Brian H

I was on the bus with Reyna F, Victoria S, Shira Z, Lara K, Nick J, and Brian H. As you can imagine, we were like the “bad kidz on the school bus” during the nearly 2 hour ride over, but our fun and games came to an abrupt halt once we saw the extent of the devastation. 

Our bus was the last to drop off folks in the Tottenville region, which coincides with the southernmost point of New York State. When we got off the bus, we were instructed to break into smaller groups and go house to house to ask folks if they needed help. We were told to be somewhat persistent, as folks might be proud and afraid to admit they needed anything. 

Shira Z Carrying Supplies
To Bring on the Bus for Toting to Tottenville

The first house we came to, Nick approached two gentlemen who were coming out of their house and asked if we could do anything for them. To my delight, they spoke up right away and said if we were game for it, they needed two folks to help tear down the bottom portion of sheetrock from their first floor, which had been badly damaged by flooding. 

Nick and I decided to take on the challenge of demolition, and spent the next few hours happily encased in plaster dust, smiling the whole time. The guys turned out to be great…very down to earth “New Yawkers”, and a lot of fun to work with.  The younger man, Steven, said that he was so grateful we came by as he had just been looking around and getting very discouraged,  trying to figure out how he and his father, Frankie, were going to get all that work done by themselves. He said that we were just the motivation he needed…and we were certainly thrilled to help! 

With Frankie and Steven

While we were there, the Red Cross truck came around with food and beverages. Steven said they came by twice a day, and that the NYC Dept of Sanitation trucks came by non-stop to keep up with the loads of debris being put on the street. It was nice to see that things were finally starting to get organized.

After Nick and I finished up at Steven and Frankie’s , we headed over to a large house that was literally the southernmost property in New York State. Most of the other folks from our bus were already there. 

LARA
It was what was once a beautiful house on the water, complete with a long deck leading out to the shore, the glass windows letting whoever was inside see some beautiful sunsets on the water.  When we approached the house, we could not believe our eyes –– it looked like it was standing on stilts, the whole first floor had been washed away.  

The family felt lucky to have survived (by taking refuge in the attic) but you can tell it was devastating to lose a lifetime of memories.  We all got to work helping clean out the attic and the second floor and eventually debris outside.  When we were throwing out what had been damaged from the storm, we found a lot of trophies, medals, an old NYRRC race bib, even an old Runner’s World log filled in with entries of various runs and workouts-one of the daughters had been a champion cross country runner back in the day.  We could tell the experience was incredibly heart-wrenching for the mother –– she couldn’t look at the years of memories that had to go, but she was so appreciative for the help and gave us all numerous hugs and thanked each of us.

Before leaving for the day, we took a look at the next block over, which we were told was hit the hardest.  There were two homes completely leveled.  Another that had the front and side completely destroyed and gone, the red “Unsafe” sign had to be put on the wall by the fireplace since there was no longer a front door.  Sh*t had definitely gotten real.  I almost wanted to cry when seeing scenes like that throughout the day....

Picture Speaks for Itself :(

But on a more positive note, I was incredibly impressed by the sense of community, I definitely felt the “we are in this together” sentiment and the optimism that remained despite the horrible situation –– “we will rebuild.”  Our crew was exhausted on our bus ride back to Manhattan (no, not “the city” ;-) ) but felt incredibly fulfilled, which was definitely worth the trip to Staten Island and then some.

JULIE

My feelings at the end of the day echo Lara’s. Never have I felt more humbled and at the same time proud of the human spirit and the incredible strength people can show in times of adversity. I will always remember our day on Staten Island, and the people I met there. May we be ever grateful for what and, especially, WHOM we have in our life!

- Julie W/Lara K

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Three Bridges Plus 400 Runners = Fun!

Lara K

Boy time flies when you’re having fun…yeah, if you can call marathon training fun ;-) Seemed like just yesterday we were sweating through LTR #1 during Heatpocalypse 2011. Now we’re all (or at least most of us) on the verge of tapering for our various fall marathons and getting in our last 20-miler.

Enter the world famous…OK maybe NYC running community famous…3 Bridges Long Training Run!! This was the brainchild of Mr. President, Glen W, back in 2007, back when the Marathon Training Program (MTP) was just a baby. Now both have seriously grown!!

How much? The attendance at this run was more than 400 eager runners (well as eager as you can get at 7 in the morning.) What can you say-the run is a victim of its own popularity :-) Not only is this run popular amongst the Flyers, but amongst FOF’s (Friends of Flyers) and even the buzz on this amongst the NYC running community is that this is *the* 20-miler to do. Plus, we had Team For Kids and the Alzheimer’s Association charity groups joining up with us this time around. So the headcount was gonna be double what we had for our first 3 Bridges Run two weeks prior, but we could pull it off with our top-notch organizational skills…

Well first off, even though we had three waves for the previous run, with double the participants, we needed to have double the waves. We needed to send out groups of runners in waves partially to ease congestion throughout the run route, but also because our meeting place - the JackRabbit store on the UWS that generously served as our host for the run - could only handle so many people so we had to stagger the volume. What that meant for me was a super-early wake-up call as I was pacing the 9 minute group and we had a 6:45 AM (yes, AM, you read that right) departure!

But thankfully everyone seemed to make it on time (as a west sider, I was very grateful that this run departed from the west side store this time around! Less chance of MTA fails getting uptown!). So Mr. President gave us some final instructions, and I waited what seemed like forever for my Garmin to get a signal (I think it sensed it was getting replaced after this run) and after a few minutes, we were off.

Pres Glen W Provides Pre-Run Instructions
As Runners Prepare to Head Off before the Sun is Up!

In the first 3 Bridges Run, I had a great group of “niners” to lead and this time was no exception. Even though I was the main “leader” this time around, there were a few others who would also help to keep things in check, make sure everyone was staying together and in the rec lane, etc.  It definitely helped with a big group for everyone to work together. 

Lara K in Pink Compression Socks
Holds Her Pace Group Together and on Pace

The pacing went well as usual -- only miles that were slower were one in the early going where we had a major headwind on the West Side Highway and the uphill bridge miles, and not by much. In fact, at the water station at the 10.5 mile point in Brooklyn, Paul N. who was manning the station with his wife Cassie N. said that my group was within a minute or 2 of the expected arrival time. Whoa. How good is that?

So to Queens we went and doing well, despite Mark R’s constant insistence that we were “Almost there!” :-) Heather M, Deb M, and Louie R were quite the sight for sore eyes at the last water stop before the Queensboro Bridge, and their cheering was such a nice pick-me-up.

Aid Station Ready for Runners

Took on the bridge - was it me or did it get longer since two weeks prior? Once we got to the park it was a madhouse with some huge walk going on that was taking up the entire 72nd Street Transverse and the East Drive, too, as we made our way up Cat Hill. As our course included running on the Great Lawn Oval, we had to wait for it to clear out before we could cross…kinda like an NYRR race! Finally it did and we headed across the park, down the west drive and back to JackRabbit…and the most obsessive of us, including yours truly, did a little bit of extra running around the block til our Garmins said 20.00 miles. :-)

Afterwards, we were treated to coffee, Accelerade, bagels and lotsa free cereal (including swag in the form of free boxes of cereal to take home!) courtesy of JackRabbit, while some of us headed upstairs to take advantage of the 15% discount we received from JackRabbit after the run. You could definitely feel the satisfaction and excitement in the air - once again, this run was a huge success.

Thanks to all who made this run possible. This is by far my favorite Flyer long run and volunteering as a pace group leader is just so rewarding in many ways. I definitely encourage volunteering for this run next year!

And to borrow the slogan from the 2008 NYC Marathon -“What Does It Take?” - here’s what it took to pull this run off so perfectly…

1,042 half-liter bottles of water
810 16.9 oz bottles of Gatorade
576 eight-oz bottles of water
17 Pacers
10 Water Station Volunteers
300 Boxes of Bare Naked Cereal
3 Check-In Volunteers
1 Director of Field Operation [DoFo] -Ed A.
And, last, but certainly not least - the founder of this great run, Glen W!

-Lara K

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Hotties Take Central Park

Lara K

Summertime…endless park loops…yep it was getting to be that time again…time for another installment of paceleader goodness in NYRR’s Long Training Runs.  My mission, should I choose to accept it…lead the 9 minute pace group for 16 miles.  9 minute group?  What, what?  Yes, I know I previously have been the self-proclaimed “queen of the 9:30 pace group”…but I finally felt I was ready to move up a group.  Of course, it also helped that Coach Todd told me in response to “well I usually lead the 9:30 group”… “No you’re not!” :-)

However, what I didn’t expect for this initial run in the 9 minute group was for it to fall during Heatpocalypse 2011.  But then again, I have had experience paceleading during unseasonably hot weather.  Remember the 2009 More/Fitness Half-marathon Fun Run?  Where actually I didn’t finish too far off the 2-hour target?  Plus -- and this was truly a blessing -- NYRR made it clear that pace restrictions were going to be relaxed, up to as much as 30-60 seconds per mile.  Very glad they did that…no need risking training on a run early in the going, right? (in my case, 15 weeks out.)

Important to Hydrate Before the LTR

And how did I prep for this long run?  By hydrating at Studio Square with other Flyers at TGIFF…hey sangria is one of the less evil drinks, right?  Red wine is good for you!!  As is the (alcohol-soaked) fruit in there!  But no worries…for each cup of sangria consumed, there was also a big-ass cup of water consumed too.

So I was ready to rock on Saturday morning, even though it already felt like a furnace outside at 6:30 AM!  Put on my pretty new orange paceleader singlet (yay for no see-through-ness, as has happened in the past with the white ones!), listened to all the pre-run announcements, and me and the other “niners” (Heather M, Anne H, Janine S, Percy G, and also Nina T -- who was along for the run and not pacing) went to line up.  I think there was initially a little confusion going on between what group we’re leading, and what we’d actually be running.  Were we running 9′s or 9:30s?  What was the official 9 minute group?  Why are we even doing this?  Are we all insane? :-)  But not enough time to dwell on that, much sooner than I anticipated, we were given the cue to go.

Percy G, Heather M, Lara K, Janine S, and Nina T

And as always, as the first half-mile is down Harlem Hill, it started off a little quick, but we made up for it on the uphill.  That first mile was right in the 9-9:30 range as I was thinking “ok perfect.”  The remainder of this loop, the other leaders pulled ahead…and I just let them go (though Bo K. kept me company for this loop-thanks!)  If NYRR was giving us the blessing to take it a little easier, you can bet I was taking advantage of it.  I had 16 miles to get through, and I was gonna get through them feeling strong at the end -- for myself and for the others I was pacing.

9:30 Pace Group: Declan O, Dana M, Louie R, Stephanie P

One loop down, hit the transverse to gel, hydrate…and grab a sponge at a sponge station that NYRR provided for this run.  GENIUS.  I kept mine with me to re-soak at the water stations and that -- plus the eventual cloud cover -- did a helluva job helping keep me cool for the remaining loops.   Heather M. and Bob C. stuck with me for the 2^nd loop…before I knew it, another 5 miles down, and since we were at 102nd long before 9:30, we were given the go-ahead to do the 5-mile loop.  The cutoff time was 10 AM, so any group that didn’t get there before 9:30 either had to do the 4 mile loop, or were stopped from proceeding further.  And going out conservatively on that first loop helped, as I was able to finish the last 5 miles pretty strong and I didn’t feel like I was gonna die once…what a difference from the previous weekend!!  As we approached the transverse to finish off the 16, “Empire State of Mind” was playing over the loudspeaker…kinda appropriate?

Brief Breather Between Loops for Lara K 
and the"Niners" Pace Group

So even with relaxing things at the beginning, I wasn’t too far off with the pace (averaged 9:04 for the 16), especially at the end…encouraging!  And given that I was dancing around to the music that the DJ was playing in the staging area, I know quite a few of you thought I didn’t run hard enough  :-)

I’ll be back next month for LTR #2 (you’re all signing up to pace-right?), and let’s hope there isn’t a repeat of Heatpocalypse 2011 for that one! Though, seriously, given the conditions, I think things went very well…for myself, for my other co-leaders and for everyone involved!!  The organizers -- both in the NYRR and the NYF camp -- out-did themselves as usual.

Flyers LTR Organizers JoAnn M and Jordan G

Special thanks to:

Jo Ann M and Ed A -- as always, did a fabulous job organizing.  Such a large-scale event and it always goes so smoothly.  Especially this time with the curve ball that Heatpocolypse 2011 was trying to throw.  Was it gonna mess with the dynamic duo?  No way!

Jordan G -- my favorite MC, again great job with the regrouping efforts on 102^nd!

NYRR -- I think the contingency plan for the heat went extremely well.

All the Flyer pacers -- as always, we done good!!

-Lara K.

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